Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Cafe Leeds

Myself and my girlfriend decided to go out for dinner, during the discussion of where to go we decided on the fourth floor cafe at Harvey Nichols. It is a venue we have often thought about dining at, but for one reason or another never made it to until now.
We were seated in the corner adjacent to a large window that had a great view over the city's skyline, the restaurant changed from a very light sunlit space into a lovely intimate candlelit venue as the sun set into darkness over Leeds, there is also a terrace that you can sit out on during the day that would be wonderful on a lovely summer's day.

Amuse Bouche - Mozzarella Ball with Tomato Relish

Carpaccio of Venison, Herb Flat Bread, Celeriac, Lemon and Micro Salad

Seared Red Mullet, Rocket and Fennel Puree, Marinated Courgette, Roast Red Pepper Dressing

Roast Wharfedale New Season Lamb Rack, Saffron Braised Chickpeas, Dukkah Spiced Aubergine, Harrisa and Lemon Dressing

Roast Cod Loin, Jerusalem Artichoke Puree, Trompette Mushrooms, Blackberry Dressing

Heritage Potatoes with Basil Oil, Hand Cut Chips with Aioli

Lemon Trio - Lemon Pannacotta, Lemon and Polenta Cake, Limoncello and Lemon Curd Semifreddo

Kirsch Cherry and Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse Tartlet, Valrhona Chocolate Sauce

We ordered a bottle of the house red and our food, after ordering we were presented with the mozzarella ball with tomato relish amuse, this was fairly tasty but nothing really special to be honest.


Next up came our starters, mine was the carpaccio of venison, this was done well but slightly bland tasting as though something was missing, looking back at the menu, my photo, and my memory, this dish was supposed to be served with pecorino shavings which I am sure did not appear on the plate.
My girlfriend's starter was the seared red mullet, this was delicious with well balanced flavours, the accompaniments were absolutely perfect.


Onto our mains, my main was the lamb which was a beautiful dish, the North African inspired accompaniments worked wonderfully well. My girlfriend had the roast cod, again this was very, very, good, it was well put together and the fish was cooked perfectly.
For side dishes we chose the heritage potatoes with basil oil and the hand cut chips with aioli, the potatoes were very nice but the chips were completely out of this world, we both agreed that these were the best chips either of us had tasted in our lives, so despite the fact that this was a £90 dinner at Harvey Nicks our fondest memory will always be those chips!


For desserts I had the lemon trio and my girlfriend had the kirsch cherry dessert, I felt the lemon trio was underwhelming, however, the kirsch cherry was a delicious pudding.


All in all it was a lovely atmosphere, our waitress despite being obviously not greatly experienced was enthusiastic and friendly, the breaks between dishes were excellently paced, the food was mostly very good despite a couple of misses. We will be back and we will be having those chips again!


Harvey Nichols
107 Briggate
Leeds
LS1 6AZ


Telephone: 0113 2048000


Web: http://www.harveynichols.com/restaurants/fourth-floor-leeds/fourth-floor-leeds-cafe

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