The Coolest Places To Eat In Leeds

The Ox Club offers sumptuous, grill-based cooked from the Belgrave gang.

At Vice & Virtue, cocktails are a savvy delight, the tasting menus are a sprightly revelation – and it would be a sin not to appreciate both.

Bundobust Leeds is a veggie Bollywood blockbuster, best known for its small plates and beer.

Home in Leeds is the brainchild of MasterChef finalist Liz Cottam, and business partner Mark Owens, formerly head chef at Ilkley’s The Box Tree (also in our Top 100). 

Adventurous cooking at one of Leeds’ most respected restaurants. The Swine That Dines is driven by a passion for extremely high welfare meat – and eating all of the animal. Expect their regularly changing menus of small plates to feature dishes such as hogget with offal ragu, pumpkin and cannellini, and ox tongue with pickled mushrooms and mustard, alongside equally inventive vegetarian options.

Head to The Reliance for Modern British dishes and homemade charcuterie in a relaxed dining room and pub, with craft beers.

The aforementioned specials push the envelope a little more, emphasising the ‘modern’ in modern British cooking. Ingredients have far reaching global influences with dishes such as pigeon breast, beetroot, Szechuan pepper and plum sauce sitting quite happily next to smoked salmon, Vollkornbrot, crème fraiche, cucumber and radish.

They claim to be an informal pub at heart, where customers are welcome to pop in for a pint, a coffee or a read of the paper, and the flexible space accommodates most requirements from lunch, through to pre-theatre dinner. There is even a Little Reliance Cinema for regular screenings.

Sushi Bar HanaMatsuri is a small Japanese restaurant serving authentic sushi, bento and other Japanese delicacies, to create a fine-dining experience. 

New look, same, wild styling from the Michelin-starred, glam rock loving chef. In 2018, chef-patron Michael O’Hare upped sticks from the Flannels department store attic where he made his name with The Man Behind the Curtain and moved into the basement of the same building.