Food & Drink - Eating Out in Leeds

Feature Valentine's Day Meals

Struggling to decide where to take your loved one? Don’t panic, we've done the hard work for you

Aire Bar

If a three course meal isn’t really your kind of thing then Aire Bar’s relaxed lounge and bar area is great for a quiet drink this Valentines. Their outside terrace overlooks the River Aire, so why not take advantage of their Tuesday offer of fish and chips for £5. Alfresco dining’s never been so easy – that’s if you can brave the February cold.

32 The Calls, LS2 7EW, 0113 245 5500, www.airebar.co.uk

Alea Casino

Lovebirds are spoilt for choice at Alea Leeds as The Leeds…

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Competition Win a Valentine's meal for two at the Bird by Vineet

Fancy enjoying some sumptuous Indian dining - for free?

Can’t decide where to take your loved one this Valentine’s Day? Look no further, as Alea Casino at Clarence Dock is offering two lucky winners a freeValentine’s meal at its acclaimed Indian restaurant, The Bird.

The menu for the night is looking truly mouthwatering, with a tantalising taster of beetroot soup and sesame-rice croquette to get the juices flowing, before tucking into an absolute feast.

Starter options are olive chicken tikka and herb fish tikka with roasted tomato chutney, or olive-mushroom kebab with herb paneer tikka; mains are spiced home-smoked lamb chop with date-chilli rice, rogan josh sauce and basil…

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Drink News Jake’s Bar and The Still Room Reopens

Call Lane hotspot reopens with a special new copper pot still and their home-flavoured distillates and liqueurs

It was only last month we were telling you excitedly that Leelex – the local company behind Call Lane venues Neon Cactus, Oportoand Jake’s, as well as the Hummingbird in Chapel Allerton and Portobello Starin London – had launched their own gin and set up a distillery above their London bar.

In the next exciting instalment of Leelex news, it’s clear they haven’t forgotten about their bars up in Leeds. Call Lane regulars will have spotted that Jake’s Bar & Grill has been closed ever since their big new year’s eve party. Was it trashed beyond…

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News Ilkley Brewery Crowned One of Yorkshire's 'Most Promising Companies'

Accolade marks successful first three years for brewer of gold medal-winning Mary Jane pale ale

Yorkshire has some of the best breweries in the country (we think so anyway). At just three years old, Ilkley Brewery is up there with the best of them, and its sterling work hasn’t gone unnoticed as it is one of three Yorkshire companies to win the Local Business Accelerators campaign.

Backed by the government, the campaign aimed to find the region’s most promising young companies. Along with Ilkley Brewery, Huddersfield’s Proper Maid and Leeds-based Liquid Voice also won free advertising and business mentoring from some of the region’s top business heads.

Chris Ives, co-founder of Ilkley Brewery, said: “This…

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News Alea Restaurants Nominated for 2012 Oliver Awards

James Martin's The Leeds Kitchen and the Bird by Vineet have both been recognised for serving up high-quality cuisine

The Oliver Awards are back to celebrate the best restaurants in Leeds in 2012 – and both restaurants inside Alea Casino have been nominated, with The Leeds Kitchen and The Bird competing for top honours.

Brought to you by Saturday Kitchen‘s celebrity chef James Martin, The Leeds Kitchen serves up some great British classics with a twist and you can even walk away with a signed copy of the celebrity chef’s cookbooks – that’s if you don’t get to chat with the man himself to make your meal even more memorable. Having opened in April last year, The…

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A Bartender's Life Viva Cuba

An insight into the life of Mojo cocktail man Josef Wyczynski

This month I’m lucky enough to be writing from rum and sun soaked Cuba. The fact that I’m writing from here is less about wanting to show off and more a testament to my awesome ability to procrastinate. I was going to get a little piece done before we left about how quiet January gets for bars (I’m actually able to take two weeks off!) but this fell by the way-side as I dreamed of dangerously affordable rum and worked on perfecting my truly terrible Latin-American accent.

As has happened on most of my travels, I’ve been exploring the drinking…

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