Emmaus

This is a bit of a cheeky post to draw your attention to a really worthwhile local cause.

Emmaus is a national organisation with a branch in Leeds. The offer supported living and work for previously homeless people. The community works together collecting, renovating and selling donated furniture. You may have seen their small stall on Leeds Market, but did you know that they have a bigger showroom just outside of the city centre near to Quarry Hill?

It was the first time I had been in this week and I don't know why I hadn't been in sooner. All of the furniture has been nicely cleaned up and polished and some things repainted and reupholstered. Dining room tables complete with chairs are all around £60-£80 and book cases, cabinets and coffee tables start at just a tenner depending on the size and quality of the item.

There are also books and clothes for sale.

At the back of the shop there is a little cafe which is the pretence of this post- the menu is pretty simple, just fry ups (£3.50) sandwiches (around £1.50) and jacket potatoes (around £2). I had a tuna mayo salad and a latte which came to a grand total of £3.50.

Its in no way fancy but its pleasant enough and the staff are all really friendly. The offer of hot drinks from 60p is obviously appealing if you work in the area- it seemed to be a bit of an unofficial canteen for traffic wardens- I saw a few come and go whilst I was sat there. Like the furniture they sell, the Emmaus cafe is not anything special but it does a good job for the price.

If you are setting up home on a budget, kitting out student digs or just like a good bargain this is a great place. Alternatively if you have furniture you would like to donate give them a call.


Emmaus@Home
*Good quality refurbished furniture
*Basic cheap cafe
*Great local charity

St Mary's Street
Leeds
LS9 7DP

Phone: 0113 248 4288
info@Emmausleeds.co.uk

Monday to Saturday
9.00am - 4.45pm

Website

Cottage Bakery

James took me to one of his favourite bakeries today, the Cottage Bakery in Oulton. Its tucked up a side street, hardly noticeable from the road.

You have to park on the road side and walk up the short drive way to the shop which indeed is no more than a cottage. I was surprised to find a queue of five people inside already waiting.

Everything was pretty traditional, pies and pasties, breadcakes, loaves, sandwiches, cakes and scones.

We purchased some scufflers, an amazing looking cream scone, a sort of iced Bakewell slice and some 'savoury slices'-  bread baked with onion, bacon and cheese. I'm not totally sure how they were made but I think the bread was baked with the filling already inside and then sliced up.

So ok its not fine dining, but what we had tasted great and did us just fine for a bit of an impromptu picnic lunch in Rothwell Park.

This place is busy for a reason- unfussy, everyday decent food for a reasonable price. Worth a visit if you are in the area.

The Cottage Bakery
*Traditional Bakery
*Sandwiches + savouries freshly made
*Great cakes

4 Willow Square
Oulton
LS26 8JZ
0113 282 3282

Create

I have been keen to try Create since it opened its doors around 6 months ago.

Since the beginning of the year they have been running an excellent offer of 2 courses each for 2 people for the price of just £18.50. (The main menu is quite a bit more).

The restaurant has a really fresh bright modern feel, with the accent colours picked out from the logo set off against a grey and white backdrop.


The £18.50 menu is of course restricted, but there is still a good variety of dishes for each course. The dishes appeared to be modern with an adventurous edge. I chose the squid with black pudding which surprisingly worked really well! 

Like the starters the main courses were really well presented. James had a fantastic venison burger with sweet cured bacon and a stack of chips. I had the smoked haddock of which the crowning glory was a crumbed, deep fried poached egg. Fantastic. The dressing was similar to that of the starter but I didn't mind as it tasted great.

The portion sizes were not huge, but they were more than adequate and for the price to be expected.

We decided to pay extra for puddings and coffee. A varied cheese board was £6 and for £4.50 I had toasted bananas with marshmallows and white chocolate ice cream. Simple and sweet. 

