Yo Sushi: Leeds Trinity

 

I had always avoided Yo Sushi as I don't eat meat or fish and so I thought there was nothing there for me.

However my OH convinced me to try the one in Sheffield and I found that there were lots of dishes I could enjoy.

Mt favourites are:

• unlimited miso soup
• avocado maki
• cucumber maki
• Inari mini iso
• Inari pocket
• Pumpkin korroke with plum sauce (hot dish - my very favourite)
• Vegetable gyoza
• Mochi for dessert - it is an acquired but a real taste of Japan
• Chocolate mochi - this is so delicious 

 

Excuse the silly pics - we were trying to win an instagram contest they were running! 

 

It is a fun dining experience as the colourful dishes whizz around the conveyor belt and you grab what you fancy. On Monday's they do Blue Monday's where all of the dishes are a certain price and so this is a great time to go and try a few out and then decide upon your favs for full price days.

I have eaten at the Finchley Road branch in London, Sheffield and the Harvey Nichols one in Leeds and now Leeds Trinity. My favourite and the best for service is the Harvey Nichols branch. The service throughout can be variable and sometimes in some branches the belt isn't well stocked and that detracts from the experience.  

I have seen young kids eating here (mainly picking out the dessert dishes) and I think it is a good way to introduce them to sushi and to Japanese food.

 

Find the website here and they offer lots of different promotions and discounts so its worth checking out. 

Do you like Asian food? If so check out my review of Red Hot Buffet here.

Sunshine Bakery: Chapel Allerton Leeds

 

Now I'm on maternity I have entered the realm of 'ladies what do lunch' and my friend was keen to try out the Sunshine Bakery. It's really cute and bijous - we had to leave the pram outside. They now have a terrace and so on a day like today (28 in Otley!) it would be great. It is inspired by a Parisian bakery and so is decorated in lots of opulent pinks - so my friends' little girl blended in well!

I have blogged about it before here and had a deliciously light and fruity strawberry cupcake before - but this time opted for the cookie cupcake above. It had cookie pieces in the chocolate sponge, chocolate ganache and strawberry ganache topped with cookie crumbs and a piece of home made cookie. David, the owner and main baker, won best cupcakes of the year and says his secret is ground almonds to replace some of the flour to keep the sponge light.

I am always impressed by the reasonable prices too - they had giant cookies for a £1, delicious brownies for £1.50 and cupcakes for £1.75. This is such good value compared to the cupcakeries in London that offer dry and quite average cupcakes in excess of £3!

We only went for afternoon tea and so have yet to try the sandwiches or award winning sausage rolls and pastries - but there were plenty of customers popping in for savories too. Their website includes their full menu and address etc.

 

I love that as well as tea (last time I tried the hibiscus tea and it was lovely) they also have classy soft drinks like Fenimans. I adore the Rose Lemonade with ice - so refreshing.

We both got some brownies to take-away with us - the two choices were crunchie or malteaser flavour. I got one of each and shared them with my OH in the evening and they were fudgy and delicious.

Overall: 

• some of the best baked goods in Leeds
• reasonable prices for great quality ingredients
• lovely terrace for sunny days
• Burger clubs on Sundays and a good savory menu too
• a great place to meet up with friends  
• they also have stalls at local markets like the Kirkstall Deli market that I reviewed here

Kirkstall Abbey Deli Market: Leeds

It's a Saturday in Leeds and the sun is out Leeds List tweeted about Kirkstall Deli Market and we decided this was a good place to check out. It is on from 12-3 on the last Saturday of every month - check out the website for more details.
I love markets with local fresh produce, but also cuisines from around the world and this is what we found here. 

 Canadian stall - just in time for Canadian Day!

 Yorkshire Pies

 Salts Bakery

 Stalls selling local produce from their allotments

 Plenty of tasters and free samples - this chipolata ketchup was seriously spicy but very tasty

 My husband's lunch of Nepalese curry from The Hungry Buddha

 My personal favourite stall - The Yummy Yank

 In the gorgeous surrounding of the Abbey

 Yummy brownies from the Yummy Yank (find her on twitter here: Lisa Gair @TheYummyYank)

 These slices with reeses pieces and oreo are the tastiest thing on her stall

 This is where I got my lunch - a sweet potato falafal wrap with hummus and taziki

The Hungry Buddha

We are definitely going again in July and I look forward to trying out some of the Mexican food then...

Red Hot World Buffet Promotion: Leeds

 

Ever have the dilemma of what type of cuisine to opt for on a night out? Can't agree with your family, friends or partner whether to go for Chinese or Indian? Does your husband hanker for a steak whilst you have a real craving for Mexican?

