Ephesus Mangal - Bishopgate, Leeds

Sometimes things go so well and so right you are just amazed by the outcome... Leeds is a great party town but in my mind suffers a dearth of those little places that make a boozy night out end really well!

I’m not on about clubs and late night Whiskey bars, I’m on about the great little restaurants that look like hell but serve the best post pub food you could ever hope for...

I found a good one at last, so good I’ll be going back during the day. Ephesus Mangal is an amazing Turkish place in the Dark Arches (next door to Fry Ups) near the Leeds city train station.

It used to be a newsagents and has what we’d call beaten up charm about the place. Plastic table cloths, wooden chairs and you can see a chef preparing food whilst sat on an office chair.

None of this matters when you walk in though, you are met with this most delicious smell of meat cooking on a charcoal grill, they have a counter to display the kebabs in all their meaty glory as well as you walk in so immediately you know you are in for a treat.

The menu is what you’d expect... Grilled meats! Starters though come in hot and cold.  We went for the Patlican (Aubergine dip) with Bread and a Feta and Filo pastry dish.

The pastry was lush but completely overshadowed by the amazing Patlican also a dish of fresh tomato and oil was brought over to add another dish of dipping goodness to the spread.

The mains were immense... 2 large Cop Kebabs skewers (little cubes of Lamb) and 2 large Chicken Kebab Skewers, both were served huge plates of salad and rice. Now given that I’d been to the pub before hand and the place is BYOB I was starting to get a little hazy by this point.

The meal came to about £20 which was great and all was served incredibly quickly and professionally. Needless to say I’d missed my bus as I’d left it too late and ended up walking half the way home till the next one came but I was drunk and stuffed so It didn’t matter at all!

Arts Cafe - Call Lane, Leeds

Early bird at Arts Cafe as we were off to Edinburgh on the train... I hate eating to a timescale always so stressful, this is probably just me though, always looking at your watch thinking where’s the food! Needless to say my neurosis was unfounded and the food came out promptly.

Arts is a little, bijou bar restaurant type affair on Call Lane just near the Corn Exchange, nestled between the other more obviously “trendy” spots it’s seems like a little haven of peace and quiet from the throng outside.

It’s been in Leeds since I’ve lived here but hasn’t changed too much at all and this is a good thing, the menu is updated fairly regularly though so it stays current but the decor and atmosphere is still the same, chilled out, friendly and very easy going. I’ll stop wittering and get onto the food, 2 course for £12.50 or 3 for £15.00.

I’d gone with the Slow braised belly pork with Puy Lentils and sautéed apple which was delicious, the meat was perfectly cooked and just fell apart. I did think the Lentils could have been cooked that little bit longer, I’m all for al dente but not with Lentils.

The lady, looking delicious as ever bathed in a soft candle light, had gone for the Shredded Chicken and crème fraiche salad with Pancetta and figs which looked amazing but as I was too involved with my belly pork I didn’t try it! The mains came out quickly after the starter which calmed me down no end you’ll be pleased to know.

I’d gone for an old school dish of Tarragon crusted chicken with pancetta and creamed cabbage, the meat was cooked perfectly.

The crust added great texture and was delightfully aniseedy from the Tarragon but the creamed cabbage was just a bit too rich all in so the finished dish was a little off balance in my mind.

The lady had chosen Root vegetable pie with celeriac mash, she assured me this was delicious but I wasn’t having it... Vegetarian indeed!

All in all for 2 of us with some soft drinks and a couple of beers it was £35 which is pretty reasonable.

Oktoberfest - Hudderfield Beer Festival

We got into Hudderfield shortly after 11 to a gloriously sunny reception and moods were high despite an outbreak of really fine rain blowing in all directions mischieviously bypassing any attempts to stay dry with an umbrella.