When I was invited to pop across to Leeds and try some Lebanese food in the Trinity Centre, I had to own up to not having heard of Comptoir Libanais Leeds. This chain has been working its way around the country for a while and is now making its presence felt in the North; this…
Sometimes the best parts of something new can feel comfortingly familiar. Sticky Walnut Chester has the reputation for dishes with a happily old fashioned basis but which are underpinned by a thoroughly modern commitment to engagement through social media thanks to chef patron Gary Usher. Usher has become a well known figure in the hospitality…
It’s funny how time slips by. I regard myself as pretty well travelled within the UK, but that doesn’t mean I’m without blind spots. Given its proximity to York it’s a little surprising that Manchester is one of those. Even more surprising was that, when I gave it some thought, I realised it was 21…
It’s funny how some Masterchef contestants slip from your mind despite avidly having followed the show for years. Occasionally these days I’ll fall into a Wikipedia hole and realise that large numbers of the contestants I’ve followed on Masterchef over the years have escaped my memory entirely. One of the characters in last year’s edition…
The Grand Hotel is something of a landmark in the centre of York, occupying a prime location on the route from the train station to many of the city’s tourist attractions. It’s been worthy of a visit on its own merits for a number of years now, with two restaurants, relaxing space for drinks and…
I’m not the biggest fan of afternoon tea. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so when trying it, I can end up at a loose end after working my way through the sandwich offering. That said, when I was invited to Oxo’s at The Mount Royale for their afternoon tea, I was more…
It’d never occurred to me to attempt my own sushi until I happened to see some friends making a go of it on social media a few weeks back. I wasn’t quite organised enough to get hold of the ingredients and kit needed but in a fortunate twist of fate, I was invited to try out…
I can scarcely believe another year has gone by and that we’re already set to drop into 2019. 2018 was another year of growth for the food scene in York with high profile new openings and expansions from established locals complementing one another. New development Spark also broadened the city’s horizons. On a personal level,…
Food halls seem to be popping up all over Yorkshire these days. In York, we have Spark to host a range of street food vendors at the moment and the promise of another food hall in the recently refurbished Stonebow House to come in 2019. In Leeds, Assembly Underground has just opened with 50 beer lines…
The newest big name on the food scene in Leeds is Assembly Underground Leeds, an appealingly subterranean food hall that features (predictably enough) great street food and a huge range of beers to choose from. The space that it inhabits, I’m reliably informed, used to house a nightclub and has been artfully distressed into a comfortable space…