Oriental food is now established on the menu as a Yorkshire favourite - we love the tastes and textures of food from this part of the world. The love affair began with Chinese dishes but has now grown to encompass the cuisine of other nations, meaning that Thai food is now just as popular and Japanese food is rapidly joining our list of classics
As we have grown to love the recipes of the Orient, we have become more adventurous and now count dishes with the signature fresh, clean flavours of this region of the world as among our top eating-out experiences.
Chino Latino
WITH a name like a cartel boss in the latest Antonio Banderas film and an oversized Buena Vista Social Club picture adorning the entrance, you'd be forgiven for thinking Chino Latino was a cheap fajita joint with a penchant for tequila.
Little Tokyo
ACCORDING to our waiter, this restaurant certainly lives up to its
name. He fondly told us how the interior and food served here could be... well, just as it is in Tokyo itself. The only difference, he said, would be the price. A similar meal in the Japanese capital would cost more like £100 for two people instead of the £60 we paid.
Little Tokyo
Staying healthy is such a minefield these days - first we're told a glass of red wine a day staves off heart disease, then we learn it'll soon ruin our livers.
Chocolate's properties as a life-saving super food or an obesity-inducing poison seem to change everyday, and someone even had the temerity recently to suggest a bacon sarnie could give you cancer.
Fuji Hiro
Fuji Hiro is one of those places you wish you'd discovered.
Tucked away in some unlikely location? Check. Unprepossessing interior decor? Check. Great, fresh food at cheap (for the city centre) prices?
Sesame
THIS is the new kid on this very upmarket block of solicitors, PR firms and recruitment consultants - Sesame know their market and what to give them. Sushi, noodles, de luxe soups and nibbles, this is an incredible chic little place which isn’t quite a deli, more of a shop selling pre-prepared top quality foods largely to take away (although there are a few seats inside.)
Read the full review
Thai Edge
It is large, light and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Millennium Square and fuses contemporary design with traditional touches like bamboo features and wood carvings.
We asked for a table for two and were shown to our seats immediately, although we were slightly baffled at being given a table that could easily seat five.
Wagamama
April 2010 Review
WHAT do we
expect from
somewhere that
serves food but
doesn’t call itself a kitchen
or a canteen, let alone a
restaurant? It simply
wants to be known as a
noodle bar. Expectations
aren’t high.
Which is partly why visiting
Wagamama turns out to be a
reasonably pleasant foray
because you don’t walk through
the doors with excitement, so
everything positive comes as a
pleasant surprise.
Wagamama
Maybe it's the laid-back charm of Wagamama which attracts the mixed crowd as it sits slightly out of the main shopping area, in the business district of Park Row and serves up fine food in quick time.
It is the perfect spot to do lunch when on a deadline, in a rush and starving hungry.
Wasabi Teppan-Yaki
It might actually be the best kept secret in Leeds - at least in terms of location. While the hustle and bustle of the Dark Arches at Granary Wharf is currently on hold, one corner has refused to give up the ghost.
Wasabi Teppan-Yaki, a Japanese-style restaurant, has continued to welcome regulars more interested in food and service than the state of affairs outdoors.
Thai Sabaithai Sabai
IN my book - and I've gone over the pencil with ink because it's so good - there's no better way to start a Thai meal than with a bowl of Tom Yum soup. Spicy hot and sour, I like to think of it as Thailand's version of Scotch broth.
And I've struggled to find a better Tom Yum in the whole of Leeds than the one they bowl up at Thai Sabai.
Brown Cow And Dragon
TIME was when an old-fashioned punch-up was as likely to be served up as a good meal at an east Leeds pub.
How times have changed then - at least at Whitkirk's Brown Cow, where you will find no fisticuffs and lots of fine dining.
