The Bankhouse, Fulneck, Pudsey

A bit of a last minute decision to eat out on Saturday evening led us to the Bankhouse pub in Fulneck, Pudsey. After a long month with payday still a week away, we wanted some cheap and cheerful pub food.

The Bankhouse has a lovely beer garden with views over the Fulneck valley. In the summer, it is a fantastic place for sitting out and enjoying a leisurely pint. In January, however, you definitely need a seat inside so we booked a table for 7.30. (They don’t require reservations but it is a good idea as it gets busy, especially for Sunday lunch).

The pub is a lovely traditional pub and serves a good range of real ales. As we walked in, we had a bit of a wait at the bar as there were quite a few customers in. We let the bar staff know that we had booked and were pointed in the direction of the “restaurant bit” which is a small area to the right as you walk in the main entrance. We weren’t really shown to our table so we just figured out ourselves which one it was.

The menu is typical pub grub. We shared starters of deep fried brie and chicken dippers (we wanted the pate but it was off). For main, I had the lamb shank (one of the specials) which was served with bubble and squeak, leeks and peas. The Bankhouse is not mean with the gravy, thick and delicious and plenty of it! The lamb was tender and fell off the bone.

A had rib eye steak. He said it was okay but realised it was probably a bad move to order steak in a pub – he asked for medium rare but it was served more on the other side of medium. Pubs tend to be good at the scampi and chips and roast dinner-type meals. But a steak is better ordered in a restaurant.

G had the steak and ale pie which was homemade and served with some really good thick chips.

V ordered the salmon and mushroom tagliatelle. It was quite a strange mix – lots of salmon, mushrooms and other stuff, not much tagliatelle. Pasta dishes seem easy to get right but there is actually a fine balance to be created between the pasta and the other ingredients. It is interesting as the dish was more balanced in favour of the more expensive ingredients, whereas the cheaper pasta was a bit on the lean side.

Despite this, I have to say that the Bankhouse does good pub food in a pleasant atmosphere. They have a good selection of ales but sadly the wine leaves a lot to be desired. As regular readers know, I am a Pinot Grigio fan. Sadly, the Pinot at the Bankhouse was the worst I have ever tasted. I would argue it tasted more like a Chardonnay (which I hate) and I couldn’t drink it. An easy thing to rectify – Pinot is not expensive and there are plenty of lovely reasonable brands out there.

The pub had a band on after nine. They were great but too loud for us. With the possibility of conversation at an end, we called it a night.

The Stroom, Pudsey

The last time I went to The Stroom was a few years ago. I remember it well as my friend the GemBear had just had her eyes lasered and kept disappearing to the bathroom to put drops in! I seem to remember we used to think it was a bit pricey (the food, not the laser eye surgery which apparently is worth every penny).

The reason this event sticks in my mind is because I have been thinking of getting my eyes done too. My optician keeps banging on about it when I visit for a check up. Apparently they do it on the lower ground floor of my optician in Leeds. I joked that they did it in the basement so that you can’t hear the screams, but he didn’t seem to find me amusing.

Anyway, back to The Stroom. They have changed their pricing policy to a “two courses for £15 and three courses for £17.50” with a range of supplements for steak and the like, and it seems to work out at much better value. The wine list is also very good, with a lovely Pinot Grigio blush at £13.50, which was duly tasted and ordered. This was a last minute dinner with G and V, and they very kindly let me choose the wine, as I seem to dislike more wines than I like.

I had the goat cheese with beetroot carpaccio and toasted pine nuts to start. This came with leaves and cherry tomatoes, and it was a good portion. A very pleasant start to the meal. (Is it just me or is beetroot having a bit of a renaissance?)



Main course was the special – a fillet of plaice in butter with potato and salad. This was a really pleasant dish. There is a lot of scraping of meat off bone going on here, and a few bones pulled out of the mouth, but it was worth it.





Main courses are served with new potatoes and vegetables, as part of the price so there is no need to order side dishes unless you want something in particular.

Pudding was the cheese plate – stilton, cheddar, Lancashire and Brie, with biscuits, a bowl of chutney and salad. The picture isn’t great because I had got stuck in before I remembered to take it.



The service was excellent. The waiter was very patient with us in the bar as we tried to make our minds up about what we wanted. He was also keen to let me taste the wine before we ordered it. G had a chat with the chef on the way out who was happy to talk about the food which is a good sign!

I recommend a visit to The Stroom (opposite the cenotaph in Pudsey) – good value, a nice wine list and excellent food.

114 The Arch, Pudsey

I broke my golden rule of not going out on a school night on Wednesday, by going out on a school night. It may be the heatwave, the long days or just the fact that the summer holidays are looming, but we accepted an invitation to 114 The Arch from G and V, in order to celebrate their anniversary. Can I remind you this was a WEDNESDAY?

