Fig, Alea Casino, Leeds

Having attended the “Alea Casino - Cocktails and Canapes” session at the Foodies Festival a few months ago, we agreed with Sarah T and N that there was a visit to one of their restaurants in the offing! So we finally got round to it last Friday night.

Having not had my usual trip to Vegas this summer, I felt it was important to play a bit of Blackjack before dinner, and this is what we did. It was fun and I broke even!

Fig was very quiet, there was only one other table filled. It was explained to us that this is a quiet time in casino season – everyone is on holiday! Despite the emptiness of the restaurant, however, we didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact I had already had a few pinots, or the good company, but a “right good laugh” was had by all!

The service was impeccable. A very pleasant and obliging waitress sorted our orders and brought our food. I didn’t get her name but she is an asset to Alea!

For starter, I ordered Parma ham “two ways” salad. This involved parma ham as you would expect, plus parma ham possibly grilled or oven baked – a nice idea.



Sarah T had the gazpacho – chilled tomato soup. She gave me a taste and it was lovely. It came with what seemed like a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich, which she wasn’t expecting. The rest of us helped her with eating this, however, so no problem!



For main, I ordered Moules Mariniere, which came with bread. Very good mussels in a nice cream sauce. The meal was presented on a wood platter, with an empty bowl for shells, and a water bowl for hand cleaning. It’s nice to have everything you need in one place!



N ordered prawns which he enjoyed. Not just a body eater, N, but a head and tail eater too! I imagine the chefs were rather surprised with the leftovers to his meal, as there was just a bit of shell left – waste not, want not!



The puddings looked great but we were itching to win back the price of our dinner (ok, sure!). So it was back to the Blackjack table. I actually ended about £60 up, but shared my winnings with A, as he has bailed me out of some bad losses in Vegas before.

Alea casino – not quite Vegas, but a cheaper substitute. Fig – lovely Mediterranean food with great service. A good night out, all round!