National Vegetarian Week 2010

If you didn't already know, this week is National Vegetarian Week (24th-30th May).

On reflection there is a desperately sad lack of vegetarian restaurants in the city. I am a hardened meat eater, but I do enjoy meat free dishes. I also have a sister who is veggie and am aware of how hard it is for her to find good restaurant food sometimes. With 3% of the population strict vegetarians and 5% avoiding some types of meat/fish (FSA) you would think that places would try a little harder.

Here is a round up of vegetarian and veggie friendly places in Leeds- I haven't been to all of them yet so I cant vouch for quality on all of them.

Vegetarian Restaurants:

Hansas Gujarati: Completely vegetarian and mostly vegan Indian cuisine. They do a good Sunday buffet lunch too. Website Review

Roots and Fruits: Little cafe serving a selection of soups, sandwiches and salads among other things. Vegan friendly. Website

Cheerful Chilli: Cafe/tea room up at Otley Chevin, open weekday evenings, and weekend daytimes. BYO policy. Website

Shops:

Out of this world: Ethical supermarket, selling veggie/ vegan foods, prepackaged and fresh from the deli counter. Review



Veggie Friendly Restaurants:

Salsa Mexicana: Cool little Mexican restaurant. The style of the food means that most dishes can be adapted to be meat free. Website Review

Chaporayah: Quality Thai food. Menu has distinct veggie section with plenty of choices Website Review

Org Organics: Shop and cafe/takeaway specialising in wholesome foods including plenty of veggie stuff. Website

Wokon: Great takeaway noodle bar has veggie options or you can create your own combos. Website Review

Little Tokyo: Japanese style theme restaurant with tofu and veggie options on the menu. Tempura veg is the best in the city in my opinion. Review

Add any more suggestions in the comments section!

Image courtesy of the Vegetarian Society.

The Engine House Cafe

After a recommendation from a twitter follower, we went down to the Engine House for breakfast. The cafe is located in Holbeck Urban village, in the area behind the Midnight Bell pub.

Outside there are plenty of tables and chairs, next to the 'Wonderwood' garden. There it is sheltered from the wind, south facing and away from the road making it quite a nice little place to sit. Alternatively inside you can enjoy the cosy atmosphere and the old industrial metal and brick interior of the cafe.

The breakfast menu is a traditional offering. We chose the salmon and scrambled egg with toast for £5.25.

Drinks were served promptly (good coffee and although not fresh squeezed, nice quality orange juice) and the food arrived not long after. We were impressed by the presentation and generous portions. The food was simple but had been chosen/cooked well.The total including 2 drinks each was £16.45 which I thought was pretty good for what was a good tasty breakfast in really nice surroundings. We noticed they do a 3 course evening menu including a glass of wine/beer for £16.95 which will be worth going back to try.

Engine House Cafe
*Good value breakfasts
*Quality ingredients
*Nice atmosphere/location

2 Foundry Square
Holbeck
Leeds
LS11 5DL

0113 391 2980

Website

Pots 'n' Pies

We visited the Otley show at the weekend. There wasn't as much foodie stuff as I would have liked to have seen but I did pick up some pies from the Pots 'n' Pies stall.

The pies are made locally and have a interesting range of flavours from the traditional such as 'steak and ale' to the slightly more interesting such as 'duck and rhubarb' and 'squirrel'.

The pastry was a soft shortcrust pastry, obviously home made and the fillings were generous and tasty. The Cumberland and steak and ale were particularly good.

I dared to try the squirrel which could be described as a cross between rabbit and chicken in taste.

All of the pies that we tried were good- worth looking out for and trying if you get the chance.

Pots 'n' pies can be found at farmers markets all over the area- check out their website for details.

Pots 'n' pies
*Hand made local pies
*Tasty and generously filled
*Interesting range of flavours

07515652611/07889199945

Website

A round up of stuff....

Not many reviews recently due to being busy with shift work and other things- normal service will be resumed soon I hope.

In the meantime a round up of thing that are not post worthy on their own but still kinda worth mentioning.

Jamie's Italian has opened, no fancy parties or sign of the man himself, just an opening on a Monday 'business as usual'. Reports of queues to be seated stretching outside the door verified when I walked past tonight. Reviews can be found on the Globe Troffers Guardian Leeds.

Two closures to report: Italian restaurant Portofino- apparently after one of the owners was sent down for fruad (tip off there from a reader- thanks!) and Kostas olive bar in the market.

City Inn have been promoting their waterside terrace with a bit of a launch party this week. The whole Granary Wharf area is lovely in the sunshine, being a bit more compact and occupied than Clarence Dock giving it more of an atmosphere. The adjacent bar 'The Hop' is also some where I need to go soon- Tom Goodhand's review here in the Leeds Guide.

