Where to eat and drink in Leeds
Published 07 December 2025

Kirkstall has finally got a local restaurant of note, and what a restaurant it is. Arusuvai is broadly South Indian, with a focus on the 'six flavours' of Tamil cooking and a fondness for authentic ingredients that may raise a few eyebrows (bottle gourd or lamb's trotters, anyone?). That said, the dining room is comfortable, service puts everyone at their ease, and there are plenty of dishes to win over the unitiated: warming, fragrant curries, fresh steamed idli tossed in crunchy ‘gunpowder' seasoning, possibly Leeds' flakiest parathas, and an entire section of the menu devoted to dosas – including a 'family sized' masala version the size of a rolled-up yoga mat. Express lunchtime thalis are superb value.

'Well done, Bavette, for getting me outside the M25,' a reader cheers. Quite a way outside too, but the journey to Leeds was evidently worth it to dine at Sandy Jarvis and Clément Cousin's convivial neighbourhood bistro in the northerly suburb of Horsforth. Shelves of books on deep green walls create a smart domestic ambience, and the food does the rest.

It's a Franco-Yorkshire alliance in every sense (M Cousin hails from Anjou on the Loire), and the menu reflects that collaborative spirit. Start with pork and prune pâté en croûte with the house mustard for an inimitably Gallic appetiser experience. Starters might embrace light crab tartelette with fennel, pea shoots and saffron aïoli, before the speciality bavette makes an appearance, tricked out with French beans and frites – the kind of sturdy main course that won't let you down. A more domestic route might yield plaice with potted shrimps, rainbow chard and Jersey Royals.

Italian Candonga could well be a strawberry variety you haven't tried, appearing here in season on Basque cheesecake with yoghurt sorbet; otherwise, the dessert list is pure bistro French – perhaps St Emilion au chocolat or raspberry frangipane with matching sorbet. Wines delve into some of the less heavily trodden byways of France for Jurançon Sec, Gaillac and the Cousin family's own Anjou Cabernet Franc and Grolleau Gris.

It may have grown into a mini-chain with three venues plus an active brewery and taproom, but Mill Hill, Leeds is where it all started for Bundobust 10 years ago. The atmosphere here is still as electric as ever, with a menu that's vegetarian by happenstance rather than design and encourages sharing. Must-orders include okra fries seasoned with black salt and mango powder, paneer tikka, and gobi Manchurian – a sweet, spicy nod to the Indo-Chinese sub-genre. Twelve keg and two cask lines pour a selection of beers from the Bundobust Brewery in Manchester, plus collabs and guest brews, while the cocktail/mocktail list brings flavours from the kitchen to the bar with various house-made infusions.

Shake off the humdrum location (beside the busy Otley Road in north Leeds) and relax into the easy enjoyment of Dastaan. Sibling of the original restaurant in Epsom, with Nand Kishor Semwal (ex-Gymkhana) as executive chef, it bears many of the same hallmarks: faultlessly warm, attentive service and a fresh, snappy menu which skirts all the curry-house clichés. Start with spinach and kale bhajiya or generous, charred wedges of paneer tikka with bright mint chutney before delving into a pork cheek vindaloo or Malvani fish curry. The vast 130-cover dining room has its own bar serving up cocktails, mocktails, local Kirkstall Brewery beer on draught and a selection of mainstream wines.

Don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is some kind of pious and preachy wholefood temple. ‘Greens’ is shorthand for the restaurant's ethos of using organic and sustainable produce from local producers on their hyper-seasonal, weekly changing menu, and is evident from the products stocked in the in-house deli and pantry. The place even has its own bike rack, encouraging staff and guests to travel there the green way.

The cooking is considered without being fussy, with humble vegetables often the star attractions, combined with globally inspired sauces and garnishes involving pickles or ferments, along the lines of carrots poached in blood-orange juice and served on a leek purée with homemade kimchi. Responsibly farmed meat and fish turn up in cod ‘wing’ on a bed of spiced bouillabaisse-style yellow split peas, or a satisfyingly charred pork chop dredged in a tikka marinade, with homemade green tomato chutney and sauerkraut. Daytime menus feature a condensed selection of the evening’s lighter dishes, plus a soup, stew, or sandwich to graze on while the 180-degree curved window frontage fills the room with light.

