Restaurant review: Restaurant Bar & Grill, Leeds

This week Nick and I went to Restaurant Bar & Grill in Leeds to check out their menu after they reopened last month.

The restaurant closed over summer whilst a £2million refurb (which included four thousand sheets of gold leaf and sixteen tonnes of Italian marble!) transformed the entire restaurant.

There's also an amazing new outside space which will be perfect for al fresco dining when it's warmer.

First up… drinks!

We went straight to the no/low alcohol section on the menu and saw there was a choice of three alcohol-free cocktails.

By the end of the meal we’d ordered all 3 because each of them sounded delicious. Our favourite was the Last Mango in Paradise - mango & melon with pineapple, passion fruit & lime.

I also had a small glass of Riesling with my main which went down very well!

Onto the main event…

I had the croquettes to start; they had a smooth sweet potato & chorizo filling, and a perfectly crisp outside. They were served with a rich saffron aioli, and I’d definitely recommend these as a starter, or you could order them as an appetiser to share.

Nick wanted the chicken skewers to start, but we were told they were pre-marinated and contained dairy. Our waitress spoke to the chefs to see if there was another option, and they kindly offered to cook some fresh skewers with a herby marinade instead. Nick really enjoyed these, the chicken was succulent, and had a great flavour. And it was so kind of the chefs to do this when it was a busy night in the restaurant.

Onto the mains…

I ordered the tikka sea bass, which came with saag aloo & cucumber raita. It came with 3 pieces of fish, and was a good portion size. The tikka flavour was so good, and nicely balanced with the fresh raita.

Nick had the slow roast crispy duck, which we were both surprised was gluten free! This was served with pak choi, broccoli, honey & sesame. The duck was delicious and just fell off the bone, it was a really generous portion too. And we ordered a portion of fries as well.

I was in the mood for something chocolatey for dessert and chose the dark chocolate delice with salted caramel and Amarena cherries. I have a weird thing where good quality rich dark chocolate makes me sneeze (is this just me?!), and this made me sneeze quite a lot! Still worth it though. It was so tasty, and came with some ice cream which helped balance out the richness of the chocolate.

Nick wanted to order the strawberry pavlova, and again the staff were super helpful with making this dairy free. They subbed the vanilla ice cream for the vegan one, and didn’t put any chantilly cream on top.

We really enjoyed our visit, and would recommend Restaurant Bar & Grill to anyone looking for somewhere to eat in Leeds. It’s got a really buzzing atmosphere, and would be a great place to go with a group. They have a beautiful private dining space upstairs too which would be perfect for a larger group, and for a special occasion.

It certainly is! They have a gluten free menu with loads to choose from, and you can scan a QR code to see all the allergens in everything on the menu. The staff were also helpful with discussing options that would be suitable for someone with an allergy or intolerance.

They also have a vegan & veggie menu, but there is only one vegan choice for mains. It’s a miso glazed aubergine though which does sound delicious! There’s a few more vegan options for starters though. And plenty of vegetarian dishes.

Check out the ‘What’s On’ section on their website to see any upcoming events. In October there’s an evening with Boodles, a well-being dinner with Molton Brown, and a wine tasting evening too!