Serieux

His cooking is reminiscent of The Emperor's New Clothes.It is smarty pants bullshit to target a television audience. Who in their right mind would want to cook a Roast Chicken or Fish and chips in such a manner. Get a life Heston http://books.guardian.co.uk/digestedread/s...1953188,00.html

I agree entirely Thom. Leeds RC simply isn't as good as the Manchester operation.I do wish they would get it right. I also concur with your comments about Yang Sing. I am a regular and a big fan but it has definitely declined over the last 18 months.The dim sum is still excellent and so are many of the special dishes such as the fresh fish and hotpots.But generally,the main dishes fall short of the mark and the new decor simply doesn't flick my switch. I still love to go on a sunday lunchtime with my racing paper becauses the place buzzes. Wings has also been recommended to me recently by a Manchester Restauranter,so on your joint recommendation I shall give it a try next week and report back. Anthony's is superb but not the sort of place you would want to go to every week as it is serious food and the menu seldomly changes much which is how he maintains the standard.It is sacrilege that it hasn't got a Michelin Star(rumour has it that they didn't want to make him the youngest ever recipient of a Star,over Marco's head). I strongly recommend The 3 Acres at Emley,2 miles from Junction 39 of the M1,between Huddersfield and Wakefield.Superb ambience and decor.Majors in Fish and Traditional English cuisine cooked with a modern twist.I have friends from Cheshire who drive there weekly,who say it knocks the spots off anything in the North West. http://www.threeacres.com/contact.htm Best Wishes

''Also, I was talking to the manager and he said that there were looking at a couple of sites in Liverpool too - The empire grows! Ah well, far be it from me to complain if every corner in every city has a Red Chilli on it, alongside the Pret and the Starbucks.'' Thom Can I say from the outset,how pleased I am that you enjoy The Red Chilli Restaurant in Leeds. I live and work in Leeds and have frequented the venue several times.I am very familiar with the menu and concept and have also been to the Manchester location on various occasions.It is a great addition to the Leeds restaurant scene,where oriental food is extremely poor in comparison to other major cities. However,with the greatest respect in the world,I do think that this thread rather flatters the place.On it's day,RC serves excellent and innovative food but my concern is its inconsistency and generally poor service. Many people read these forums before embarking on long journeys to dine in Leeds.I certainly don't regard RC as outstanding at the moment.I personally don't think it can lace the boots of Hakkasan(Britain's only Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant),Yauatcha(It's sister and dim sum restaurant,also based in London),or even Yang Sing in Manchester. Admittedly,Beijing cuisine is different,so direct comparisons can not really be made across the board but as a quality dining experience goes,I feel it falls way short of the mark too often.That being said,it is still good value for money. I am not making these comments to tear the place to pieces but as practical criticism.I adore oriental food and after the heartbreaking demise and closure of the fantastic Jumbo which served some of the finest cantonese food in the country for two decades,I want to enthuse about RC like you do. It would certainly prevent the hassle of having to trek all the way over to Manchester. Put simply,if they got the food consistent at RC and got some decent staff minus blue tooth headsets.it would clean up and you wouldn't get in the place. Leeds cries out for a top notch chinese restaurant,so please RC,just go that extra yard and you'll make fortunes.But get the Leeds operation up to top quality first,before expanding again. Best wishes and I hope you continue to enjoy RC.

''Also, I was talking to the manager and he said that there were looking at a couple of sites in Liverpool too - The empire grows! Ah well, far be it from me to complain if every corner in every city has a Red Chilli on it, alongside the Pret and the Starbucks.'' Thom Can I say from the outset,how pleased I am that you enjoy The Red Chilli Restaurant in Leeds. I live and work in Leeds and have frequented the venue several times.I am very familiar with the menu and concept and have also been to the Manchester location on various occasions.It is a great addition to the Leeds restaurant scene,where oriental food is extremely poor in comparison to other major cities. However,with the greatest respect in the world,I do think that this thread rather flatters the place.On it's day,RC serves excellent and innovative food but my concern is its inconsistency and generally poor service. Many people read these forums before embarking on long journeys to dine in Leeds.I certainly don't regard RC as outstanding at the moment.I personally don't think it can lace the boots of Hakkasan(Britain's only Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant),Yauatcha(It's sister and dim sum restaurant,also based in London),or even Yang Sing in Manchester. Admittedly,Beijing cuisine is different,so direct comparisons can not really be made across the board but as a quality dining experience goes,I feel it falls way short of the mark too often.That being said,it is still good value for money. I am not making these comments to tear the place to pieces but as practical criticism.I adore oriental food and after the heartbreaking demise and closure of the fantastic Jumbo which served some of the finest cantonese food in the country for two decades,I want to enthuse about RC like you do. It would certainly prevent the hassle of having to trek all the way over to Manchester. Put simply,if they got the food consistent at RC and got some decent staff minus blue tooth headsets.it would clean up and you wouldn't get in the place. Leeds cries out for a top notch chinese restaurant,so please RC,just go that extra yard and you'll make fortunes.But get the Leeds operation up to top quality first,before expanding again. Best wishes and I hope you continue to enjoy RC.

I've read this thread with interest.I have visited the establishment at least a dozen times & my experiences have ranged from very good to utterly abysmal. The restaurant is owned by Chi Yip Limited,a Manchester Wholesale Cash & Carry Group.The concept is good & the Manchester operation is well run. When Leeds first opened,they shipped chefs and staff across the M62 & whilst there were initial teething problems,the service was ok and the food was quite good. The pick your own meat with a sauce of your choice option at lunchtime is to be strictly avoided as it resembles chinese buffet meets weigh and save. However,as some of the posts show,the menu is interesting & shies away from the normal Cantonese rubbish dished up in Leeds,with some very tasty and interesting dishes. But yesterday I had a horror of a visit.I was with a Leeds and a Manchester Restauranteur. We were shown to a table at the rear of the restaurant and then completely ignored by the staff for 15 minutes. The spikey haired kid of a waiter was mire interested in his blue tooth earpiece than paying attention to us. Scallops to start were ok,if a little salty and the duck was good. I have had the salt and pepper flaked cod there on 4/5 occasions.It comes as a full piece of flaky fish and resembles blackened Cod. What arrived this time was a dish that Captain Birdseye had created.Cod goujons which were tasteless,battered,rubbery & very average.When I told the waiter he had brought the wrong dish,he told me it was always like this and that I must have had the other version in Manchester! We then ordered Painter Daq's Chicken.I had eaten this dish in Leeds 4/5 times before and it is excellent.Piquant Spring Chicken with a hell of a kick to it created by dried chillis.What arrived had come from The Colonel's Bargain Bucket.Again,the dish was nothing like before and had been battered and deep fried.It was changed under extreme protest,with the explanation that the picture in the menu is of a different dish to the description. To be fair,the Turbot was freshly and perfectly cooked and the noodles were fresh and hot but my main observation is that this restaurant is very up and down and is not as well run as Manchester.It's a shame because if they get their act together,they would clean up as there are no alternatives of any quality in Leeds.