Leeds Restaurant Guide

“Truly Spanish food” (plus sherries and wines) melds with “superb architecture” at this glamorous outpost of the eight-strong, London-centric tapas chain, which occupies a Grade II-listed former auction house now kitted out with “cosy booths and tables” plus a basement wine bar/deli.

“Good French bourgeois cooking à la Yorkshire (ie big portions)” and a “great wine list” have combined to make this basement a popular city-centre refuge for thirty years. Weekly deliveries from Rungis market in Paris are complemented by more local produce. “A great spot for business” for which it’s often and highly recommended in the survey: it’s run “with efficient and friendly charm” – although “if you get one of the small alcoves, you may have to hunt for a waiter”.

This no-nonsense Japanese comfort food canteen in the Merrion Centre enjoys legendary status in Leeds: “why go anywhere else for the best noodles?”. It “never fails to satisfy” – although last year has seen a plea to “bring back the original chicken gyoza recipe”.

A “great and authentic Thai food experience” awaits at this “street-food spot-turned restaurant” which, despite still “looking and feeling like a pop-up”, is by now “a staple part of Leeds life”, especially if you’re after “something different”; the “buzzy and fun” (kid-friendly) décor involves eating in a tuk-tuk.

“Irreverent pop-art-meets-punk surrounds” are the hallmark of this cult chain, home of the ‘Dead Hippie’ burger, washed down with ‘Grog’ (“powerful rum cocktails”), showcased by a new West End flagship just off Oxford Circus. “I thought I might be bored with yet another dirty burger-style place, but these are so good” for “when you need a ‘filthy’ treat” that’s “tasty as hell” (and, moreover, “much better than GBK, Byron and so on”).

The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

From the D&D London group, a “very smart” location in the city-centre “overlooking the rooftops of the city”. Its food has tended to polarise opinion in the past, and though it “can be a bit variable”, reports were weighted more positively last year, with praise for some “interesting” seasonal dishes.

“Flavours galore and a regularly changing menu means you can fill up on Indian street food without breaking the bank and wash it down with a great range of beers” at this six-year-old haunt, where service uses “environmentally friendly compostable plates and cutlery” on shared benches at communal tables: “cheap, fast and fun”… “just a great place”.

“Exceptional cooking” and “innovative seasonal dishes” win a lot of ardent fans for Mark Owens (ex-Gavroche and Box Tree) and Elizabeth Cottam’s three-year-old, on Leeds’s oldest street, which they hail as a “low-key but high-class addition to the local restaurant scene”. It doesn’t universally impress reporters, however, and there is also a sceptical school of thought that “the food is pretty, but not always big on taste”.

“Everything about The Man Behind The Curtain is exciting, delivering star quality without being stuffy and dry!” – Michael O’Hare’s “genuinely exceptional and innovative” city-centre venture is “set in a basement, but a really trendy and modern one”, and he has carved his major gastronomic reputation with “serious food with a sense of fun and almost ridiculous attention to detail”. But whereas most reporters remain dazzled by his culinary pyrotechnics (not to mention the crockery!), ratings are again sapped by a minority for whom the performance is not terrible but “vastly overrated”, not helped by prices – in particular for wine – which can be a bit “galling”.

“They have evolved the culinary experience” at D&D London’s splashy Japanese three-year-old, atop Trinity shopping centre, and featuring a “superb terrace”; nowadays “the food is just beautiful” (albeit “expensive”) and “they also have an amazing cocktail bar”.

Popular for its “good value cooking”, this “small plates and small dining area” venue has a strong following for its vegetarian options – despite the name. Themed set menus are served in the evenings, and weekends are known for ‘Pie Sundays’.

In its 25th year, this nineties survivor near the Corn Exchange has weathered various ups-and-downs over the years, and remains one of the town’s better-known locations. The odd sceptic feels it’s “OK, but nothing special” nowadays, but fans declare it “back on form with a new menu that really hits the spot”.

“You can feel the influence of Fergus Henderson” on Tom Hunter’s cuisine at this cavernous and carnivorous venue – also home to a small cinema – serving up “very tasty and interesting pub food and good real ales to go with it”. “The ambience is determinedly dressed down, which appeals to its clientele”, but it’s “far better than its unassuming façade suggests”.