Pizza Express, Clarence Dock

Pizza Express is one of the latest restaurants to open up in the shiny new Clarence Dock development. We took advantage of the 2-4-1 offer on its last day on Thursday and went for an evening meal.

This particular restaurant is on a corner plot, with full length windows on two sides, which gives a nice view of the surroundings, but when coupled with the tiled floors, marble topped tables, a room full of diners and the signature Pizza Express open plan kitchen, you can imagine the considerable din that we were subjected to on entering the restaurant.

The restaurant was packed, but another couple were about to leave and the table was reset and we were seated in less than 5 minutes. The menu as you would expect, is predominantly pizza based with a few salads and pasta dishes. The prices ranged between about £7 and £9 depending on toppings.

Liam had a Padana which was goats cheese, spinach and caramelised onion and I had the Four Seasons with mushrooms, mozzarella, peperoni, capers and anchovies. The pizzas here are made the traditional way with thin bases and simple combinations of toppings. They were both really tasty and the ingredients were of a good quality. We both cleared our plates (except for 1 anchovy, I ate the other but it was excessively salty).

For pudding Liam had an ice cream sundae which was enormous. In fact, looking around the room at other peoples meals, all of the puddings seemed to be the crazy size that chain restaurants insist on serving.

I chose the Semi Freddo Reale, marked as 'new' on the menu, which was a little ice cream based dessert, made with Marsala wine, nougat and praline, served with an espresso. This much to Liam's amusement and my relief came out served on a little tea plate. It was much smaller, but packed with flavour and the cool sweetness of the ice cream combined with the hot bitter coffee was lovely.

The service was just a little on the slow side, but to be fair, the restaurant was packed to the rafters and the waiting staff were working as fast as humanely possible. Despite the pressure the staff remained efficient, and hospitable. The waiter told us that the voucher offer was the reason for the crowds of people, and although it did expire this week, he seemed confident that due to its success something similar would be on offer during February.

The total bill including a bottle of wine after the £8.15 discount for a pizza came to £31 which I thought was good value. As chain restaurants go, Pizza Express is one of the better ones, with consistently high standards across the chain. This place has only been open a matter of weeks but the staff seem to be able to make it work even when the restaurant is at its busiest which is always a good thing.


The only drawback of the meal was the excessive noise level, which is acceptable for a casual midweek tea, but this is not the place for romance or an in depth conversation! There is outside seating available which I'm sure will be lovely once the weather is better as the area is completely pedestrianised.

Pizza Express:
*Consistently good
*Fair pricing
*Efficient service

Unit 1 Block H
Clarence Dock
Leeds
LS10 1LU
0113 245 4445
Website

Anthony's Patisserie, Victoria Quarter

We were walking through Victoria Quarter today pondering where to go for lunch when Liam stopped to take a look at the Anthony's Patisserie menu. I think it was the offer of a traditional cream tea that won him over.

The Patisserie is essentially an open air cafe that benefits from the glass roof that spans this enclosed shopping street. The atmosphere is smart and sophisticated, helped in part by the fancy window displays of the designer shops that flank the cafe. Although shielded from the rain, the VQ is not heated and is subject to chilly drafts from the open entrances, we therefore asked to be seated under one of the patio heaters which was lovely and cosy.

The menu is concise, and is lacking in any substantial savoury dishes. There is a small section of sandwiches and baked potatoes (all around the £4 mark) from which we chose a goats cheese and chive filled jacket and an egg mayo and locally cured bacon sandwich.

Liam really enjoyed his potato, saying that the filling was lovely. I found the sandwich to be ever so slightly average. The bread was a bit on the dry side and there was nothing in terms of seasoning or dressing to mark this sandwich out from any other I have had.

The main focus of this menu is the Patisserie element, with a large array of home made sweeties, pastries and cakes. Liam went for the aforementioned cream tea, and I for the macaroon selection.


The macaroons were brightly coloured, dainty, each with subtle flavouring (lemon ?raspberry, orange, pistachio, and chocolate). The texture was light and crispy with the contrast of dense butter cream and ganache fillings. To our surprise the cream tea came with 2 large scones which although delicious, were too much to take after a large jacket potato. Liam's only other criticism was that there wasn't enough clotted cream (although he refused my offer to ask the waiter for more).

