Review of The Crafthouse Restaurant in Leeds

The Crafthouse Restaurant in Leeds

British cuisine has a lot to offer when it comes to exquisite ingredients and harmonious combinations of flavour. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the renowned Crafthouse Restaurant in Leeds. Situated on the 5^th floor of the bustling Trinity shopping centre in the heart of the city, this venue is an oasis for anyone looking for a memorable dining experience. The sleek urban interior is refreshing and spacious while the open plan kitchen is a welcoming touch. Head Chef Lee Bennet is immensely proud of his team and guests are invited to watch his skilled kitchen team prepare and cook the many wonderful dishes on offer. Crafthouse also make use of the fantastic local produce available to them, and all meats, fish, cheese, fruits and vegetables are sourced locally.

To begin your meal there is a huge range of starters, salads and specially prepared crustacean dishes that will tantalize your taste buds. Choose from grilled rock oysters with a leek fondue and light curry glaze or shell on king prawns with garlic butter and aioli. Adventurous diners may wish to sample the wild and pickled mushrooms with wild rocket, shallot and puff pastry or the country terrine featuring middle white pork, wood pigeon and pistachio served with a fig and apple chutney. Soup is often found on the menus of British restaurants in Leeds and at Crafthouse diners would be hard-pressed to pass on the cauliflower soup with Swaledale blue cheese croutons or the Bridlington Bay lobster bisque. Those who are heath conscious can tuck into salads such as the heritage beets with pink grapefruit, watercress, croutons and cider dressing, or the flavoursome cracked wheat with spiced cous cous, fine beans, roast tomato and garlic with aubergine crisps and harissa dressing.

Many of the main dishes feature meat, fish and crustaceans that have been char-grilled over charcoal at temperatures of 430C in their Josper oven. This process gives the food an incredible depth of flavour and uniqueness that keeps bringing diners back for more! Indulge in the 250g Aberdeen Angus rump steak that has been dry aged for 45 days or the South Devon fillet steak aged for 28 days. Fish and crustacean options include native east coast lobster, halibut on the bone and whole east coast mackerel on the bone. All josper dishes are served with a choice of béarnaise, cep mushroom, peppercorn, port and Stilton, parsley butter or vierge sauce or a tangy smoked tomato relish. As you would expect from restaurants in Leeds, Crafthouse has a meat pie on the menu. The Yorkshire game pie with red wine braised cabbage and buttered mash is the perfect meal for two and comes highly recommended. The roast cod with potato and herbs, spinach, shrimps and brown butter and the flamed veal kidneys with shallots, parsley and mustard tagliatelle are also popular choices.

With desserts like burnt Cambridge cream, morello cherry soufflé and pistachio ice cream and the classic sherry trifle with innovative twists of brandy cherries, toasted almonds and candied angelica, you want to make sure to leave room! Crafthouse Restaurant showcases the very best in British ingredients and cuisine and is the place to go for anyone serious about great food!