BAR & GRILL AT THE DAKOTA DELUXE, LEEDS | QUEENBEADY

When we had the pleasure of staying at the Dakota Deluxe Leeds last month (you can read my review here) we were also treated to a wonderful meal at their very own signature restaurant, the Bar & Grill which is situated inside the hotel. They have their very own bar, which is oh-so very elegant and was already quite busy at 8.30pm, so we decided to skip pre-dinner drinks and head straight downstairs to the cosy, speak-easy style restaurant in the cellar.

Even though the restaurant was downstairs and had a really dark interior, it still seemed quite bright. It was a perfect, ambient setting for a sophisticated evening meal in the centre of Leeds. I’d heard magnificent things about the food here, so I was dying to feast my eyes on the menu…

Oh, who am I kidding? I had already downloaded that PDF and decided the week before what I wanted to eat. Predictable, me? Never.

We were greeted with big smiles as we made our way down the stairs, and were kindly shown to our table by the maître d’, an intimate, little booth with dimly lit lights, surrounded by pillar candles. It was perfection – and very romantic.

As we looked over both the food and drinks menu, we were brought over a fizzy glass of champagne each. I was delighted, it was very refreshing and tasted quite “appley” – a great way to start the evening!

The menu itself was only a page long. There was no scrolling through pages and pages of various dishes, but instead a concise list of options that clearly, are what they excel at. I often find that the smaller a menu, the better the quality – in other words, they’ve perfected their craft.

As soon as I saw Steamed East Coast Mussels in a white wine, garlic & parsley broth, I was sold! It’s one of my all-time favourite starters, or appetizers as they refer to them here. My huge pan of mussels was something to be desired, it was quite the portion but oh so very tasty! In fact, I went as far as saying they were some of the best mussels I have ever tasted, and the broth that accompanied them was so creamy, I’m so glad it came with some bread to do a sly mopping session once I had finished.

Mr C chose the Smoked Haddock Chowder. He adores soup, in fact, he’s the master at making batches of the stuff, but this was rather special as it was completed with a poached egg on top. And, despite it sounding rather bizarre, he absolutely lapped it up (including his own mopping session with his bread!) – I had a little taste and it was super yummy.

Content with our starters, we ordered half a bottle of the “Red Wine of the Season” – the Albeitar, a deep and smokey wine from the North of Spain, Cigale. We’ve been sampling a lot of red wine recently, especially after falling in love with it in Rome last year. We’ve found that we prefer the Spanish and Chilean grapes in a Merlot and a Malbec. They seem much richer and a more well-rounded taste that slips down your throat without offending it with an after taste!

This bottle was no different. And, it went perfectly with our Chateaubriand.

Now, if I had to make one criticism, it would be about the steak. We ordered it rare, as we know that it’s such a difficult thing to get right and more times than not you find that you receive a more “well-done” version of what you asked for. Well, it was quite the opposite here. We felt the steak was more on the blue side, and not rare and because of this it was quite cold.

However, it was still super tasty. The quality of the Donald Russell beef, was beautiful and just melted in our mouthes. The peppercorn sauce that accompanied it was to die for, possibly one of the best i’ve ever tasted. It was creamy and more-ish, without being too rich.

It came with vegetables and chips with were also really yummy. And each mouthful was matched by a gulp of red wine, was I in heaven?

What I wore: Dress ASOS | Necklace ASOS (similar)

If I had any room I think I could have devoured every single desert on the menu – sadly, my stomach was urging me to say no! Instead we finished with a flat white each (to sober us both up before heading out for more cocktails!) and it was the perfect way to end the meal, and not stuffing myself absolutely silly.

Overall, it was lovely meal that was one of the most flavoursome meals I’ve had in recent times. If you’re wanting a romantic setting for dinner that has that “secret venue” feel about it, then this is the place to go. My best tip is to double-check with the maître d’ about how they cook their steaks. Despite that, it was still tasty and would recommend heading here if you are looking to push the boat out for a special occasion.

You can reserve a table here.

Are you thinking of heading to the Dakota Deluxe hotel this year?

Bee

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*Our meal was provided to us on a complimentary basis, but all thoughts and views are my own and a fair representation of our experience.