The friendly front of house team have the knowledge and enthusiasm to effuse about sourcing and saucing, while ‘making the place feel like home’. The organic ethos extends to the wine list, with a good selection of accessible natural choices from European producers by the glass from around £7 – or straight from the shelves for a corkage fee. There's a great range of seasonal homemade cordials and shrubs for non-drinkers, too. And when the kitchen clocks off, the world music from guest DJs creeps up, creating a buzzy after-dinner bar. 

‘The highest quality meat and cheese we’ve tried anywhere,’ thought a fan of this popular charcuteria/bar/bottle shop hard by Leeds railway station. The many marvels of the curer’s and cheesemaker's craft are on display via a series of customised sharing boards loaded with artisan classics – from instantly addictive Ibérico secreto and bresaola di Montagna to Baron Bigod and cave-aged Gruyère. A few tapas plates (butter beans in lardo broth, say) are also on offer, along with sourdough sandwiches and affogato, although cured meat (matched with a glass or two of natural wine) is the main reason for befriending this cool, cashless gem. There’s a branch in Ilkley.

Tucked away among a row of suburban shops, Hern is easy to miss and there's nothing outside to suggest it is even a restaurant. No menu, no opening times, and even the signage is minimal – as discreet and modest as chef/patron Rab Adams himself. Yet this tiny spot is full most nights with diners lapping up good food at keen prices. Cordon Bleu-trained Adams, who served time under Gordon Ramsay and Josh Overington, offers a short carte on Wednesdays and a four-course set menu from Thursday to Saturday. Local and seasonal ingredients are a given, along with low waste and sustainability, while the repertoire is driven by clean, uncomplicated ideas. Take a dish of Batavia lettuce, given a 'green goddess' dressing (yoghurt, lemon, anchovy, heaps of herbs) and finished with pangrattato and finely grated Ribblesdale cheese, or mascarpone, sprouting broccoli, black olives and chilli piled onto fresh toast. Fried polenta fingers are a wonderful snack, sizzling hot and crisp from the fryer and paired with vibrant pesto, while the bread is freshly baked, pillowy focaccia – a throwback, no doubt, to the days when Adams ran his own wholesale bakery. The chef's take on 'chicken parmo', the Middlesborough-invented takeaway of choice after a night on the lash (breaded chicken escalope, béchamel sauce and cheap block Cheddar) would be called 'posh parmo’ in the north-east. It's made from tender chicken and decent cheese, with asparagus on the side, though for size it would match any parmo you would find on Linthorpe Road. For something lighter, you might be offered sea bass with a vibrant red pepper sauce and marinated courgettes, while dessert might be a beautiful lemon posset, studded with strawberries and topped with a cooling elderflower granita – perfect for a searingly hot evening. A short wine list is arranged by character, while sharp, helpful service completes a terrific local package.

Bypass the pre-packaged sandwiches and overpriced coffee at Leeds train station and make the two-minute walk to Laynes – an all-day café that has been a pillar of the city's indie scene since 2011. If you have time, there are buckwheat pancakes, sweetcorn fritters and Turkish eggs for brunch as well as heartier lunch dishes such beef shin ragù with polenta to linger over. The counter is a tempting advertisement for the excellent seasonal baking produced at Laynes own bakery – their beetroot and pistachio Danish and a bouncy Leeds bun, stuffed with rhubarb jam and Chantilly, both hit the mark when we called in. Good coffee (from a rotating selection of roasters) is at the heart of things. 

