Food Review Livebait
Rosie Birkett eats the entire contents of the North Sea
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Livebait isn’t afraid to be a proper restaurant — it has linen napkins and everything. It has no need for fads, because it’s one of the few restaurants in Leeds doing the simple, yet somewhat sought-after job of serving top quality seafood in abundance.
It’s a traditionalist’s dream, with huge ice platters of crab, prawns, clams and cockles, and fishes served whole straight from the grill. But, it also has a very reasonably priced set menu, (three courses for £.), and interesting fusions of flavours feature throughout.
If you’re eating alone, or have just popped in for a fishy little treat, you can sit at the long, high bar and eat oysters or, whatever you fancy, just sitting up there. It’s a bit like London really. What I’m trying to say is, there is something for everyone here — they even serve non-fishy dishes for those who don’t like seafood.
After two lovely starters of pan-fried sesame coated scallops served with a Vietnamese dressing, Chinese mooli and spring onion (£.) and moules (£.), my dining companion and I prepared for the fishy feast we were about to encounter. We’d chosen a bottle of their reasonably-priced but fragrant Muscadet (£.) to accompany us on our journey into the sea.
I was exuberantly excited about the main course: my very own Livebait platter. Described on the menu as a “seafood extravaganza”, this dish had caught my eye earlier in the evening, with its promise of Whitby crab, half a Nova Scotia lobster, Madagascan crevettes, Atlantic prawns and tiger prawns served on ice with an accompaniment of shallot vinegar, mayonnaise and tobasco. At £ for one, this is a serious dish, and when it arrived, on its own stand, with the massive crab and lobster resplendent on the tower of ice, I realised quite how serious this was.
The thing was huge — absolutely, unbelievably huge — with enough prawns alone to constitute a main meal. I wasn’t complaining though, as I tucked in to one of the meatiest lobsters I’ve ever had, and worked my way through the platter, dropping the odd crevette into my wine as I went. Obviously wanting to be altruistic about my gargantuan seafood feast I let my dining partner try a prawn, about which she was accordingly complimentary.
Her choice for the main meal was a whole grilled Mediterranean sea bass rubbed with lemon, thyme and sea salt, which she described as “the best fish I’ve had in Leeds”. Given the fishy tendencies of my chosen guest, this is some accolade.
Our bill came in at £ including two decadent puddings and coffee, and we both emerged into the night feeling as though, for one evening, we’d been transported to a world of fine wine and even better seafood.
Posted on Friday 1st August 2008
LG
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