114 The Arch is at the bottom of Richardshaw Lane in Pudsey. It serves modern British food, and does so very well. When we arrived, a Pinot Grigio blush was ordered at the bar – I like this – it’s not quite a rose, and not quite a white.

We were quickly seated and menus provided. Rather than a single price for each Item, there is a set price for two or three courses, with supplements added on for steaks etc. I seem to be seeing this menu system in more and more places recently – Diva Italiana does a similar thing!



A and I ordered mussels to start with – an excellent choice. They were served in a cider and pearl onion mariniere and were plump and tasty. A bit of a different sauce to the wine, garlic, onion and cream sauce they usually come with. The dish was served with a thick chunk of wholemeal bread which was great for mopping up the sauce. In fact, I made the mistake of thinking this would be a light first course– just a few mussels, won’t fill me up – when in fact with the bread, it is quite a hefty starter!

Main course was chicken, roasted in sage, thyme and lemon butter, in a pea and asparagus cream sauce and Parisienne potatoes. In addition, vegetables and potatoes are served to the table. The sauce was particularly lovely, and the tiny Parisienne potatoes were like mini-roasties.



Other dishes around the table included pork with French-style black pudding (A was in raptures with this one!)



and also fillet steak, cooked to perfection, according to G.



I was too full for a pudding but sticky toffee pudding was ordered by G and V, which looked great.



114 The Arch is a lovely place to go for a special dinner, (or on a Wednesday!)and they do a Sunday roast which I would like to try sometime. The food is tasty and well presented and is reasonably priced for good quality food.

La Rosa, Pudsey

La Rosa is an Italian that replaced the old Aagrah on Bradford Road, when it moved to its fancy new location behind the cinema in Thornbury. It was Saturday evening, and we really fancied a meal out, but nothing too far away or too expensive, so off to our latest local Italian!

The layout is similar to the old Aagrah but the restaurant has been done up in a new style. We were quickly seated and a small portion of bruscetta was immediately brought to the table and drinks orders taken.

Calamari (£5.95) to share was a lovely first course, clearly home made with a side salad – very good.



Main courses were Napoli pizza (olives, capers, anchovies and oregano - £7.25). Good quality pizza....



And for me it was the spaghetti con polpette (meatballs, chilli , pepperoni and tomato - £7.50). A really good pasta dish! Garlic pizza bread on the side was great for dipping in the sauce.





As well as the bruscetta when we arrived, a basket of bread was put on the table when our first course arrived. Again, this is a Leeds Food Leads plus point. Bread as a staple, not an addition to the bill!

The restaurant seemed very family-friendly, with a fair number of families dining on a Saturday night. It is a bit out-on-a-limb on Bradford Road, and you really need to drive there (or get a cab, as we did). It wasn’t packed out on a Saturday night, and the food is great, so it deserves to get local support.

Service is friendly and efficient. And they do doggy-bags so the left-over garlic bread came home with us!

Diva Italiana, Pudsey

We booked a table at Diva Italiana for a Friday night, dinner with G and V. Having read good things about this restaurant I have been keen to try it for a while.

The restaurant is tucked away down Booth’s Yard in Pudsey, and sells itself as a traditional Italian-owned trattoria.

They have a small outdoor patio so drinks were taken here, on one of the hottest days of the year so far (at last!). So Peroni beer and Bellinis were served all round. I went with the traditional peach bellini but V went with the watermelon bellini, served in a tumbler, with gold leaf topping. We all had to stick our fingers in poor V’s drink to see what the gold leaf tasted of. Nothing is the answer, more for decoration than flavour!



We were seated upstairs promptly at 8pm. I had already checked out the menu online but it was slightly different when we arrived – more decisions to make! The menu contains pizza, pasta and a range of meat and fish dishes plus a few specials were explained by our waiter. A huge selling point for this restaurant is that the pasta is made in-house, using imported Italian eggs and I was determined to try it. It also says on their website that if you want something special not on the menu, like Lobster or Dover Sole, to let them know in advance and they will cook it for you.

They also bring bread to the table and everyone gets a plate with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. I am always impressed by this gesture, as many restaurants expect you to order bread and it is put on the bill.

A and I chose to share the antipasti plate for starter. It seems to change depending on what is in the kitchen on a given night – we had a selection of ham, mushroom and tomato bruscetta and a tomato flavoured rice in breadcrumbs (I am sure this has an Italian name but am not sure what it is!). Overall, this was a lovely light starter and feels very traditionally Italian.



G had the goat’s cheese in pastry starter and V had the mushrooms in a puff pastry basket. These were good although V commented she had hoped for more flavour from the mushrooms.



For mains, I chose the tagliatelle with sea bass. Time to try the homemade pasta! It was excellent. Small chunks of sea bass with olive oil. A nice dish, not over-sauced so you can really appreciate the pasta.



A had salami pizza which was good. He ordered some chips to go with it.