For a fun ride, take the great-value yellow water taxi from Granary Wharf to Leeds Dock and the Boulevard that’s home to this neighbourhood coffee shop. Open until 3pm or thereabouts for breakfast, brunch and, of course, every version of coffee (beans provided by their roastery in Armley), it also has a cracking line-up of cakes and pastries (courtesy of the Nova Bakehouse next door). More substantial dishes might include anything from caponata and Jersey Royal hash to grilled cheese sandwiches with chilli jam – although the standout has to be their creamy-yellow ‘slow scrambled eggs’.

Leeds Dock was once a stew of 19th-century warehouses, where barges would offload coal to supply the heavy industries of nearby Hunslet. Its transformation came in the mid 1990s with the arrival of the Royal Armouries Museum and later a mix of residential and business premises, of which Sarah Lemanski's bakery, opened in 2019, is a major standout. There’s no seating but you can watch the dough being kneaded while waiting to pick up one of their long-proved sourdough loaves, brown butter madeleines, almond croissants, or a bag of chewy chocolate-chip cookies. The counter and shelves are also stacked with all manner of on-trend provisions from esoteric homemade marmalades to Leeds honey, pasta and pulses. Eight-week 'bread subscriptions' available.

As soon as you walk through the Ox Club's door, the smell of smoke preps you for the unplugged open-fire cooking that lies ahead. Mid-century furniture and houseplants soften the industrial feel of the brick and concrete room, while some clever landscaping partitions it out to give the whole place a cosy ambience.

Heading the kitchen is Tom Hunter, a former sous-chef at the sadly departed Reliance – an influence that can be seen in dishes such as blister-skinned grilled sardines with a refreshing tangle of fennel, black olive and blood orange. There’s a subtle char and smokiness to everything here: watermelon is grilled slowly until even the rind is tenderised, while beef tartare (served with gherkin ketchup and a veil of shoestring potatoes) also gets a whiff of smoke.

The steak offering is focused – a 400g sirloin or 1kg côte de boeuf sharer are mainstays – but regular ‘chop nights’ cater to more specific tastes, with specialist cuts from regular Yorkshire suppliers R&J Butchers. Rare-breed pork is grilled to give an almost impossible crackling and, like a hulked-up carnitas taco, is served with tajin, chipotle and pineapple ketchup, while a sour cherry-glazed kofta is made with lamb reared at local Harewood Food & Drink Project – headed up by former Ox Club sous-chef Will Campbell.

Sunday roasts are praised and the whole show is enhanced by laid-back but well-informed service. As for drinks, there's a fair selection of around 20 (mostly organic) wines from £28 a bottle, with plenty available by the glass from £8.

So close to Leeds station it's almost on Platform 7, Rudy's is a friend to both travellers and fans of the San Marzano tomato. Its Naples-style pizzas (made with double-fermented dough) are floppy, foldable and instantly compelling, thanks to quality toppings and seasonal specials such as Gorgonzola with garlic-roasted asparagus. Supporting acts include cheesy salads, accessible Italian wine and Huddersfield-brewed pale ale. Apart from its location, this spot scores with its chirpy Italo-Yorkshire service and generous capacity (although walk-ins should be prepared to queue). Rudy's also has local outlets in Headingley and Chapel Allerton, as well as branches in other major cities.

A Leeds landmark since 1976, family-owned Salvo’s has lost none of its legendary pulling power as it heads towards its 50th year. Flame-blistered, creatively topped Neapolitan-style pizzas and an impressive choice of pastas are the kitchen’s calling cards, but don’t ignore the remainder of the regular menu or the specials board – perhaps chickpea and tomato fritters, pastrami-style salmon ‘crudo’ or grilled chicken with cauliflower purée, spinach and ‘nduja jus. Desserts are time-honoured trattoria staples (tiramisu, panna cotta, lemon and polenta cake), and drinks stay with the patriotic theme – from zesty aperitifs to regional wines. Great fun and great value for families, kids, students and everyone in between.

