Create, Leeds

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The End.

Not really, I just really enjoyed my first visit to Create a few Saturdays ago. I can’t remember how I stumbled across it – most likely on twitter. I had a good read of their website and perused their menu and decided a visit was definitely on the cards.

 

Create is a venture that is overseen by the Executive Chef at Harvey Nichols, Richard Walton Allen. It seems to be a similar project to Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, offering training and work to people who have fallen on hard times, become homeless or vulnerable - a fine reason for visiting and supporting the restaurant.

But not the only reason. Because it is really excellent. From the food to the service, I was impressed with the entire operation.

My dining companion was Psycho Psu, who regular readers will know as someone who will eat her way through as many courses as possible, so a great person to take to a new place.

For starter, we both ordered Poached egg and Yorkshire ham salad, with mustard dressing. This was a simple dish, but worked very well. The egg was poached to perfection, with just the right amount of runny yolk, so the bread served when we were seated was great for dipping (no ordering and paying for bread, here).

For main, I ordered the free range chicken with wild mushroom dressing. Sides were new potatoes and mushrooms with feta. The chicken was excellent and the sides in particular were wonderful, particularly the mushrooms, which complemented the chicken dressing perfectly.

Chicken

Mushrooms, feta, bacon

Plaice

Psycho Psu ordered the plaice with green beans and black bean salsa. This was served on the bone, which she admits put her off a little, but she couldn’t fault the flavour.

For pudding we ordered the Yorkshire and Lancashire cheeses, which were served with biscuits and raisin bread. Create got this just right with a larger range of six cheeses, small portions but great variety. Much more preferable to a larger slab of two or three cheeses. I admit I couldn’t identify them all, but that was part of the fun!

We also ordered the plate of brownies and biscuits which were perfect with coffee. The plate included biscotti and flapjacks.

Starters are around £5-6, mains range from £9-13. They also do a set menu. Very good value for top quality food.

The Old Silent Inn, Haworth

Just outside Haworth, in the village of Stanbury , there is a lovely country pub that does great food. They have actually won an award for the best pub food in the Great British Pub Awards (2010).


We were on our way to an overnight stay in Haworth, but couldn’t check in until three, so it seemed prudent to eat lunch on the way. I found the Old Silent Inn on google maps before we set off, and duly programmed it into the sat-nav.

We decided to sit outside as for once, the sun was shining. A few other diners had the same plans.

I ordered a prawn marie rose and rocket sandwich. It came on thick cut granary bread, served with a side salad. I was a little disappointed that the prawns were the big king variety, which I think are ok in a Chinese dish, but not so good in a sandwich. I prefer the small cocktail variety (not as chewy). This is just a personal preference, however, and I can’t really fault the way they served it.

A had a chicken club sandwich which was served on crusty French bread – it was huge. We ordered onion rings on the side which were clearly home made and very good.

Service was pleasant and friendly. Lunch was complemented with a glass of Pinot for me and a pint of real ale for A. The Old Silent Inn is perfect if you fancy a day out in the countryside and a visit to a traditional pub.

Lucia, York

The schoolfriends’ lunch with a difference was last Saturday. It was different because I am turning forty and this was an opportunity for us to lament this fact coupled with prosecco, pinot and some good food.


Originally there were just three of us, and the day kicked off predictably with my train being cancelled and having to meet the girls in York, instead of on the train as originally planned. (This exact same thing happened the last time we went to York, but that time they wouldn’t let me on the train because it was full of Xmas shoppers of something, or maybe they just wouldn’t let me on the train!)

Anyway, it emerged that our fourth member had had a last minute re-organise and surprised me by turning up! The other two were in on it, of course, whereas I was oblivious to furtive texting and last minute changes to arrangements. I would make a terrible spy.

So we all tripped off to Lucia and waited for one of their patio tables. The restaurant doesn’t take bookings but we didn’t have to wait for long. The place seemed very popular with lots of diners sitting outside in a very pleasant courtyard.

Lucia does a bit of everything; I suppose you could call it Mediterranean. Some of it is typical Italian – pasta, risotto, along with a range of small plates, with a hint of a Spanish theme in the options.

I ordered the mussels to start, which came in a garlic cream sauce.

I had three tapas dishes for main – a smoked salmon salad, pate and meatballs. A bit of a strange mix, you might think, but I just decided to order my favourite things! All dishes were well presented and good value. The others had pasta and risotto for main and all gave good reports.


Meatballs

 

Smoked salmon salad

Pate

We got through a couple of bottles of pinot and the bill worked out at a reasonable £25 each.

Lucia would be easy to miss in York. It is on Swinegate Court East, just off Swinegate. I would recommend it for a varied menu and good value. The outdoor courtyard is great in the summer and the food is of a good standard.

Carluccio's, Leeds City Centre

When you have a vegetarian in your midst, an Italian restaurant is a good choice. One of the school friends has not eaten meat or fish since the age of 13, and unlike lots of other vegetarians and even vegans I have known, she has never buckled. This is admirable, but it means that when we plan the school friends’ lunches, we have to avoid any restaurants with “Grill” or “Steak” in the name, or as the Veggie calls them, “Evil parlours of cow-death”.


Anyway, we have generally found that Italian restaurants are very vegetarian friendly – pizza and pasta can be done equally well without meat. So we decided to try Carluccio’s, the new place on Greek Street.

On entering, there is a shop/deli area, where you can pick up coffee, a drink or even buy some Italian ingredients (the olive oils looked great!). To the left is the restaurant. I had booked online so we were quickly shown to one of the booths.

I ordered Pasta Crisps to start, just to see what they were! I shared them with the veggie. A little dry, and probably more suited to a side dish, not a starter.

