Distrikt

Distrikt is a bar/tapas bar/restaurant/live music venue slightly hiding on Duncan Street in Leeds City Centre. Do not mistake these multiple identities for a lack of direction, as this is intentional and pulled off spectacularly, if you haven't found it yet do so now because the creative kitchen deserves a wide audience.


First thing you notice on entering is the funky interior with its underground bar, lit up alcoves and cool artwork. Then you open the menu. The focus is on tapas but not the usual Spanish or Latin American fare, the menu at Distrikt is very much modern British cooking drawing influence from the Mediterranean and Middle East.


The provenance of food is particularly important at Distrikt as everything is fresh and local as possible, to the point that the menu names particular stalls of the Leeds Kirkgate Market where the ingredients are sourced. On Mondays in the season they focus on foraged ingredients which you can taste at £5 per dish.


We visited Distrikt on a Wednesday when all the tapas dishes are half price, which averages them at about £2 each. This must be one of the very best midweek dining deals that Leeds has to offer, we will be back and we will be back on any day as the food is definitely worth its full price.


Distrikt also has a very very nice drinks menu, as you would expect, with a good selection of wines, beers and cocktails.

Carpaccio of Yorkshire beef with fresh beetroot, basil, cherry tomatoes and orange reduction

Crayfish tails & cockles with lime, coriander and tomato salad

Smoked haddock ceviche with tomato, caper salsa & crispy tatas

Rare poppy seed tuna with endive, mandarin & crispy shallot salad

Med veg stack with goats cheeese, rocket & balsamic

Field mushrooms on sour dough with kentish truffle & pinenuts

British pork belly with roasted peaches & wood sorrel

Salt & wild pepper squid  with spiced ragu & cous cous salad

Roasted banana with amaretto & cream

Strawberries with balsamic & licor cream

For an introduction to Distrikt half price Wednesdays is a great idea, to put it in perspective the full price of Distrikts tapas is around the same as you will pay for tapas at certain tapas chains and the quality  of the food at Distrikt is obviously far superior in every way, on a Wednesday to pay on average just £2 a dish for food of this quality is just ridiculous.


I haven't really mentioned anything about the individual dishes because everything was so good, a truly local, independent business with a definite sense of style, that has a chef like they have who cares about the provenance of the food they serve deserves the support of this city.


Distrikt
7 Duncan Street
Leeds
LS1 6DQ
Web: http://distrikt.co.uk/

Guinea Pig Night @ Piazza by Anthony

It has been a while since I updated the blog due to a medical emergency I had at the start of June, thankfully I am recovering well & able to eat out again :D

I haven't seen many reviews online of the Guinea Pig Night at Piazza by Anthony, so here is a little about what it is and what you can expect of the night.

Every Monday is Piazza's Guinea Pig Night, you get 3 courses and coffee for £19.95 per person, you can also have Guinea Pig Wine at £10 per bottle and/or Guinea Pig Cocktails at £5 each. The rules are: for the wine you can choose red or white, for the food you can share/swap courses between the table but cannot return dishes to the kitchen, you can also state when ordering if anyone at the table is vegetarian or has any food allergies and of course this is catered for.

So what are you likely to get? Well it could be anything really, but it shouldn't be anything really crazy as these are dishes that are in development with the intention of possibly ending up on the menu at some future point.

Guinea Pig Wine - Ancora Sangiovese

Fig & Prosciutto Crostini with Goats Cheese

Prawn and Scallop Skewers with Chilli Butter

Duck Breast with Five Spice, Pak Choi and Spring Onion

Red Mullet with Anchovies, Olives and Tomatoes

Summer Berries Trifle 

Mocha Syllabub with Chocolate Ice Cream and Brownies

The wine was a smooth easy drinking Sangiovese from Puglia, perfectly fine.


The two starters again were good, fig and prosciutto and scallop and prawn both being classic combos, the seafood was cooked to perfection.


The duck main course was amazing, I think the picture demonstrates that the breasts were perfectly cooked and of course duck marries beautifully with oriental flavours, the duck breasts were a generous size too.


The red mullet main was a good concept and would have been fine except the fish was a little over-seasoned, this was not due to the olive and anchovy taking it over the edge. It was the fish itself that had been over-seasoned, a shame really as it was perfectly cooked otherwise.


The desserts were really lovely, the trifle being particularly rich and creamy, I have mentioned before that I don't really eat desserts & due to my recent health issue it would have been unwise of me to eat these desserts so the girlfriend had to eat (most of) both! I did sample both though and as I said lovely, she thought so too :) Interestingly, since I left hospital I seem to desire desserts when I eat out now, I put this down to my diet at home on a day to day basis has become very healthy so the sinful stuff as a treat when eating out seems much more appealing.


We both declined coffee as we were too stuffed to drink one!


In conclusion, I have to say guinea pig night is a great success, the restaurant seems busy on this night and personally I found it a lot of fun. If you don't have a lot of food hang ups then go for it, you'll be well fed and as I said it is just fun not knowing what you're going to get but knowing it is highly likely to be very good food. £25 per person for 3 courses, coffee, half a bottle of wine and a lot of fun is a bargain in my opinion.


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

Telephone: 0113 2470995

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