Kendells Bistro

Kendells Bistro is a French inspired bistro in Leeds. I have visited Kendells on several occasions and from the outset will say right away that it is one of the two best city centre restaurants (along with Anthony's on Boar Lane).


The menu is presented on blackboards with the legend "sold out = fresh food" and yes the food is fresh and as the evening progresses you will see "sold out" written next to items on the boards. The menu changes fairly regularly due to the policy albeit with some staples such as their wonderful Gratin Lyonaisse, it also tends to feature more unusual French dishes such as squab pigeon, frogs' legs & even squirrel on occasion.


On our latest visit to Kendells we had:

Gratin Lyonaisse (French Onion Soup)

Foie Gras on Garlic Brioche with Green Bean Salad and Fig Chutney

Salmon and Asparagus

Côte de Boeuf (Rib Eye served with Duck Fat Potatoes and Béarnaise Sauce)

Crème brûlée

The Gratin Lyonaisse served at Kendells Bistro is second to none, the photograph may not look amazing, but the flavour, oh the flavour! I challenge anyone to find a French Onion soup this good outside of France, hell, maybe even inside of France!


The Pan Fried Foie Gras was delicious, perfect... I won't dwell on this as it is so divisive, other than to say if you enjoy it, here it is as good as anywhere.


The Salmon was my partners choice, again cooked brilliantly.


The Rib Eye was cooked beautifully medium rare as requested, a seriously beautiful piece of meat with a Béarnaise that Escoffier would have been proud of.


I don't eat dessert very often and the Crème brûlée was my girlfriends, I tasted it and would agree it was light and beautifully vanilla-y.


Really if you haven't visited Kendells, just go but just consider it might be wise to book in advance as it does get busy especially on a weekend. The food is wonderful, and I haven't even mentioned the atmosphere which is amazing, even slightly hedonistic. It's clear they haven't used a professional designer which gives it an eclectic feel and the owners' personal touch can be seen in all the bits and pieces and decorations, also I love all the funky candles in wine bottles.


A true local, independent restaurant which delivers something truly special (and they never under feed you!)




Kendells Bistro
Saint Peter's Square
Leeds
LS9 8AH
Tel: 0113 2436653


Web: www.kendellsbistro.co.uk
Twitter: @KendellsBistro

Piazza by Anthony

Piazza by Anthony in the historic Leeds Corn Exchange is a venue we visit for lunch on a semi-regular basis, they serve some very well executed dishes at a price that is more than reasonable for the quality of food on offer.


On our latest visit to the Piazza our meal consisted of:

Pancetta and Asparagus with Poached Egg and Hollandaise

Smoked Haddock and Pea Gnocchi

Moules Mariniere served with Bread from the Piazza bakery

The bread and finger bowl that accompanies the moules

A bottle of the house Sauvignon Blanc

Given the time of year I couldn't resist choosing the Asparagus starter and it didn't let me down, beautiful asparagus with a perfectly poached egg, hollandaise and pancetta is such a great combination and this was well executed.

My partner loves Gnocchi and had high praise for the smoked haddock and pea gnocchi served here.

For our mains we both had a large bowl of the moules mariniere, which I have visited Piazza specifically for on previous occasions, it is such a wonderful summery dish. To be quite truthful the intention was to not have starters, just a bowl of moules mariniere each with a bottle of wine to share, which in my mind on a day with some sunshine comes very close to the perfect lunch.

Piazza is fully deserving of it's Bib Gourmand, there is a lack of places serving the level of quality at the price point Piazza offers, one of the highlights of the Leeds dining out scene no doubt at all.

Piazza by Anthony
The Corn Exchange
Call Lane
Leeds
LS1 7BR

Telephone: 0113 2470995

Web: www.anthonysrestaurant.co.uk/piazza/
Twitter: @anthonysltd

Red Chilli Leeds

Red Chilli is a small chain of 5 Chinese restaurants and is my absolute favourite Chinese restaurant in Leeds.
Red Chilli specialises in Beijing and Sichuan cuisine unlike most Chinese restaurants in Leeds who serve Cantonese food.
The first thing to say about Red Chilli is that their menu is huge, and contains a lot of traditional dishes that you wouldn't find in other Chinese restaurants around these parts. The menu could be quite intimidating to some people, try to not be overwhelmed by the choice though as once you find the dishes that you like this place really is hard to beat!

