Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Wakefield
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Wakefield restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 29 restaurants in Wakefield and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Wakefield restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Wakefield Restaurants
1. Aagrah
Indian restaurant in Leeds
St Peter’s Sq - LS9
“They always go the extra mile” according to fans of this city-centre outpost of Yorkshire’s nine-strong chain of well-regarded curry houses – a family-run business established in 1977.
2. Fleur Restaurant and bar
restaurant in Leeds city centre
Inside the lights - LS1
Award-winning Master Chef Finalist, Great British Menu-famed chef Bobby Geetha and Team provides a stunning contemporary British cuisine inspired by world flavours.Fléur Restaurant was the finalist for best Brunch in Leeds. Reviewed as Top 3 best Bottomless...
3. Sukhothai
Thai restaurant in Leeds
15 South Parade - LS1
Ban Kaewkraikhot’s small group of Thai restaurants started in Chapel Allerton and is now over 20 years old. She has invested in the lavish styling of this city-centre spin-off. A popular venue locally for celebrating an occasion, it wins upbeat (if limited) feedback for results from its very large (200+ dishes) menu.
4. Tharavadu
Indian restaurant in Leeds
7- 8 Mill Hill - LS1
“Don’t be put off by the outside!” – this “very popular” Keralan (a favourite, it is claimed, of India cricket ace Virat Kohli) wins a hymn of praise for its “authentic” cuisine and is “a must for fish and seafood fans”: “the meen koottan (fish curry) was a standout dish, bursting with flavour and expertly prepared. The mango lassi is also delicious. Highly recommended!”
5. Tattu
Chinese restaurant in Leeds
29 East Parade, Minerva House - LS1
“Amazing decor, complete with cherry blossom” sets a glossy scene at this outpost of the national chain, where the pan-Asian selection adds Thai dishes and sushi to a menu backbone of Chinese dishes. Feedback was relatively limited this year, but all upbeat.
6. Home
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
3 Brewery Place - LS10
“If you are looking for a truly haute cuisine experience this is the place to be” – Elizabeth Cottam’s strikingly black venture (black floor, black décor, black uniforms), which has been given a new lease of life since relocating to Brewery Wharf two years ago. “From the moment you arrive you are made to feel welcome” and “the attention to detail and quality of ingredients” showcased in the five- or eight-course tasting menus (sometimes served by the chefs themselves) make for “an absolutely wonderful experience from start to finish”.
7. The Owl
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
Lockside. Mustard Approach, Mustard Wharf - LS1
This “wonderful canalside restaurant, flooded with light” was originally at Kirkgate Market, moving to the Mustard Wharf development two years ago, where it is “a great addition to Leeds” – “the food is delicious but the relaxed atmosphere is also a key to its success”. Liz Cottam, a MasterChef semifinalist, and Mark Owens (ex-head chef at the Box Tree) also run Home at Brewery Wharf.
8. Art’s
Caribbean restaurant in Leeds
42 Call Lane - LS1
2021 Review: 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”.
9. Bundobust
Indian restaurant in Leeds
6 Mill Hill - LS1
“A craft beer pub with fabulous Indian vegetarian street food. What’s not to like?” agree fans of the Manchester-based operation whose formula is equally popular in Leeds. It’s “great to be able to take meat-lovers to a veggie restaurant and know they’ll enjoy it!”.
10. Kendells Bistro
French restaurant in Leeds
St Peters Square - LS9
An “unpretentious, candlelit French bistro” that offers the “perfect romantic experience”, replete with “authentic” cuisine and “lovely old-fashioned” vibes. Well-established locally, it remains of particular note for its attractive early-bird deals – handy before a trip to the nearby Leeds Playhouse.
11. Crafthouse, Trinity Leeds
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
Level 5 - LS1
2022 Review: This large, smart and impressive venue from D&D London, on the fifth floor of the new Trinity Leeds shopping centre, is enclosed in floor-to-ceiling windows with great views over the city, oak and marble interiors and an open kitchen. The cooking is generally considered “good” or better, with a decent set menu as well as more lavish à la carte and tasting menu options.