It may seem like any other city-centre pasta joint, with its industrial open kitchen, concrete floors and well-designed Scandi furniture, but delicious food and a sense that this is a ‘a place which has really come into its own,’ makes Sarto a popular spot. We’ve enjoyed crisp aubergine with a hearty, fragrant pesto, handmade pappardelle (lots of bite) with beef shin ragù and béchamel, and a light tiramisu with a lovely syrupy sponge. Good coffee is from Leeds favourite Laynes, and there’s a brief, affordable, mostly Italian wine list, as well as cocktails and a fun-looking spritz menu.

‘We keep coming back’; ‘Good portions, fresh ingredients, tasted great.’ Reporters are still enthusiastic about this long-serving brasserie, which offers the best food option in an area better known for its clubs and cocktails. The Calls was once the ugly, messy industrial hub of Leeds, thanks to its position at the confluence of the Leeds/Liverpool canal and the river Aire. Then, in the 1990s, came a massive regeneration of the old mills and warehouses, including this 18th-century former sail-maker's workshop which provides an attractive backdrop of exposed brick, polished concrete floors and a vaulted ceiling (complete with countless filament light bulbs). An inviting modern carte (with four choices per course) could deliver breaded plaice fillet with mild curry sauce, followed by lamb rump served simply with grilled lettuce, wild garlic and a potato croquette. There is ambition in a delightful ajo blanco, which sees both raw and cooked new season's asparagus added to the bread and almond soup, before the whole lot is finished with crushed smoked almonds and a glug of wild-garlic oil. A flourless chocolate sponge is as rich and chocolatey as you could want, served with the smoothest white chocolate and rum crémeux and a rum-and-raisin purée. For something more delicate, there's a posset that brings together flavours of coconut and cardamom with a jammy topping of poached Yorkshire rhubarb decorated with shards of black sesame and coconut brittle. Prices throughout are reasonable, including a good-value, six-course tasting menu at £55, while wines begin at £29 for a Macedonian Smederevka. 

A pint-sized neighbourhood deli putting Bramley on the Leeds food map with large, trendy, bodega-style sandwiches. In the morning, you can get coffee, pastries, and toasted brioche loaded with various combinations of silky soft scrambled eggs, house sausage patties, smoked streaky bacon, cheese and caramelised onions (or all of the above, in the aptly-named 'everything sandwich'), while at lunchtime they pivot to filling freshly baked sub rolls with Italian-style cold cuts and house-made fillings (until they sell out, which is a common occurence). We recommend the O’Hagan, with chicken breast in garlic and herb aïoli, with peperonata spread and crispy prosciutto for crunch. For those who aren’t local to Bramley, Silver’s sandwiches are also available from Get Baked in Headingley.

If it was a toss-up between Stuzzi’s Harrogate original and its more recent Leeds offshoot, readers confirm that the younger, West Yorkshire sibling would win every time. It might not look much from the outside (blacked-out windows, gold signage and a message announcing 'importers and purveyors of fine Italian stuff’), but step inside and head up to the attractive attic room, where delights aplenty await. Against a backdrop of concrete floors, contemporary bentwood chairs, rustic arches and shelves of wine bottles, visitors can dip into a roster of Italian small plates in the modern idiom. The restaurant’s name is short for ‘stuzzichini’ (the little dishes served with drinks in osterias and bars across Italy) and the kitchen delivers. Highlights from the day’s 12-dish menu might include anything from Stuzzi’s famous deep-fried pig’s head terrine with chilli, lemon and 'nduja aïoli to Puglian burrata with roasted artichoke, focaccia croûtons, pistachio and sorrel pesto. Local ingredients also get star billing, be it Harewood Estate venison tartare or chargrilled Yorkshire asparagus wrapped in home-cured chilli lardo with crispy wheat and confit lemon. For afters, treat yourself to a panino gelato (a homemade choux bun filled with Yorkshire rhubarb, vanilla gelato and Stuzzi gin). The lengthy wine list wends its way exhaustively through the Italian regions, with plenty of prestigious labels on show and prices from £25 upwards.