The Leeds Guide have this week launched the first edition of their 'Yorkshire Chefs Cookbook'. Its a compact spiral bound book featuring recipes from local restaurants. For me I like to cook basic stuff at home and leave the fancy stuff for the chefs in the restaurants so this book is not really my thing, however Em who attended the launch with me really liked it and thought it would be a great basis for dinner party menus.

Another criticism from Paul at How Not To Do a Food Blog is that it has the feeling of being a 'paid advertorial'. I tend to agree with him on that point. Rich at Them Apples has also posted a review. For £3.99 its maybe a nice foodie gift or good as a tourist souvenir.

If you want my goodie bag from the launch containing a copy of the book, a recent edition of the Leeds guide and a copy of their 2009/10 eating out guide send me an email (leedsgrub@hotmail.com) containing your name by midnight Monday 24th May and I will pick a winner at random. Normal T&C's apply.

Grub Excursion #17 Liverpool- Home

Home cafe is located in the Woodside ferry terminal in Birkenhead, we decided to pop in for lunch as it was convenient and it looked very welcoming.

The cafe is in what looks to be an old waiting room, with a modern clean finish and if you are seated upstairs amazing views back over the Mersey to Liverpool.

Our drinks orders were taken promptly but the drinks took a little while to arrive. Our food orders were then taken. There was a huge selection of all day breakfast items, gourmet sandwiches and an interesting set of specials.

That is when the real wait began. The cafe was not particularly busy from what we could see, and one young waitress seemingly running the floor looked fraught despite the lack of a crowd. After 40 minutes she came to the table and told us that my sisters dish was not available, but the dishes would all be ready in 10 minutes from the new order.Now quite hungry we ordered another round of drinks to sustain us.

The food did then arrive less than 10 minutes later with much apology. My steak sandwich was tasty and had a good chunky bit of beef in it. My sisters substitute fry up dish looked a bit of a mess and was 'ok'. To be honest by that point we were so hungry we scoffed down the food without a second thought.Annoyingly our drinks had not arrived by the time we had finished eating, so we cancelled the order and went down to the till to pay as we were becoming pushed for time and didn't want to spend any longer hanging around. The manager at the till apologised for the long waits and knocked the drinks off the bill without being asked which we appreciated.

She explained to us that an unexpected coach party had arrived and overwhelmed them. This puzzled us slightly as when we arrived the cafe was not even 1/3 full and we did not see any large group arrive en masse. Maybe the kitchen had failed to compose themselves after being swamped previously.

All in all it was a disappointing experience and frustrating as the location was lovely, the food enjoyable, and staff individually friendly and willing to help, but I cannot recommend Home due to the shambolic lack of organisation that I experienced whilst I was there.

Home

*Lovely location
*Tasty cafe food
*Slow, disorganised service

Woodside Ferry Terminal
Birkenhead
Merseyside
CH41 6DU

Grub Excursion #17 Liverpool- Sapporo

I visited Liverpool for the weekend partly for a spot of morris dancing but also for my Mums birthday treat.

For dinner we decided on Sapporo Tappanyaki. It was very busy and we had to book a table and come back later. On our return we were given a pager and sent to the bar to wait for our table.

We ordered a round of Sapporo Slings which took a while to make but were worth it for the 'Club Tropicana' styling and the dangerously unalcoholic fruit punch taste.
A few minutes later our pager rang and we reported back to the maitre d' to be seated. The idea of Tappenyaki is that food is cooked on an iron hot plate in front of you at the table. You are sat in groups of 10 at each grill, so we were sat with 2 other parties which did not bother me but may not be to every ones taste.After the orders were taken we had a bit of a wait before the chef arrived. After 10 minutes the chef came over and started up the grill and began to fry some sliced potatoes. While these were cooking our starters arrived. I had a mixed selection of sushi. The sushi menu was quite tame and Anglicised with smoked salmon, crab sticks and even cheese featuring! Nevertheless it was perfectly tasty.While the chef was cooking, he began to do ticks such as juggling with cooking utensils and flicking bits of potato and catching them in his hat. He then challenged us to catch flicked bits of potato in our mouths. It was all very silly but quite entertaining- especially when he started doing tricks with raw eggs, spinning them on the grill and then flicking and catching them with his spatula.

All of this caused quite a lot of noise and will all of the tables experiencing the same at various points of the evening it meant that the restaurant was quite raucous.

We watched as a vegetable stir fry and rice dish were cooked and shared out and then finally the meats were cooked. This took a little while as it was done in batches depending on the type of meat. This meant we all got our food at different times but when it was ready it was good.It's not authentic Japanese food by any stretch- this type of tappenyki restaurant was a 20th century invention for the tourist trade in the first place. It is however a great deal of fun and a great idea for special occasions and parties. Price wise it worked out at £35-£40 a head including the cocktails and other drinks which isn't that cheap, but you do get the added value of the novelty and entertainment.

