Dewsbury Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “A popular local staple for many years”, this posh and hugely successful pub has been run by the Truelove family since 1968 and – much extended over the years – is known for its “consistently good food and service, with a great atmosphere”. Supporters reckon it is currently “back on form and, though expensive, a great meal is guaranteed (potted shrimps and shellfish superb!)”. A contrary view is that “the dining room decor is in a time warp, with no hint of frivolity to brighten the dullness”, while the “surprisingly long menu could do with being edited”, and the dishes arrive in “generous portions, but lack finesse”.

2024 Review: “An airy space with unusual dishes and great cooking” – this comfortable independent opposite the civic hall scored highly in this year’s annual diners’ poll. The focus is on small plates, some of them very original: who’s for ‘honey, soy and gochujang roast carrots, toasted sesame, with tahini satay’?

A report of “the best meal of the last year” is indicative of the quality of the food at this modern canalside venture in the city centre, which originally opened five years ago at Kirkgate Market. Chef Mark Owens, who trained at Le Gavroche and was head chef at the Box Tree, sends out a souped-up gastropub menu featuring the likes of beef & oyster sausages. Founder Liz Cottam closed her flagship restaurant, Home, last year.

“Epic, authentic Indian street food that’s so moreish” is paired with craft beer (much of it from their own brewery in Manchester) at Mayur Patel & Marko Husak’s student-fave haunt, which started out here at Mill Hill in 2014 and has expanded to three more sites. “The best of the best when it comes to street food – a real taste of India”, many a guest does not even register that the Gujarati-based menu is entirely vegetarian or vegan. Top Tip – “the chaat is unbelievably addictive!”.

A lot of business has been done over “lovely food, very well served” at this Leeds institution – a classic French restaurant that’s “been going forever” (well, since 1991 – “I don’t think the menu has changed but it’s really nice food for a business lunch or dinner”). Founded by restaurateur Robert Chamberlain and executive chef Andrew Carter, who still run the show, it occupies a basement in the city’s financial district. Top Tip – the heavyweight wine list runs to 70 pages.

“If you want to know how the best Pakistani curries taste, come to Akbar’s” – a “fun and buzzy” spot that, according to one local reporter, is “the curry house I always tip to visitors” (“the authentic section of the menu is full of the most incredible flavours”). Charismatic founder Shabir Hussain (known to friends and admirers as ‘Bash’, ‘the King of Curry’) sadly died in 2024; his funeral attracted 5,000 mourners. He started out with a 28-seat canteen, which he expanded over three decades into a group of 10 venues from Birmingham to Glasgow.

“When you want a hipster burger dripping in your beard, this place delivers!” – Scott Collins’s “buzzy, vibey” joints are notorious for their “really good dirty burgers” with memorable names (the ‘Dead Hippie’ and its veggie cousin the ‘Tempeh Tantrum’), plus “excellent buffalo wings with blue-cheese sauce”. In early 2025 he opened spinoff venture BLOODsports in a Covent Garden basement (see also), showing live sports and horror films on large-screen TVs.

The city’s oldest pub – tucked away for more than three centuries in a narrow alley off Briggate and once hailed by poet laureate John Betjeman as ‘the very heart of Leeds’ – is no mere museum piece, and does a “fabulous Sunday roast” among other hearty dishes based around ingredients sourced from ‘God’s own country’. The ornate and well-preserved interior decor is well worth a look, too.

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.

Handy for Leeds Playhouse, a “lovely French restaurant that‘s been there forever and understandably” – it provides much of what you’d want from a Gallic bistro recreated in a northern town: relaxed, affordable (it has long been of note for its early-bird deals), unpretentious, and with cosy décor that seems even cosier by the light of flickering candles.

2024 Review: Chef-patron Eric Paxman trained under Marco Pierre White in London and Bill Granger in Australia, and has cooked for luminaries including Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vowed ‘I’ll be back’ – a sentiment shared by numerous guests at the venture he opened in his hometown 14 years ago. “Lunch and early-bird evening specials are an exceptional bargain”.