Specialising in the culinary traditions of Kerala in southern India, Tharavadu generates a voluminous stream of plaudits from loyal customers. It has the kind of fanbase that not only returns regularly, but has acquired some knowledge of the distinctive regional specialities the kitchen deals in. The former captain of India's test cricket team, Virat Kohli, is a confirmed supporter, and there ought to be no arguing with an endorsement like that. In the warm embrace of hospitable staff, everybody feels welcome, and the kitchen hits one highlight after another. The mutta roast starter, a preparation of boiled eggs in chilli-hot tomato and onion, served with appam, is technically a breakfast dish, but who's counting? A more conventional way in might be with adipoli chemmeen, grilled prawns alight with their spice marinade, served with lemon chutney. Fans dream of the meen koottan, a classic coastal fish curry replete with Keralan seasonings and kokum mangosteen, best ordered with house paratha. Lamb mappas is a traditional Easter dish of the regional Christian community, incorporating spinach and a complex mix of garam masala and other spices. There's fresh okra in mustard as a side-order, zesty lemon rice to accompany, and cardamom and saffron vermicelli if you've any room left. A decent wine list, from £17.95, should cope with the cooking.

In 2022, Sam Pullan and his partner Nicole Deighton took over a long-deceased caff in a tucked-away corner off Briggate, turning it into an original and innovative restaurant. The revived Empire feels young and exciting although it's tiny, with room at street level for a smart little bar, where cocktails are shaken and they serve ‘the perfect Guinness’ against a backdrop of sparkling bottles and glassware, high stools and banquettes. You can eat here or in the windowless basement dining room, which may sound bleak but isn't: lamps on each table and Egon Schiele prints on the dark walls give it a cosy, welcoming vibe.

The constantly changing menu is made up of two halves (small or large plates) – perhaps a choux pastry éclair stuffed with duck liver parfait and finished with a sticky blood-orange glaze or pork pluma, cooked over charcoal and paired with a crunchy Lincolnshire Poacher cheese croquette and a lemon and treacle sauce. And whoever added tomato and crab ragù to a simple fried duck egg is onto something.

Roast chicken is the star of the show, turned on a giant rotisserie (billed as the ‘wall of flame’), with the fat and juices dripping down to ‘schmaltz’ the potatoes beneath. Choose whole or half, then pick your 'rub' and your ‘lather’ – perhaps smoked garlic and honey, or yuzu and ginger, or garlic, lemon and tarragon.

Pastel de nata has become an Empire signature, too. Freshly baked pastry cases filled with sweet custard are typically traditional, but they are lifted by the addition of Reblochon cheese plus a spoonful of roast chestnut purée on the side. Service is full of enthusiasm, and staff are great at talking everyone through the menu. 'A breath of fresh air for Leeds.'

The team behind the Empire Café reopened this much-loved neighbourhood boozer in spring 2025, and its new guise is respectful of its heritage, ticking all of the proper pub boxes: dark walls and velvet curtains creating a cosy atmosphere, a polished wood bar dolled up with shiny brass accessories, plus a tray of oysters on ice at one end waiting to be shucked to order. The interior of the flatiron-shaped building is lined by a continuous burgundy-leather banquette, encouraging chat between tables of regulars and first-timers. It’s a pub for and of its community. One fan marvelled at the balance of serving 'world-class food' while 'maintaining an air of working-class Leeds'.

The menu nods to pubs of all stripes, from chophouses to Desi to sandwiches-on-the-bar boozers. Bone-in sirloin steaks from Sykes House Farm are ordered in inch-thick increments, cooked on an eight-foot woodburning grill that fires the kitchen – custom-built to fit into a former fireplace – and served with a lick of peppercorn sauce. A dish of smoked mussels in a Pernod-spiked shellfish bisque atop fire-toasted sourdough, has been highly commended, as have Sunday wood-fired roasts of half-chickens or whole beef rump served pink.