I was slightly disappointed by the sandwich, but the sweet element of the meal more than made up for it. As for prices, the sweet items ranged between £2 and £4 and (very large) cups of tea were £2.20 each. Liam's cream tea was £5.95. I think in future I would come here just for afternoon tea or dessert, as it is the perfect location to sit and chat, people watch and celebrity spot (although as I have said before, I am rubbish at this, as I don't watch that many soaps or reality programmes, and there aren't that many 'proper' celebrities in Leeds!).

If you are visiting Leeds I suggest you go to Victoria Quarter just to take a look, its hailed as the Knightsbridge of the North and contains lovely grade 2* listed buildings, ornate mosaics, fountains and mahogany shopfronts. The breathtaking roof is the largest stained glass window in the UK at over 8000 square feet! The website has a load of photos

Anthony's Patisserie
*Sweet treats & afternoon tea
*Posh location & atmosphere
*Tip top service

37 Queen Victoria Street,
Victoria Quarter,
Leeds,
LS1 6BD
0113 2444 222
Website

A pint of Claret

Did you know that there is a place on the Headrow where you can have all you can eat and drink from a selection of tea, coffee, soup, squash and hot chocolate, crisps, biscuits and cake? The best thing about this place is that these aforementioned refreshments are absolutely free! That's right, all that food completely gratis!

All I had to do to get access to this feast was to provide the friendly staff with a pint of the finest 1984 vintage claret. (I make no apologies if the following image puts you off your food).

Only 4% of the population donate blood. I know if I had an accident or became seriously ill, I would expect all the help that the hospital could provide, which could include transfusions of blood products. These products cannot be made artificially in factories or labs, they have to come from the blood of donors. Just one unit of blood can be spilt into its component parts and be used to help a number of patients.

This time of year is when blood stocks and donations are at their lowest, but the hospitals are at their busiest. Donated blood is vitally important in the treatment of serious life threatening conditions. Take a look at the NBS website, it has tonnes of information about what happens when you donate, the blood that is collected and how it is used.

Please take a look at the website and give it some consideration.... and think of the free tea and cake. (You also get recognition for repeated donations, I gave my 10th donation today and got this certificate and badge!)

Whilst I'm on the subject, why don't you also consider adding your name to the organ donor register. Remember that you are three times as likely to need an organ transplant than you are to end up being a donor. Would you accept a donated organ if your kidneys failed and you relied on dialysis 3 times a week, or your heart and lungs were so diseased you didn't have the breath to walk around your house or climb the stairs? Add your name here.

Thank you.

Red Chilli

I visited Red Chilli last night with a group of friends from work. From the outside you can't see much of the restaurant. You enter down a stair case from street level where you are lead past the reception desk and bar, around a corner where the large and impressive dining room opens up in front of you.

The décor is modern but keeps a strong Chinese theme (and you know I *love* a theme!) with red high gloss ceiling panels, black lacquered wood, and Chinese style carvings and calligraphy on the walls. With all this you would expect the restaurant to feel a bit naff, but the addition of crisp table linen, thick carpets and frosted glass partitions between the tables makes for a distinctly luxurious and upmarket atmosphere. (Check out the photo gallery!)

As we took our seats we were each presented with a weighty tome entitled 'menu'. The choice of dishes here is varied and vast. I always find it a bit disconcerting when you have to leaf though several pages containing scores of dishes to choose your meal. You can find a pdf of the menu on their website if you want to check it out.

We decided it would be best to order something different each and then share our dishes.
For starters we ordered the fail safe crispy duck, some meat and vegetable spring rolls, diced pork steam buns, crispy seaweed and steamed dumplings. The portions here are generous, for example the spring rolls and steamed buns were large in size and served in portions of 3, you could easily share these starters between two if you were looking for a slightly lighter meal or trying to leave room for pudding.

