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?

Tampopo: Leeds

 The name ‘Tampopo’ is apparently taken from the title of a cult Japanese film: a film where the heroine (named Tampopo – meaning ‘dandelion’) finds herself on a quest for the perfect bowl of noodles. And this is the aim of the restaurant: to focus on the food of East Asia and to create ‘faithful reproductions of classics free from gimmickry and interpretation’.

The Leeds restaurant is one of six branches of this mini-chain, with three restaurants in Manchester, one in Bristol and one in Reading - with one opening soon in London Rathbone Place. The sad news is that it is closing in Leeds - I don't know why? Perhaps it is too close to its rival Wagamamas or maybe the location isn't that central. I am disappointed as it's got a great selection of veggie dishes and I am mainly veggie so...

On first impression, it’s very Wagamama-like in its style: long benches at which you sit with other parties of diners, a similar style of food, individual orders scribbled on the paper place mats placed in front of each diner, which show a map of where in East Asia each of the menu’s dishes originated.

 My favourite dish here is the pad thai as it reminds me of 20p dishes from food trucks on the Ko San Road. They give you your own lime wedges and plenty of peanuts on top. This visit I opted for the Thai green curry (a fav of mine) I love that you get wedges of the mini Thai aubergines, the other veggies were really crunchy and fresh too but I found the coconut milk overpowering this time and it could have had more spice for my palette - I added some hot sauce to it. One of my fellow diners had the chicken katsu curry, which looked like a generous portion and came with a ginger and sesame salad and sticky rice which is a good deal for under a tenner. Another had the chicken abodo which came with an unusual tasting sticky sauce and some yummy deep fried sweet potatoe. 

For starter we went for a variety of skewers: the prawn skewers were the fav by far. I always have the sweetcorn fritters which are a nice combo of sweet and savory and come with a mild plum dipping sauce with mini wedges of cucumber and peanuts floating in it which I like to fish out with my chop sticks! The platter to share seems like a good value starter for a group of 4 too.

I didn't go for dessert this time but have tried and loved (in the past) the coconut icecream which is refreshing and light and the deep fried bananas with toffee with a peanut coating. I would highly recommend both - but the ice-cream if you are feeling quite full.

Overall:

• great variety of veggie dishes 
• informal and casual setting
• interesting starters
• great pad thai
• good value
• not the greatest service - bit haphazard

JUST A QUICK NOTE: Tampopo in Leeds has sadly closed down, but it is still open in Manchester at the Trafford Centre