A separate selection of bar snacks is enough to tempt anybody – half-pints of shell-on prawns, sausage rolls baked to order and served warm on a paper doily with homemade brown sauce, slices of ham carved off the joint and warmed through on the fireplace with butter-brushed dinner rolls, presented alongside a dedicated mustard menu. And everyone praises the grown-up versions of Black Forest gâteau, brûléed banana split, and other nostalgic puds.

The bar features well-managed cask ales, perfectly poured Guinness, local keg brews and a fridge of Belgian beers, as well as a dozen rotating single malts (all served from optics) with prices ranging from post-work sharpener to post-meal extravagance.

Jo and Stuart Myers' evolution from sandwich shop owners to ‘proper restaurateurs' (Jo's words) has been quite a trip. Their previous venture, The Swine That Dines was a 20-ish seater on the brim of the city centre, while this upgrade is a 40-cover bistro in Leeds’ most well-known suburb, just round the corner from Headingley Stadium (and about 'four and a half pints' along the famous Otley Run pub crawl).

Order a plate of devilled eggs and gildas while you browse the starters, which might include sardines with jardinière vegetables, pickled to pop against the char of the fish skin, or one of Stuart's signature dishes – a rough-hewn terrine. Main courses generally veer towards classic bistro territory, with options such as confit chicken with peas and pancetta, salmon with a deep anchovy and sorrel sauce, or bavette with a bordelaise sauce made lip-smackingly sticky with bone marrow.

Jo Myers is responsible for the desserts, which might range from a classic pavlova given a Mexican nudge with tequila syrup to a livening coriander ice cream with blueberry compôte or a cheeseboard/dessert mash-up such as apple pie topped with a scoop of smoked Cheddar ice cream. The good-value lunch has delivered a particularly fine slice of beef-dripping toast with a tangle of shredded beef pooled in braising juices, while Sunday roasts have been warmly received. 

The Wen family hails from Shandong province (between Beijing and Shanghai), and the cooking of that eastern region – along with some excursions into the Szechuan repertoire – constitutes the backbone of their appealing city-centre venue. Café-style decor beneath a raftered ceiling creates an informal atmosphere, while the menu deals in lively home-style cooking. 

Where better to start than with Mrs Wen's minced pork dumplings, pleasingly hefty specimens with soy and chilli for dipping? A sizeable portion of marinated jellyfish in coriander and chilli, textured with Chinese leaf, is deeply moreish, likewise chicken on the bone dressed in chilli oil (another terrific cold appetiser). The chef is also a dab hand when it comes to tofu, note the lip-numbing mapo, electrified with Szechuan peppercorns and doubanjiang (fermented bean paste). Lamb is still quite rarely seen on Chinese menus: here it appears in a passable stir-fry with onions and plenty of cumin. 

Looking to celebrate? look no further than the braised whole sea bass with bamboo shoots and black fungus, a showpiece dish and an absolute treat. To finish, plump for the deep-fried crispy red-bean paste. A wine list compiled in conjunction with Leeds' natural wine specialists, Wayward Wines, yields some enlivening possibilities. 

Inspired by London’s bacaro-style eateries, the hands-on Leggiero brothers have brought some true Italian aperitivo spirit to this animated spot beside a busy road in suburban Leeds. Zucco certainly looks the part – high stools, subway-tiled walls, black-and-white chequerboard floors, filament bulbs dangling from a copper-panel ceiling – and its menu ticks all the boxes. With brother Michael overseeing proceedings, the kitchen turns out kindly priced Italian small plates and sharing dishes with bags of personality and all the right accents. Pizzette and pastas are always a good shout – perhaps spaghetti with polpette or baccala (salt cod) ravioli with sage and white wine – but other items also catch the eye. How about chargrilled octopus with saffron potatoes or pork belly stuffed with apricots, sun-blush tomatoes and capers? Meanwhile, sweet-toothed punters can revel in a line-up of all-Italian classics – affogato, sgroppino, lemon and polenta cake, ricotta-filled cannoli, (vegan) gelati and so on. Equally classic cocktails share the billing with a short list of Italian regional wines, including plenty by the glass or carafe.