The main courses we chose were deep fried pork in sweet vinegar, diced chicken with peas, pepper and peanuts, big grandmas stir fried frogs legs, a beef dish, and some crispy fried chicken that was served with some absolutely eye wateringly hot miniature chillies! The waitress suggested that we order 3 portions of rice to share which was more than enough to go around. All of the dishes were good, all distinctly different. The pork in sweet vinegar was by far the best in my opinion, and the pea & peanut chicken was also very different but delicious. And yes, frogs legs do taste like chicken, very soft, lean, tender chicken.


We didn't have room for pudding after all this, we still had food left over which the staff kindly boxed up for us to take away. The damage for 5 of us, including wine was an impressive £90.50 which worked out at just £18 a head.

The vastness of the menu here means that there is something for everyone. If you lean more to the adventurous side with your food you may be interested in the following delights that we spotted on the menu... Husband and Wife's lung (!), five spice pigs head, snow balls, donkey rolled in mud, braised pig trotter, and stir fried pigs intestine with spring onion. If you don't lean that way there is no shame in sticking with the spring rolls and lemon chicken!

If you don't want to tackle the main menu, there is a great 3 course lunch menu where for £8 you can choose a soup and a dim sum dish and then choose a meat/veg and have it cooked in any one of 10 sauces.

Red Chilli claims on the menu to be a restaurant that has a mission to enhance your experience of Chinese food whilst caring for your pocket, stomach and soul! I think its fair to say they live up to this claim.

Red Chilli:
*Classy ambiance
*Try something different
*Reasonably priced

6 George Street,
Leeds,
0113 2429688
Website

Grub Excursion #6 York

Liam and I went for a little day out in York yesterday. I didn't really plan an itinerary before I left, but I wish I had, as I invariably get lost wandering down the little side streets and I can never remember how to find the places I have visited before.

The first such location is Oscars, lovely a wine bar where I have dined a few times with my friend Kate who is a York resident. Yesterday I was trying to guide a hungry Liam towards his lunch there when after 30 minutes of 'its just up here I'm sure' and 'oh I remember this bit, its just around this corner' he started to doubt its existence and pleaded that we just stop in the Slug and Lettuce.

Looking at the maps now I have a feeling that we were within a stones throw of the place. Never mind. We did however on our travels find a building that carried a banner declaring that this would be the new location for Oscars come the start of February. Maybe next time we visit I will successfully find the old Oscars boarded up, and then not be able to locate the new one!

I have eaten in this York branch and the Leeds branch of Slug and Lettuce before and they both have been consistently decent. Liam had scampi and chips, which I guess were pretty average judging by the way he shrugged his shoulders and said 'its just scampi and chips' when asked for a verdict. I had the butternut squash, spinach and goats cheese lasagne which was really yummy and a good sized portion, and as always with S&L reasonably priced. (I have just noticed on the Web page that they have a voucher for 50% off food at the moment)

This particular branch has a good reputation locally for being very family friendly (I have also eaten here in the past with Kate and her then baby daughter) and it was fair to say that this is still the case, as there were at least 6 prams and buggies parked up in our area of the dining room.

After lunch we had a look around the shops, walked down the Shambles, visited the Roman Bathhouse Museum, and walked a section of the wall.

Fortunately we stumbled across another York favourite of mine, the Milk Shack. This place will take any chocolate bar, cake, or confection of your choosing and blend it into a wickedly sweet milkshake. They claim to have 150 varieties. You can see all of the choices displayed on a huge shelf unit across the side wall. Today I had the Reece's Peanut Cup flavour. Delicious. Their menu is Here (along with map to find the shop).

Another place I couldn't find was the Fudge Kitchen where you can see the fudge being made and try samples. If your navigation is as bad as mine, there is a video of the process on their website.

All in all a lovely day but next time I am going to take a map and research the addresses of these places before I leave!

On the subject of York, I have recently come across a great blog called York Daily Photo. I recommend you take a look!

Pickles and Potter revisited

Its been over 6 months now since my first ever review on this blog, which featured Pickles and Potter deli. I visited again today whilst out shopping with Liam. Liam has never been before and he was instantly taken. We both ordered the roast beef special, filled with fresh salad, a choice of cheese, onion marmalade, mustard, and the most succulent rare roast beef.

