Finding a place for a relaxing Sunday lunch with a good standard of choice and a first class menu is always a problem.

Even though a venue may be fine for ordinary dining so often when it comes to their Sunday lunch offering it leaves a lot to be desired.

Whether it’s a gastro pub, hotel or an upmarket restaurant it often seems that the high standards of food, cooking and service fly out of the window with mushy vegetables, tough meat, greasy roasts and little choice for vegans and vegetarians and dishes often served rather luke warm.  Service becomes hit and miss with staff who are sometimes inexperienced and unable to cope with the number of diners.

So often the meal that should be a great experience turns into the Sunday lunch from hell!

But at last one of the city’s newest restaurants has turned the Sunday lunch from Hell into one made in Heaven.

CrowdedHouse only opened a few months ago but its now becoming a force to be reckoned with and one of the hottest dining tickets in town.

Occupying the 5^th and 6^th respectively of the Trinity Centre in what was once home to The Crafthouse and Angelicas this lovingly refurbished and re-designed restaurant is a coffee to cocktails venue where you can enjoy the finest food and drink all day. The terrace has tables and chairs with blankets and heaters for the cooler weather and sun umbrellas for when the sun is out.

From the moment you take the exterior private glass lift from Boar Lane your experience begins.

When you alight on the 6^th floor there’s a wonderful welcoming atmosphere – even though its 3.00pm on a Sunday afternoon its still the same as it is at lunchtime or evening.

Our coats are taken from us and we are shown to our table with its gleaming cutlery and sparkling glasses.

Our server brings the menu and we start to explore the wonders of the menu which advises us its ‘refined plates – relaxed pace’ which couldn’t be further from the truth.

There are 5 starters with a choice of vegan and vegetarian options.

I decide on the Isle of Weight Tomatoes, Fermented Chilli Glazed Stracciatella with a crispy onion dressing – when it arrives it’s a work of art and I don’t want to put my fork  into it.

The chilli glaze with the Stracciatella sculptured into looking like a tomato and the onion dressing gave this normally rather bland curd type cheese flavour. I loved the different types of tomato that surrounded the dish I never knew the simple tomato came in so many different colours and tastes

My colleague went for the roasted pumpkin,  potato beignet, cordy cept mushrooms served with pumpkin and pine puree and sage beurre noisette. This dish turned the normally bland pumpkin into a tasty vegetable. The sauce was a delicious additive. The wedge of pumpkin was covered with cordy cep mushrooms and the potato beignet, rather like a croquette was a great addition with the plate decorated with sage butter.

There were three choices of meat chicken, pork and beef on the roasts menu plus a three meat sharing board and a Beetroot and Pine Nuts Wellington. There was the choice of four other dishes including  roasted cod, pork, confit salmon and a celeriac schnitzel.

I opted for the Sage and Onion Stuffed Pork Belly with Pork Croquette. The pork was a generous size , tender and cooked to perfection, The sage and onion stuffing rested in the middle of the pork and like the crackling was crisp.

My colleague chose the roasted free range chicken. This was a very generous portion including chicken breast and leg and was succulent and moist.

Included with our roast and served in side dishes were buttered greens, beef fat roasties, braised peas which were very moreish as you could taste the freshness of the peas and bottomless Yorkshire puddings. I never thought that I would be impressed by a simple roasted carrot but I was. Resting on our plates was a large carrot. Roasted to simply perfection all the way through and with a just melt in your mouth texture. I’ve dined in literally thousands of places  over the years all round the world but never have I tasted absolute perfection like this simple carrot.

We had to try the Comte Rarebit Cauli Cheese recommended by our server and we were not disappointed. This is a dish for two and suitable also for vegans. The dish had all the elements of the Welsh rarebit but was made with this smooth, nutty and creamy cheese one of the finest from France.

I thought I would be there until Monday breakfast getting through and savouring the different tastes and combinations and when I noticed the lights twinkling outside it gave the whole place a different ambience.

If there were ‘Oscars’ for desserts then the Tiramichoux would win hands down. This is a wonderful take on Tiramisu. The outside is covered in chocolate and inside there is a choux pastry box inside of which is a sponge soaked in coffee. This is not just a top class dessert but the ultimate heaven on a plate.

We decided to share this one but I must admit my colleague demolished most of it and I was glad I had ordered the Bergamot Tart which was so flavoursome and light in a home made pastry case served with rich tea ice cream which we shared.

By this time the restaurant had taken on a romantic vibe with the city’s sparkling lights and a carpet of stars visible.

Once again AA Rosette Winner Simon Jewitt the chef had weaved his culinary magic with a menu of superbly cooked, presented and imagined food offerings.

Crowded House : Open: Mon,Tues,Wed,Thurs – 10.00am-12.00 midnight; Fri, Sat 10.00am- 2am; Sunday 10.00am – 11.00pm.

Sunday lunch served from 12 noon until late (please check for last order times on the day you intend to visit)

Phone: 0113 5180l00 web: https://www.thecrowdedhouse.co.uk/

70 Boar Lane, Leeds 1. Level 5/6 Trinity Centre.