West Yorkshire Restaurant Guide

“A brilliant new addition to Leed’s food scene” – Mark Owens and Elizabeth Cottam’s stylishly retro newcomer on Leeds oldest street wins nothing but positive feedback. From a seasonal, British, ten-course tasting menu (you can opt for the standard, vegetarian, or pescatarian version), “the food is imaginatively produced very well cooked and sensibly priced” (with a few reporters mentioning the ‘M’-word) but top billing goes to the “wonderful, well-spaced dining room which is classy and stylish” and has a superb atmosphere.

“It came out of nowhere!” – “You will need your satnav” to find this lonely pub that feels marooned on’t moors (but is actually quite near the M62). “From the outside, it’s a bare, unadorned building, and is pretty much the same inside, with a distinct lack of frills and ornamentation”. Under new ownership since February 2018, it’s immediately making a major name for itself (including in the national press) – “just hope it doesn’t get too busy now the secret is out!”. “A former sous-chef from respected Belgian restaurant, ‘In De Wulf’, has arrived in Calderdale and is doing extraordinary food”. “They make their own charcuterie and sourdough bread and cultured butter” and “with two repurposed pizza ovens they make their own charcoal and have an impressive charcoal stove-BBQ contraption”. “When it comes to the resulting food, it’s a sort of Basque Etxebarri meets Nordic on the Pennine moors, or maybe a sort of Rogan-style for people who like to eat heartily rather than be merely titillated”. “Exquisite!” Service is “really friendly and knowledgeable” too. “The wine list is apparently largely natural, but I had one of the best pints of bitter I’ve had in a long time”. “It’s a complete gem – I’ve now been nine times since it opened!”

For “a traditional afternoon tea in a venue with style” (plus “great breakfasts” and “superb” rostis) this much-loved, often oversubscribed institution is “a must if you are in Ilkley”…“long may it stay”. “Compared to Harrogate or York, the parking is much better and queues less long”.

“Well known on the Leeds dining circuit” – this “brilliant bustling and always busy” favourite is “top notch for romance” and serves “well-prepared, classic dishes all sensibly priced (as is the wine list)”.

On the banks of the River Wharfe in an attractive former paper mill with outside terrace, Alessandro and Elena Sofia’s fifteen-year-old venture is that rare creature: a rural, traditional Italian, with a menu running from pizza and pasta to more substantial dishes. It’s consistently well-rated in reports for all aspects of its operation, but most of all its “friendly” staff (“they even treat children as if they matter”).

“I must confess I thought it was going to be a classic style-over-substance place – actually it has style AND substance!” – D&D London’s sexy looking yearling on the rooftop of the Trinity shopping centre with terrace and sleek Kori Bar for cocktails wins nothing but praise for its “great Japanese small-plate dining possibilities” which encompass tempura, sushi, robatayaki, and so on.