V ordered lasagne, which she commented she wouldn’t normally order as she can make it at home. This was great lasagne, though, with many layers of pasta. It looked very similar to the one I had in Venice a few years ago – lots of pasta and not too much meat.

G had suckling pig – no photo of that, but G said it was outstanding, and passed on compliments to the chef!

The lasagne......



We also had garlic pizza bread to go with our mains. There is a handy metal frame that they place in the middle of the table to balance it on!

V and I had pudding. Another chance for me to have panna cotta, which I also had at Jamie’s Italian last week. It was good but a bit of an overkill on the strawberry sauce.



V had the cheesecake, which also looked homemade and very tasty.



We managed to get through two bottles of reasonably priced pinot grigio with the meal, and the lads got through a fair bit of peroni.

I would highly recommend this restaurant – it is probably Pudsey’s best kept secret. The place was full on a Friday night, and this is not surprising. The food is very authentic and service is efficient and friendly. The bill came to around £40 each, but that included a lot of wine and food. You could have a much cheaper meal here, however, if you don’t drink as much as we do, or take advantage of the early bird special.

A side issue - G is on a mission to find Banoffee pie in Leeds - he says he is always disappointed when it doesn't appear on a pudding menu. Any ideas, post a comment!

East, Pudsey

We weren’t supposed to be having a curry but ended up in East after an aborted attempt to finally visit Diva Italiana in Booth’s Yard, Pudsey (It was still closed for the Easter holidays). East is a modern Indian restaurant on Richardshaw Lane that we have visited several times before. It is spread out over two floors, with three “lounges” for drinking and a good outdoor raised terrace out back, with seating and umbrellas.

On arrival, we headed straight upstairs to one of the lounges for a drink. Although not technically open yet (it was 6.30pm) the barman happily served us our drinks and we took a seat on the terrace. After ten minutes of looking at the sky and trying to establish whether it would rain, we went down to the restaurant to get a table.

We were quickly seated and menus provided. The East menu contains the familiar dishes – Bhuna, Korma etc – and some house specialities. Popadoms and pickles were brought to the table as we made our selections.



Starters were very traditional – I had mushroom bhajis (£2.95) and A had seekh kebab (£2.60). Both very good.





We decided to get two mains – Chicken Biryani (£7.95) and Hydrabadi (chicken and lamb in a medium sauce - £7.95)). We had two keema nan breads on the side (£3.20 each).
Main dishes came in bowl-style plates and because we wanted to share them, we asked for additional plates to eat from. These were swiftly provided. Chicken Biriyani was a new one for me and was our alternative to ordering rice. It is a tasty rice dish with a sauce that comes separately and is poured on the dish at the table.



The keema in the nan is more like a lamb spread which I have come across before, but I prefer the minced filling you get elsewhere which I believe has more flavour.



Two nans were clearly too much and we were offered a doggy bag for the one we didn’t eat.


We weren’t offered the hot towels at the end of the meal which I believe I saw other diners using.

East is quite a buzzy restaurant and it can get quite loud on a weekend. It seems to do parties and celebrations very well and there is always a large table of people having a “do” whenever I have visited. There is a pianist in the corner who provides background music and also a round of “happy birthday to you” when required.
The food and service are very good. Strong competition for the ubiquitous Aagrah.

Carmelo's, Pudsey

This is an Italian restaurant on Richardshaw Lane, Pudsey which I believe has recently opened. Not only was it Friday, it was pay day, so off we went with G and V for a nice dinner.

It’s a fairly small place that used to be the The Last Viceroy Indian Restaurant. Plenty of customers already in when we got there around 8pm. Customers came and went, not packed out, but not dead either. The menu is typical Italian - pizza, pasta and some meat dishes. There is also a specials board. Reasonable prices, with pizza or pasta dishes coming in around £7-8.

I skipped the starter, but the company had barbecue spare ribs and garlic mushrooms. Good flavour for the mushrooms. The ribs had a “secret” special barbecue sauce, which we believe included aniseed (beware if you hate the stuff, like me!).

Main courses included sea bass for G (good), Napolitano pizza for A (anchovies, capers and olives), chicken with a cream sauce for V, and I had linguine with chicken, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and a cream sauce – very tasty. Garlic tomato pizza bread ordered as a side with the main dishes was excellent.

Wine with the dinner was pinot grigio (the old staple). Very good at around £15 a bottle.

The service, in particular, is excellent – staff are very friendly and like a joke with the customers.

A slight “held hostage” moment at the end of the meal, waiting for the bill. I am just very impatient and after a meal, I like to get out pronto (usually for a cigarette!). In addition, A likes to stand up and have a stretch!!! We have been known to get up and pay at the bar or till when we have been kept waiting for the bill in restaurants. Not the case here, though. A short wait and then off to the pub over the road for an end of night whiskey.