where to eat in Leeds

[gethin]

i will be in leeds for a few days at the end of the week - planning on a lunch at Anthony's and a curry at Chakwal (the second being more for nostalgic than gastronomic reasons ). Any other suggestions (for eating or drinking ).

gethin

[Anne Benson]

i wasn't that impressed with Anthony's but thought Anthony's at Flannels was very good, worth checking out for lunch

[YKL]

um, depends on what you're looking for ...

absolutely second suggestion of Anthony's at Flannels

aagrah is a reliable spot for curry

no 3 york place another good spot for lunch or dinner with a bit of polish

Red Chilli has generally been much favoured, but recent visits not quite as good as early visits.

someone from the younger generation may be able to confirm if Mojo's and the north bar are still the best cocktails in town ...

[Gary Marshall]

akbars in the old bibis site on greek street is a good curry, more spicy than aagrah.

new bibis is v. buzzy but not a destination gastro haunt.

la grillade, french steak/brasserie on wellington street reliable old favourite.

anthonys / no3 the only spots for serious dining in the town centre

[thom]

I meant to ask you about Sam's Chophouse actually Gary, and this thread seems as good a place as any:

http://samsleeds.thevictorianchophousecompany.com/

The original one in Manchester (along with it's sibling, Tom's chophouse) is an absolute institution. You know it from experience - we had a very decent lunch there (even though we were stuck with Bapi) and I know Jay also loved it when he went along to review.

Not sure if it's had the same impact over the Pennines though? The menu looks similar so as long as they've kept the standards up that should hit the spot, and they claim to have the best wine list in Leeds which I thought would put them on your radar!

What say you?

Cheers

Thom

[Gary Marshall]

do you know what thom, i have completely forgotten its existence. It is ever so slightly off pitch, Joking apart it's on the next corner up from all bar one but i rarely walk past ABO!

Oddly enough none of my colleagues or clients really speak of it either, i should give it a go as the menu looks great, from memory the wine list wasn't on line.

As for leeds greatest wine list who knows? anthony's is pretty comprehensive, No 3 was the best but since they went more brasserie it's not in the same league as before, sous lez nez used have a pretty good list too. I will investigate.

[thom]

i should give it a go as the menu looks great, from memory the wine list wasn't on line.

←

Yes, The Leeds list is missing off the website but considering the similarity of the food menu's between the two outlets I would expect the wine-list to be similar to Manchester's and that can be found here:

Winelist

And on another note I might have to give those bone marrow dumplings a try...

Cheers

Thom

[Gary Marshall]

it's my firewall at work that won't let me download it, i will have a look at home later.

[YKL]

went to Sam's chop house a couple of times last year - not bad, some dishes were pretty good - "a reliable place for a lunch pit stop during shopping" was how I summed it up. Was fairly soon after it opened though, so service was friendly but haphazard ... hope that's improved.

but random internet wandering brought this place to my attention ...

http://www.leedsseventeen.co.uk/

has anyone else been? seem to have won something in the Yorkshire Food and Drink awards in Dec (not sure how prestigious they are) .... and since it's only about 10 mins from me, i will eventually get organised enough to investigate ...

[gethin]

Thanks for the suggestions . Luch at Anthony's at Flannels yesterday was pleasant enough, altghough was not really enthused by it:

pigs cheek with anise mash was a tiny portion of meat with a teaspoon of (not terribly aniseedy) mash - i thought it somewhat insubstantial even for a starter.

the hake with watercress sauce sat on a portion of not very warm mash and was covered in a silly foam. At least it was garnished with rather architectural microleaves , rather than chives , so it avoided looking as if the cat had been in the garden eating grass and then been sick on your lunch , which is the usual effect of a foam and greenery garnish.

They had somehow managed to get a lot of watercress taste into the sauce while keeping it an unnaturally pale colour.

lemon tart and ginger icecream was garnished with the same japanesey microleaves that had come with the pigs cheek -unnecessary and odd. The pastry was wretched- but the rest of it was fine.

I enjoyed Thursdays dinner at Sous Le Nez though :

pigeon breast with apple and baby gem lettuce (lettuce somewhere beyond wilted , but not really braised- ) could have done with a lighter hand with the cider vinegar -but the pigeon was very good.

Then a teal - very rare and very tender, with slightly undercooked jerusalem artichokes with really good chunks of pancetta, the side order of new potatoes came even more undercooked though.

Excellent wine list -unless you were eating alone ! Not a lot available by the glass and the cheapest half bottle of red they actually had available was over £26. I ended up with a bottle of Tanners claret , which was drinkable enough , but it would have been nice to be able to drink more than one wine (advancing years mean that i rarely feel up to drinking 2 bottles with a meal these days).

A couple of glasses of very nice marc de bourgogne cheered me up (and took away the taste of what i had thought to be a bit of chocolate with the coffee- it turned out to be some toothpaste flavoured confection).

gethin

[fisherman]

Went to Sams in Leeds last Sunday and had a pretty good meal, Corned beef hash cake to start then steak and kidney pudding. Everything was as good as you would hope, and the wine list was reasonable, if not the most inspired we had a £20 bin end Primitivo.

[fisherman]

Had another Red Chilli lunch yesterday, tried a few new things, including the chilli/pork/green bean dish mentioned elsewhere, really really good. Just as good, and much better than I was expecting was the shredded fillet steak and chilli dish, I know it sounds like something from your local takeaway menu, which is usually a bad sign, but it was awesome, really good meat, crispy on the outside, but with a gorgeous soft tender centre, loads of chilli (of course) and some (pickled?) vegetables made it an excellent choice, though to be honest it was similar enough to the pork/green bean dish to mean I wouldn't order the two together again, but I'm not sure which I'll choose next time I visit.

My first Red Chilli disappointment was the belly pork claypot dish, which while a pleasant antidote to the chilli dishes, being almost chilli free (it did have some wonderful pickled green chillis in it, but they were not prominent unless you aimed for them) really disappointed in the meat, it was very thin belly slices, streaky baconesque, whereas I prefer my vitamin P in chunks.

Service was of course brusque but efficient, but I don't go there for the service.