If so look no further than the Red Hot World Buffet...I was invited to sit at the Chef's table at their Leeds branch and was seriously impressed with all of their dishes. The restaurant in Leeds includes specialist zones such as North and South Indian kitchens, a sushi station, a cold-stone creamery, Oriental grill and Mediterranean kitchens. I have also been with my family about six month's ago - when we were impressed with the stunning presentation of the food, the attentive service and the vast choice of dishes. So please be aware that although the meal was complimentary all views and opinions included in this review are my own.

Above is a picture of the 'mocktail' which greeted me - all juicy strawberries and crushed ice (a perfect combo for a heavily pregnant lady!) 

And here was our menu, complete with accompanying photos, for the night:

 Amuse bouche

Hand rolled salmon sushi or with avocado and mango (v)

Entrée

Potato tikki, a traditional Indian street food

Fish course

Seafood risotto or with asparagus and sundried tomato (v)

Main course

Chicken teppanyaki prepared on an Oriental grill or with vegetables (v)

Petit fours

Mini crème brȗlée, brownies and cheesecakes served with fresh coffee

Dessert

Pancakes served with a variety of delicious toppings

Choose from triple chocolate, white chocolate and strawberry or banana and caramel

And to finish homemade mini macaroons with melon liquor - phew! Serious food coma!

My highlights: 

• Avocado and mango sushi was light and the spring flavours really complimented each other
• The sauces served with the potato tikki really set it off and it was a yummy starter
• The risotto was delicately flavoured and has plenty of asparagus tips to crunch on
• The brownie and chocolate pancakes were a revelation and for me the top dish of the night - but then I do have a serious case of sweet tooth!

 Overall:

• Perfect for a big group or family as there is so much variety (there is a stringent booking policy for big groups - so be aware of this)
• Attentive service
• Food is expertly prepared using the freshest ingredients and is presented in an eye-catching and mouth watering plethora of cuisines
• You will not leave hungry!

Website:  http://www.redhot-worldbuffet.com/
Branches in: Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Northampton and Cardiff.

The lovely people at Red Hot are offering a special promotion exclusively for readers and followers of this blog: Redhot-worldbuffet.com/LEJUNE 

So what are you waiting for?

Red's True BBQ: Leeds city centre

Having read rave reviews of trip advisor and loving all things Americano I was keen to try this new BBQ restaurant. It is opposite the Corn Exchange - on the corner of Call Lane.

Veggemac and two sides

Having read the reviews I was aware that they run a no booking policy and you have to turn up and give your name and number and then they let you know how long the wait will be, they also offer to call if a table becomes available sooner. We arrived at 3ish and were told we could be seated at 4.45. We didn't mind as we had shopping to do and so we went off and came back and were seated about 4.30. However I did see quite a few customers quite disgruntled at being told there was a three hour wait. Basically you have to plan your day or evening around it - don't turn up starving already!

Highlights:

• Howdy Doody shake (peanut butter, banana and maple) served in a vintage milk bottle was not too sickly or thick and just delicious
• Great choice of side dishes and good value for money - best side dish by far was the BBQ Pit beans and the sweet potatoe fries were tasty too. If you get the 'plates' (prices between £8.50 - £17.95) you get two side dishes with it and this is plenty of food. Too much really!
• My husband raved of the beef brisket and it looked really tender
• Quite prompt service - despite the fact that your table was not assigned a specific waiter or waitress

Low points?

• I was really looking forward to trying the deep fried pickles, but the pickle just slipped out and you were left with just batter
• I am veggie (so not the best place to go really!) and the veggemac was a bit sloppy and disappointing
• Quite smokey- try to  get a table away from the kitchen. We managed this as i had read that recommendation in a review online.

Sweet potatoe fries

Deep fried pickles

Big plate  Beef Brisket and two sides

Close-up of the veggemac

Delicious peanut butter, maple syrup and banana shake

Assortment of sauces at your table

Overall:

• Quite good value for money as you get so much food
• Be patient and expect to have to book in person two hours in advance
• Great milkshakes and sides
• Brilliant for meat lovers and good deal platters for big groups 

Website:  http://truebarbecue.com/

Krispy kreme: Birstall Royal Donuts

Have you tried the new bite and reveal donuts? They've been released to coincide with the royal baby, but i am due three days before Kate. We haven't found out what we're having and our server, who was very friendly, said that it was 75% effective! So apparantly its a...girl. We shall see.
We each tried their new summer coolers i had raspberry ripple cream and it was very sweet, but I have a sweet tooth and loved it. The Belgian had the pink lemonaid and found it quite sour-but also liked it.
A fun thing to do with the kids this summer.