12. Rosa's Thai Cafe
Thai restaurant in Leeds
Upper Dining Terrace, Trinity Leeds, Albion Street - LS1
2021 Review: 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.
13. MEATliquor
Burgers, etc restaurant in Leeds
Bank St - LS1
“The Dead Hippy burger is a dirty, dirty legend” – the best-named burger on British menus and “if not the easiest burger to eat definitely the tastiest” (especially when chased down by a boozy “hard shake”) – at the “cool” chain founded 15 years ago by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis. The expansion of recent years seems to have ground to a halt with the closure of branches in Boxpark Croydon and Clapham Old Town, with a new strategy based around boosting sales via a national network of delivery kitchens launched in 2023. Top Tip – “root beer is available if you want a bit of real Americana!”
14. Sous le Nez en Ville
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
Quebec Hs, Quebec St - LS1
This “vibrant and busy” basement venue with an “interesting French menu” is a “longstanding favourite”, whose “very good lunch” makes it an “ideal and consistent business brasserie”. Opened in 1991 and still run by founders restaurateur Robert Chamberlain and exec chef Andrew Carter, its many fans are happy that it has “not changed in 20 years”.
15. Issho
Japanese restaurant in Leeds
Victoria Gate, George St - LS2
2022 Review: “A really good all-round experience”, this snazzy five-year-old above the Trinity shopping centre is one of four D&D London venues in Leeds, and its first Japanese venture anywhere. The menu majors on sushi and hot dishes from the robata grill to be shared – ‘Issho’ is Japanese for ‘together’ – and there’s a glamorous cocktail bar, Kori, with large choices of sake and Japanese whisky.
16. The Man Behind The Curtain
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
Lower Ground Floor Flannels - LS1
The “culinary theatre” of Michael O’Hare’s moody basement (to which it relocated a few years ago) has made it one of the UK’s better known gastronomic temples, and it’s become something of a standard-bearer for the city’s foodie credentials. But it put in a very mixed performance in this year’s annual diners’ poll. Even those who “love it and feel its place in the Michelin is well deserved” – and there are still many of them – can find it “witheringly expensive”. Meanwhile, skeptics worry that it’s becoming “all show and no go”: “I liked the first iteration, when it was located on the top floor of Flannels, but two subsequent visits to the current basement location have led me to conclude it’s just soulless, with food that’s OK but which has not moved on” (“putting a prawn on top of a telephone doesn’t make it taste better!”) and “an entry-level price for wine that’s ridiculous”. The message may be getting through, as – with much fanfare – in May 2023 Michael launched a ‘Menu Rapide’ in response to the cost of living crisis, providing four courses for £40 or six courses for £60 per person. BREAKING NEWS. Actually, it looks like the penny has completely dropped, as – in late October 2023 – Michael announced that the restaurant is to close at the end of 2023 and relaunch under a new name; and with a ‘more accessible’ (we think that means less expensive) format in February 2024. Don’t worry though: the style will still be ‘out there’ – it’s to be themed around a seafood surf shack, and called ‘Psycho Sandbar’.
17. Iberica
Spanish restaurant in Leeds
Hepper House, 17a East Parade - LS1
This “buzzy but very noisy” Hispanic quartet (in Marylebone, Farringdon, Victoria and Canary Wharf) offers a “good range of tapas” and “interesting wines by the glass and the bottle”. They still have plenty of admirers as a “reliable” option, even if they “no longer provide the novelty or the high standards they once did”.
18. Zaap
Thai restaurant in Leeds
16 Grand Arcade - LS1
A “great Thai street food” venture (est. 2015) with a “fun atmosphere” that replicates Bangkok markets, down to the tuk tuks in which you can enjoy a menu featuring an impressive 80 dishes; the colourful mini-chain now has five northern spin-offs.
19. The Swine That Dines
British, Modern restaurant in Leeds
58 North Street - LS2
The “personal service” at Stuart & Jo Myers’ “fantastic small restaurant” in Mabgate – which they opened twelve years ago as a café called the ‘Greedy Pig Kitchen’ – is “the very definition of hospitality”. “The unconventional cooking is great”, too (including winning cakes). “It’s a 140-mile round trip for us but sooo worth it!”
20. Wen's
Chinese restaurant in Leeds
72-74 North Street - LS2
2023 Review: This family-run spot delivers “beautifully cooked” home-style dishes from Shandong, including their signature “lovely crispy dumplings for starters” and dan dan noodles. “We used to go here when it was Hansas (RIP), so it’s great to find that Wen’s Chinese restaurant also produces good-quality, authentic dishes”.
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