You may not know that Create is actually an organisation that provides support and training to disadvantaged people within Leeds, so as well as having a great meal you can get the extra satisfaction of knowing all of the profits get ploughed back into their good work. 

The total bill with drinks was £41. This deal is available weekdays until the 9th March so well worth checking out as a good quality, good value midweek treat.

Create

*Interesting dishes

*Great value menu

*Supporting a good cause

31 King Street,
Leeds,
LS1 2HL
0113 242 0628

Website

Kurry King, Swillington

This was a lazy Sunday night take away tea. We ordered from Kurry King in Swillington.

It's an all purpose take away selling burgers and kebabs along side the advertised curries.

We ordered through Just Eat - always easier I think as the order can be clearly ordered and the price checked and paid for at the time.

The food took an hour to arrive to Kippax - in the snow.  Understandable given the driving conditions but this would be unacceptable at any other time.

Annoyingly some of the poppadoms arrived slightly burned which shows a bit of a lack of attention to detail as this is something that could be easily fixed before the order is dispatched.

The curries themselves came served with a choice of chapatti or rice and were really tasty and were are reasonable sized portion.

The bill with all the extras such as onion bhajis ,samosas. pickles etc was £16.90 which I think is probably about average for what was a good quality take away. Its just a shame that the service side of things let them down.

Kurry King

*Averagely priced take away
*Slow delivery (possibly due to snow)
*Shame about the burned poppadoms

12 Church Lane
Swillington
LS26 8DX

Website

Grub Excursion #28 Cafe 1901 Jesmond, Newcastle

Jesmond is an up and coming suburb 20 minute walk from the city centre of Newcastle with a range of shops and cafes frequented by students and young professionals.

Cafe 1901, located in a imposing looking Methodist church building gives the impression of being a bit of a hidden gem.

From the street you get no idea of the large room with its high ceiling that houses the coffee shop within. The furniture and decorations appear to have been salvaged from junk shops and car boot sales, with old signs and framed prints on the wall and heavy old fashioned tables and chairs.


Having already eaten a huge lunch we decided that we would just have tea and cake. There was a good selection of fresh cakes. Gev chose a baked cheesecake and I had carrot cake. When the cake was delivered, I had been given 2 pieces, the man explaining that he thought the cake had been cut too small so he had given me the extra piece as compensation!

The cake was really good, the cheesecake particularly tasty and a little different.

With free wifi, this is a lovely place to come and sit to do some work or meet friends, just a shame it isn't just a little bit closer to home.

Cafe 1901
*Vintage themed
*Great cakes
*Lovely service

The Old Church Hall,
St Georges Terrace,
Jesmond,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NE2 2DL.

Website

Grub Excursion # 27 Little Asia, Newcastle

Newcastle's China Town is located between the main shopping area and St James' park. There are lots of different Chinese and Japanese restaurants to choose from and we walked up and down a couple of times before choosing Little Asia.

The decor inside is really bright and cheerful if a little naff and cobbled together- with fairy lights and trees made of silver foil pinned to the wall. We appeared to be the only non Chinese customers there that lunch time- it was full of young people, presumably students, meeting up to eat and socialise, the atmosphere was very friendly. The fact that all of the other customers appeared to be Chinese was a good thing as it is a sign that the food is likely to be authentic.

There were dishes I recognised and plenty that I didn't, so the photos on the menu made choosing much easier than reading the descriptions.

The drinks menu had a range of unusual drink, some made with tapioca-  very fashionable in East Asian countries apparently.

For my meal I chose fried chicken with sliced mango and lots of salad which made it really fresh and light. Typically Chinese, the sauce was quite sweet. The portion size was huge.

I cant remember what we paid now but the main course dishes were all pretty much between £6 and £8 and there was no need for starters or puddings so a good value lunch.


Little Asia
*Busy canteen style restaurant
*Cheap and cheerful
*Authentic looking dishes

16 Stowell Street,
Newcastle
NE1 4XQ,