Sapporo Tappenyaki
*Entertaining party restaurant
*Tasty but slightly unauthentic food
*Slightly expensive

134 Duke Street
East Village
Liverpool
L1 5AG
0151 705 3005

Website

The Reliance

I have wanted to go for a meal at The Reliance for ages, but every time I think of going I have got there too late and found it packed full with nowhere to sit.

There was already a lively buzz when we arrived just after 6pm and judging by all the people in suits it appears to be a favoured after work meeting point.

Its a pretty trendy place in a shabby chic kind of way. The huge full length windows let in loads of light, and there is an assortment of dining room tables, leather arm chairs and church pews to sit on.

Food wise its probably best described as modern British, with dishes that are inventive without being silly. Menus change with the seasons and they state that the meat is locally reared.

For my starter I had wild boar ribs from the specials board, served with a chili jam. The jam was not really needed as the ribs were tasty enough to eat on their own. It was a good sized portion, just a bit tricky to eat as the ribs were served still joined, meaning I had to separate them at the table which was a bit of a task.
I had rainbow trout with crushed new potatoes and a saffron butter sauce for my main course and Liam had steak and chips.

The rainbow trout had a perfectly crispy skin from being pan seared, and the dish as a whole was well balanced with the light flavours and textures working well together.The portions were a good size and the presentation great. I really liked all of the finishing touches such as the battered spring onions with the steak- an interesting twist on the traditional onion ring.

Despite the restaurant getting pretty busy, service was attentive and efficient throughout with drinks and food arriving promptly.

Price wise The Reliance is a few quid more than most restaurant/ bar places as it is definitely more gastro pub than pub grub but the price is well justified considering the excellent taste and presentation. Starters are around £5 and main courses range from £9-£13.

The Reliance
*Trendy gastro pub/bar
*Top notch food
*Good service

76-78 North Street
Leeds
LS2 7PN
0113 295 6060

Website

North Bar

After another interesting and super tasty supper at Distrikt, Gev and I decided to head up to North Bar for some after dinner digestifs.

North Bar is a simple affair, no fancy themes or decor- It doesn't need it, because North is all about the beer. Not only do the have an extensive ever changing range of beers on tap, there is a huge selection of bottled beers from all over the world.

If you cant decide what to have there is the option of a tasting selections of various sizes starting at £3.50 for 4 third pint measures, or just ask the staff as they seem to know their stuff.
North dont really have a food menu as such but if you get the beer munchies you can get hot pies made by I's pies and huge chunks of cheese and bread, simple but just what is needed.There isn't much more to say, except if you like art there is an ever changing exhibition from local artists on the wall, and if you like mucking about when you have had too much ale, there are chalk boards on the walls in the toilets. These were the source of much amusement to us....
North Bar is great because it sticks with what it does best and doesn't try to be anything else, so sit back, relax and enjoy the beer and the chilled out atmosphere.

North Bar
*Super cool bar
*Amazing range of ales
*Bread, cheese & pies for munchies

24 New Briggate,
Leeds
Tel 0113 242 4540

Website

Maliks

Maliks have a small restaurant behind the Merrion centre in the city centre, but I decided to order take away.

The restaurant uses the Just Eat website for its online ordering, which is easy enough to use as it adds up the bill as you choose things and it allows you to pay by card.

The Just Eat website told me that my food should be delivered within 15 mins which I thought was a bit unrealistic. The order actually arrived in just over 30 minutes which I think is perfectly reasonable.

For £10.70 I got the following: onion bhajis, meat samosas (including yogurt dip) chicken jaipuri and a peshwari naan.All were hot when they arrived and I think the portion sizes were good.

The bhajis and samosas were averagely good, and the naan had a good amount of coconut in it giving it a nice sweet flavour which is just what I like.

The curry was described as 'A traditional Jaipur Dish, cooked with onion, garlic, ginger, almond, and a special Jaipur masala, with nutmeg flavoured creamy mild sauce. Garnished with fresh cream and juliann ginger'.

For something that was described as having a mild sauce it was actually quite hot, and had quite a few bits of chilli in it. Otherwise it was a perfectly average tasty curry, nothing exceptional, nothing out of the ordinary.


Maliks
*Average curry house
*Online ordering available
*Good portion sizes

11 Merrion Way

Leeds
LS2 8BT

Get Directions

0113 246 8828

Website

Little Tokyo

I went to Little Tokyo with Emma from Culture Vulture for a pre theatre dinner last night. Little Tokyo is a restaurant with a bit of cult following in Leeds- there seems to be two camps, those who like me love it and a small miserable minority who knock it for being unauthentic and Chinese owned with Chinese staff. To me this is a bit of weak argument on which to judge a place- the chip shop where I grew up is owned by a Chinese family and to this day they still cook the best fish and chips for miles around.