For our dinner at Red Chilli we had:

A bottle of the house Sauvignon Blanc

3 delicacies hot and sour soup

Vegetarian hot and sour soup

Salt & Pepper stir fried Soft Shell Crab

A portion of fried rice to share

Special Seafood Bird's Nest

The 3 delicacies in the seafood hot and sour soup were scallop, prawn and squid, the soup was delicious and perfectly hot and sour, my dining partner assured me the vegetarian version was very good too.

The salt and pepper soft shell crab is our "go to" dish at Red Chilli, we order it every visit and it is always wonderful.

On the menu the special seafood bird's nest says oysters, prawns, sea cucumber, scallop and squid, our waitress informed us that you choose two of these but they had no sea cucumber available on the day, no problem I asked for oysters and scallops. The dish arrived with oysters, scallops, squid and prawns so I am unsure if the dish actually contains all the seafood and the waitress mis-informed us or if the waitress informed us correctly but she realised we thought it was a selection of all the seafood so asked the kitchen to do it that way. Either way it was a beautiful seafood dish, the bird's nest was made of crispy noodles that were softened by the sauce under the seafood.

A note on the fried rice, Red Chilli's fried rice is the best I have eaten anywhere! Every single time I have had their fried rice it is beautifully fluffy, delicious, and smells like popcorn. It is never, ever stodgy like it can be elsewhere.

Red Chilli is very reasonably priced and as I said at the outset, for me easily the best Chinese restaurant in Leeds.

Red Chilli
6 Great George Street
Leeds
LS1 3DW
01132429688

www.redchillirestaurant.co.uk

Tampopo Leeds

Tampopo is a small chain (6 branches at the time of writing) of East Asian restaurants, described by themselves as:

At Tampopo we bring you the authentic tastes of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Korea through healthy, high-quality food at value-for-money prices with quick, friendly service.

Over the last week we had two visits to Tampopo, on the first visit for our starters we had:

Satay - skewers of marinated chicken with cucumber and red onion with spicy peanut dip. This dish originates from Malaysia.

Goi Cuon - rice paper rolls filled with vegetables, glass noodles and Asian herbs which came with a Nuoc Cham dip. This dish originates from Vietnam.

For our main courses we had:

Tom Yam - glass noodles, prawns and straw mushrooms in a hot and sour broth flavoured with  lemongrass, lime and chillies. This dish originates from Thailand.

Pho - sliced rump steak with flat rice noodles in clear broth scented with Asian herbs, star anise and lime, this comes with a selection of accompaniments to add to the broth, mint, lime, beansprouts and red onion. This dish originates from Vietnam.

Pho with accompaniments added.

The noodle broths at Tampopo are always delicious and they are very healthily sized portions, I would recommend the Tom Yam or Pho to anyone who enjoys Asian flavours and the portions really are large enough for a bowl of broth to be a complete meal.

On our second visit we had:

Bulgogi - slices of marinated grilled beef served with Kimchi. This dish originates from Korea and for me is the absolute star of Tampopo's starter menu.

Miso Soup - this comes with a selection of pickled cucumber, white radish and ginger and is only £1.60 for a portion.

Tempura vegetables - this includes sweet potato, broccoli and red pepper and comes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, it is quite a large sized starter. 

Chicken Adobo - Chicken breast, broccoli and choi sum in a sauce flavoured with peppercorns, garlic and bay leaf. Garnished with fried sweet potato slices. This dish originates from the Philippines. A separate side dish of fried rice is also in this picture.

As you can probably tell by the two visits in a week Tampopo is one of my absolute favourite places in Leeds to visit for a reasonably priced, tasty lunch and they are very consistent in my experience.

Tampopo
15 South Parade
Leeds LS1 5QS
0113 245 1816

www.tampopo.co.uk