For main, I had Milanese di Pollo - breaded chicken, served with a green salad. I also ordered rosemary new potatoes on the side. Although it was a fairly plain dish, it was very pleasant. I have a bit of a weakness for anything in breadcrumbs, probably a throwback to my love of fishfingers and chicken burgers as a kid (although this was much better quality, of course). The veggie enjoyed the spinach and ricotta ravioli.

A bottle of Pinot Grigio was ordered for the table. We managed to sink a fair few glasses before moving on.

I have since revisited Carluccio’s twice: once for after dinner cheese with some wine (sat outside and watched the world go by); and once for morning coffee (sat at the bar in the deli). It is a really pleasant restaurant with lots of outdoor seating for the summer months. Service is excellent and the prices are pretty standard for Italian food.

Sushi Hiroba, Kingsway, London

The conveyer belt sushi restaurant is a marvellous invention. So far I have only experienced Yo Sushi, so I was delighted to discover another one, Sushi Hiroba, on Kingsway in London. The conveyer belt style is known as “Kaiten-zushi” (thanks, Wikipedia). It particularly suits my enjoyment not only of eating food, but looking at it as well!

We were in London for the Taste Festival, but fancied some sushi for Friday night dinner. We were quickly seated at the bar and given menus. The food is priced in the same way as Yo, with coloured plates indicating the cost of the food. The conveyer belt was pleasingly full, and I enjoyed my usual choice of Salmon Maki along with a range of sushi rolls. Sushi Hiroba is probably a bit more adventurous with their roll designs, as I kept seeing a roll filled with a slice of banana passing by on the belt. (I didn’t try this one as it breaks the Leeds Food Leads rule of food – no sweet with savoury. This applies to Hawaiian pizzas, gammon with pineapple, and now I find, sushi).

Service was a little slow – it took a while for our drinks to arrive. The hot food we ordered arrived promptly, however. We managed about eight small plates each.

I would recommend Sushi Hiroba. The choice in Leeds is fairly limited so if you are a sushi fan, it is always worth checking out what’s available in other cities.

Taste Festival, London

I have never been to Glastonbury. I am not mad for sweating in a tent and plodding my way through mud. The latter, however, I did gladly at the Taste Festival in Regent Park last weekend. No dodgy burgers here, either – instead a delightful array of restaurants selling taster portions of their wares and a massive range of food market stalls.

So despite not bringing wellies to London, thereby ruining a lovely pair of shoes, A and I set off promptly at 5.30pm to the Festival. There were no queues, so we got straight in and despite the rain, were determined to have a great foodie experience.

A had his first Jamaican food experience at the Foodies Festival in Roundhay Park last year, so we were happy to see a Jamaican themed village, and A immediately got his beef pattie fix. Walking around the festival, it was hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer choice of food on offer. Lots of the market stalls offered tastes of cheese, wine, olive oils – and I bought some garlic mayonnaise made with rapeseed oil.

The restaurants represented at the festival included Gary Rhodes’ place, some Gordon Ramsay restaurants (Maze, York & Albany, Petrus), and quite a few Michelin stars. The restaurants were offering taster portions of starters, mains and puddings and you paid for them with festival Crowns – the currency that you either order in advance, or buy at the various “banks” around the festival.

From Petrus, I tried the Pea and mint mousse with goat’s curd and pancetta.

I also got a portion of Beef rendang from Awana, my first real taste of Malaysian food (it was very good!).

For pudding, I returned to another Gordon Ramsay restaurant, York & Albany, to try the Spiced cherry compote, lemon mascarpone, honeycomb and granola. An excellent, light pudding – I especially liked the honeycomb and granola topping for that added crunch.

We tried a range of other dishes including a Fried Dim Sum Platter from Yauatcha; Soft shell crab from The Modern Pantry and a Shrimp and scallop burger from Scott’s, all excellent. I just wish I had room to try even more!

As well as the food, we attended a wine tasting session with Grossi Wines, where we were given the opportunity to try four different Italian whites. One was the obligatory Pinot, so I was happy, although trying other grape varieties was interesting (except for the Sauvignon – hate the stuff!)

And the added bonus to the Taste Festival was the fact there was no tent involved, just a lovely hotel room in the Holiday Inn.

I will end this report with a gratuitous shot of a hot dog (actually a Top Dog Deluxe from Gauthier Soho).... Enjoy!

Browns, Leeds city centre

Sunday brunch or breakfast is something I always like the idea of, but by the time I have got myself in gear on a Sunday morning, it is usually time for a roast lunch rather than a fry-up. But today we got organised and got ourselves into town before the shops had even opened! So we decided to give the breakfast a try in Browns.


I have been to Browns for dinner in the past and always had a nice time there. When we arrived about half ten, we were the first customers and were promptly seated. A ordered a latte and I had a white coffee. Both of us ordered the full English breakfast.

The breakfast is definitely “full” – bacon, Cumberland sausage, black pudding, tomato, mushroom, beans and eggs. Eggs can be fried, scrambled or poached – we both chose poached. The yolks were on the slightly over done side, with not much runny yolk to mop up with bread. The bread is sliced ciabatta, possibly to give it that "posh" feel, but I think I prefer traditional white sliced toast. The bacon and sausage, however, were lovely and the presentation was excellent. (A Leeds Food Leads pet peeve is food being crammed onto a too-small plate so that it all gets mushed together - not a problem here, the square plate was a good size for all the different elements of the breakfast!)

Browns has an art deco feel, with a bit of Parisian bistro thrown in. It is a large restaurant which has always been busy when I have gone in the evening. Although it was quiet when we were there, it was early and I imagine it gets busier as the shoppers start piling in for lunch. Cost for two breakfasts and coffees was around £20. Reasonable value for a decent breakfast.