So! Bar and Eats: Knaresborough, West Yorkshire

We had a taste-card free trial for a month and so decided to take a day out to Knaresborough and go to one of our old favs for lunch - So! Bar and Eats.
Being a veggie I love it when you can get loads of interesting little dishes to pick at and so this menu is perfect for me.
The nibbles are all around £4 and we got some falafel and hummous (which was a really generous portion) and some breads and drizzles. Mains are from around £7-12. I had the scoobies, pictured below, filled with Mexican ingredients like guacamole, salsa and refried beans. They were great.

My husband had the Italian burger and seemed to enjoy it a lot. The chips were tasty too and you got generous dips with them too. 

The dessert menu looks really tasty, but we were really full and for lunch felt that one starter would have been sufficient, A great place to come with a group of friends of family and you can get a whole selection of sharers. Food is fresh and service was quite good. I would recommend it.

Address:
1 Silver Street
Knaresborough North Yorkshire HG5 8AJ

Macy's: Headingley, Leeds

So glad that this cute little independant cafe opened and replaced the predictable starbucks. It is decorated in a vintage and laid back style. My first visit i enjoyed this deliciously indulgent hot chocolate and a toblerone brownie. Their huge range of flavours and speciality brownies was a huge attraction. The service was really friendly. So much so that when my sister came to visit we went for lunch. I had pumpkin and apple spiced soup and it was a really unique flavour and the bread was soft and fresh. My sister had a chicken and mayonaise sandwich which looked tasty. We both got fresh juices and really enjoyed the combination of flavours. Highly recommended and a grill opening in the evenings so expect another review soon.

Best curries in Bradford and Otley!

So I felt that my much neglected little blog needed some attention and last night when I couldn't sleep I decided that a really useful post would be one about the best curry houses in this area. Of course Bradford is the curry capital of Britain (well maybe Manchester and Birmingham's curry mile competes but...) so I thought that I would give you my top 5 recommendations according to category.

1) Best for good value - Karachi.

Address: 15-17 Neal Street, Bradford, BD5 0BX 

It is one of the oldest and most traditional curry houses in Bradford. It is  very plain interior and there are no frills but great food and even better prices. Starter, main and drink with sundries for under a tenner. Can't complain hey?

 2) Best for desserts: Akbar's cafe

Website  there are several cafe's and restaurants so take your pick, but I like the cafe best as it has a huge selection of Carte D'Or ice-cream- delicious and they make the best milkshakes and sundaes. It is Muslim run and so is dry (as curry houses can be and not a problem for me). My veggie friend said they didn't have a huge selection of veggie curries, but I have eaten here a few times and always loved it and I am veggie.

3) Best for take-away: Jewel of India

Address: 1 Bridge St
Otley
West Yorkshire
LS21 1BQ

It may be because this is just around the corner from us but it seems to recieve lots of positive reviews and praise. I like their selection of curries and their customer service is very good. If your order is over £20 then you get a free bottle of wine. I personally wouldn't eat here as it's quite small inside and I don't like it when you can hear everyone elses conversations etc so I always opt for take-away.

4) Best for veggies: Prashad

Address:  86 Horton Grange Road, Bradford, BD7 2DW

Website is here

I love this place!  And I am certainly not alone - Gordon Ramsey praised it in one of his series'. It is vegetarian gujurati and this is my favourite type of cuisine - so much coconut and delicate flavours. The mixed platter starter is highly recommended - it is like Wonka Land for me so many exciting flavours and textures. The monster dosa is highly recommended - a flaky pancake filled with spicy curry, but make sure you share it on the table as its huge! I even took a meat loving, beer loving Aussie guy here and he loved it despite the fact that it doesn't serve alcohol - the mango lassie was a great alternative though!

5) Best for service: Westbourne Spice

Address: Bradford Road, Otley, LS21 3LS Website
 Our first visit was not a huge success as I think that we over ordered and felt so stuffed at the end that it ruined the experience. However this is now our go-to curry house. The service is amazing and you really do get treated like a King - nothing is too much for them. You are greeted and your coat is taken from you and
the banter is always great all evening. Food is brought to you on trolleys and your plate is cleaned and you get a hot towel - all evidence of a great service. The menu is varied and I have always enjoyed whatever they have recommended. A great pickle tray to start too. We came with my friends and theire little two year old and they provided a high chair and a balloon to keep her occupied and didn't seem to mind too much when she decided that she preferred to toddle around and mingle with the other customers.
We also held my friend's hen party here and they have a little seperate room which they decorated with balloons and banners. They helped to make it a really fun occassion and didn't mind when we were being a bit loud!
The photo below doesn't do it justice and it is lit up at night and is done out quite flashy inside - make sure you check out the etern