From the street the tinted windows make it hard to see what the inside of the restaurant might actually be like. Little Tokyo comes top of the class when it comes to theming out a restaurant- tables are made of slices of real tree trunk, seats are benches with cushions sunk into the floor (therefore not advisable as a place to take your grandma for lunch) there are twinkling lights in the ceiling and even a little wooden bridge that crosses a pond of koi carp!

Service here has never been spot on, and it is apparent that things have not changed. Emma arrived first and had already had a drink when I got there. I asked the waitress who seated us if I could have a drink and was told someone else would take my order. The second waitress didn't arrive for a further 5 mins and it was 5 mins after that before I got my drink- not a good start.

The service is not completely terrible, just frustratingly disjointed. I think part of the problem is that there seems to be a system where everyone has their own job- front of house, order takers, drink deliverers, food delivers and bill presenters, and if you ask someone to do something outside of their remit, you get a startled rabbit in the headlights look and a muttered apology as they scuttle off to find the right person for the job.

The menu has a a selection of dumplings and spring rolls etc for starters and a small selection of sushi. We skipped this and went straight for the bentos.

The bento boxes average £13-£15 and each contain a portion of rice, salad in their home made dressing, tempaura vegetables (in my opinion the best in Leeds for this, light and crispy yum!) and then the main course of your choice (which includes some good veggie/vegan options). I had a chicken dish, but I cant remember what as there is no website or menu to refer back to. The chicken was soft and delicate in a rich sauce and although the portions are not huge, with all the combined elements the meal is more than enough.We were not going to have pudding, but then after looking at the menu we decided that we should have something. Emma had the Japanese style profiteroles - fried pastry dumplings, still slightly warm filled with ice cream and covered in syrup. These were deliciously moreish and a nice light thing to pick at and share.

It says on the menu that the ice creams and sorbets are made in house. I chose the grapefruit and Bombay Sapphire sorbet. It came presented in a frozen kiwi and rose petal bowl which I loved. The flavour was of intense refreshing grapefruit, I couldn't really discern the flavour of the Gin, but regardless it was a lovely light palate cleanser.The bill worked out at just under £25 a head. Its not the cheapest place in the city, but I think the meal represents reasonable value.

It may not be totally authentic, but I don't profess to be any kind of authority on Japanese food. The decor and presentation however do enough to convince the uninitiated like me that they have had a real Japanese experience. If it tastes good and makes you happy (I have never left here disappointed) then I think that is good enough for me.

Little Tokyo
*Frequently iffy service
*Amazing decor and ambiance
*Averagely tasty food

24 Central Road
Leeds
LS1 6DE
01132439090

Beer Ritz

If you like beer, you will love Beer Ritz- a tiny little shop tucked away off the main street in Headingley. This Aladdin's cave of ales specialises in brews from Britain and Belgium but stocks beers from all over the world.

I was completely overwhelmed by the choice, but the knowledgeable staff member helped me pick an interesting selection from the shelves.

I find the range of styles and flavours of ales available fascinating- its a revelation after spending years drinking fizzy mass produced larger.If the range in the shop is not enough for you (or you are not in Leeds) the online shop has an even bigger range available for delivery.There is also a small selection of wines on offer too if that is your thing.

This is a brilliant little specialist shop- absolutely worth a visit.

Beer Ritz
*Huge range of bottled beers
*Knowledgeable staff
*Competitive prices

14 Weetwood Lane
Headingley
Leeds,
LS16 5LX
0113 275 3464

Website

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of a few pubs and bars belonging to Market Town Taverns- a small chain with pubs in Leeds and a few of the nearby towns.

Arcadia is pretty special because it has to be one of the only pubs in Headingly that students do not frequently visit. Its not like they have a sign saying 'No one in fancy dress or skinny jeans' or burly bouncers on the door turning them away, it just seams that the students respectfully let it be.

Maybe its because from the outside Arcadia doesn't look that fancy, located in the 60's concrete Arndale centre, it certainly doesn't have the usual posters in the window advertising the price of the alcopops (they don't serve them) and shots.

Inside the decor is simple, a scrubbed wood floor, plain walls save a few pictures and wooden tables and chairs.

What makes Arcadia great is that it is a proper real ale pub, a free house that always has a decent selection of ales on tap and bottled world beers behind the bar. Its a quiet little haven where you can have a nice grown up drink after shopping or a sporting event, or on an evening before you head into the inevitable carnage of the student pubs further down the road!

Arcadia
*Real ales
*Unpretentious and honest
*Possibly the only student free bar in Headingley

34 Arndale Centre
Headingely
LS6 2UE
0113 274 5599

Website