We ate in on this occasion and sat in the armchairs in the quaint cosy seating area. Since starting this blog I have thought much more about the food I eat, and what the term 'value for money' really means. This is the best sandwich I have eaten since... well since the last time I ate at Pickles and Potter. This really is the best place to get a sandwich in the whole of Leeds, yes you pay a little more than other places but it really is worth every penny.

Its the little things that make the difference too, with our cups of tea resting on the tea spoons we found tiny little squares of the most delicious chocolate brownie. Perfection.

Apparently there is a new branch opening in Headingley too.

Read my original review here
Rich at Them Apples has also written a review

Pickles and Potter Deli:
*Amazing food
*Cosy atmosphere
*An everyday treat

18-20 Queens Arcade,
Leeds,
LS1 6LF
0113 242 7702

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The Packhorse Woodhouse Lane

On Sunday I had a lovely afternoon sat with friends in the pub playing board games. How civilised.

There are two Packhorse pubs in Leeds, this one is the one up by the University of Leeds on the corner of Hyde Park.

We met early afternoon, had a few beers and lunch before we got down to the serious business of the games. The menu is nothing unusual for a pub, sandwiches, chips, burgers, and roast dinners on a Sunday. I was pretty impressed with the prices, a basic burger and chips with 1 topping was less than £3. I paid £4.95 for a spicy bean burger topped with brie, with salad, chips and (just 2) onion rings. (Sorry about the bite mark in the burger- I hadn't had breakfast and got carried away and forgot to take a photo first!)

In my opinion the food was good value, filling and tasty. Not the best quality, but what can you realistically expect at that price? The service was very quick, as the various orders for the group of 12 were all served within 20mins. Everyone appeared to enjoy their meals with the only complaint being that the BBQ sauce was a bit 'dodgy'.

I wouldn't go here for a special occasion or romantic dinner, but for a lunch with mates its fine and certainly more comfortable than the adjacent takeaways.

The Packhorse:
*Really cheap
*Generous portions
*Lots of vegetarian options

208 Woodhouse Lane
Leeds
LS2 9ES
0113 245 3980

N.B The Packhorse often has bands playing in the room upstairs. Checkout their gig listings here.

More restaurant special offers

With the economic climate like it is, restaurants are suffering like all other businesses. As a result many are offering some really good deals to try to get bums on seats.

This page on money saving expert.com has a comprehensive list of vouchers that are available, many are 2-4-1 or 50% and are for popular names such as Zizzi, La Tasca and Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Take a look to see if any of your favourites are listed.

Click here for deals

Tampopo

When you go to Tampopo you don't expect any gimmicks or cheesy themes like other oriental restaurants. The interior is simple, you sit on long bench seats (elbow to elbow with other diners at busy times) and the open kitchen runs down one side of the dining area. The only gimmick is authentic Pan-Asian cuisine.

The food is fresh, simple and hearty, the menu consists mainly of noodle and rice dishes, curries and stir fries.

On this occasion for a starter I had gyoza, little meat filled Japanese dumplings. The filling was sweet and juicy and the dumplings themselves soft and tender, with a slight crispiness where they had been finished in the frying pan.

For the main course I had a Thai red curry. The flavour was fresh and fragrant with lime leaves and chillies, balanced with the sweetness of coconut milk and peanuts. Absolutely brilliant!

Liam had Pho Xao Bo, a Vietnamese stir fry with rump steak and lemon grass. He said that it was usually very nice but this time it wasn't the best he had had. I sometimes find the the stir fries, although tasty a bit 'samey' after a whole plate full.

The desert menu consists of classic dishes with exotic twists. I opted for the crème brulee with ginger which was perfect.

I have eaten here several times, and never had a duff meal, the food is always freshly prepared and you can tell that the ingredients are of a high quality. The service is always friendly and relativity efficient and the prices more than reasonable.

There is also a lunchtime/ early bird deal which offers a starter and a main for just £6.95 if you dine between 12 and 7. I love Tampopo, the atmosphere is relaxed and the food is good. Its a great place for a lunch with friends or a casual evening meal.

They have a great website here

Tampopo:
*Simple fresh food
*Reasonably priced
*Casual buzzing atmosphere

15 South Parade, Leeds.
LS1 5QS
0113 245 1816

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sat: Noon - 11pm
Sunday: Noon - 10pm