Leeds Kitchen by James Martin

Whooop wooop, ever since my mum went on Ready Steady Cook with James Martin (yes that’s right my mum is officially a TV chef) she loved him so much it’s rubbed off on me. So naturally I was going to pay his fairly new (2 years old?) restaurant a visit.

Its situated in the Alea casino in Leeds, which is part of the Clarence dock development that bombed pretty badly during the recession, fortunately this place remains as one its redeeming features.

So the venue is nice looking and fairly small, I reckon it only seats about 40 people max? Apparently James was there the night before we dined, but he was definitely absent the evening we showed up, I promise you I checked. I was hoping for a little swoon as he walked by.

Both of us opted for the set menu of 5 courses and a glass of house wine for £30. Absolutely Spanking value! However this option is only available Monday to Thursday, 6-9pm. I think it’s been updated now to 6 courses for the same price, as if you needed another reason to go.

Now for a little confession, I did expect this place to be pretty average. I like Mr Martin and his cooking I’ve seen on the big screen, but I was expecting a much more rustic classic “Yorkshire grub” approach. Like really well done pub food, or that’s what I was expecting anyway. What I got was quite the opposite, a delicious meal of beautiful sophisticated food with impeccable service. .  .Oh except the waitress not giving me my change back, but it was smaller than the tip we would have left anyway, so we bolted.

I’m getting ahead of myself, on to the food.

First up was a amuse-bouche consisting of a tiny mug of delicious frothy thick creamy pea soup. Second course was some chicken liver parfait, creamy and morish but not enough bread to go with it.

 The fish course was the most beautiful little fillet of mackerel I’ve ever had with blood orange and micro coriander. This was seriously tasty and definitely the best course of the meal.

 The main was a trio of pork loin,  pork cheek and sausage roll. Yes the sausage roll made an appearance as if just to keep us grounded and remind us of where James Martin’s food loyalties lie. My rapture at the inclusion of a sausage roll was a rapidly brought back to earth when I realised it was just a sausage roll and didn’t taste much better than something I’d knocked up in my own kitchen. However the rest of the pork was perfectly cooked and the cheek was exceptionally tasty.

 By this point I was getting pretty full and it was time for desert. Dessert? I know a friend from university who wrote an entire exam answer about the prehistoric expansion of desserts in Northern Africa, ooops. Dessert was a chocolate mousse served with a berry compote. I thought it was ok but my partner liked it and to be honest dessert would have to contain some bacon for me to like it anyway.

That’s it done. All in 2 people £60, bargain if you ask me. I was really impressed with the cooking here, simple food done well, no bells and whistles required. So get yourself down to Clarence dock you wont find the same quantity or quality of food in Leeds for £30 anywhere else. :)

8.5/10

http://theleedskitchen.co.uk
Alea Casino,
Clarence Dock,
Leeds

Chadwicks Inn, Maltby, Teesside

A few weeks ago I was back in the North East and decided to visit Chadwicks Inn in Maltby village for lunch. Allegedly “the only 2 AA Rosette Gastro pub in the Tees Valley” or so it says on their website. Chadwicks used to be found on Yarm high street but moved about 2 years ago to Maltby site a few miles away.

The restaurant has a country pub vibe tastefully decorated with dark wood furniture and a log burning stove in the corner. This owes to the fact that it used to be pub not so long ago, but I wouldn’t come here for a cheeky pint nowadays.

We booked in advance and were promptly shown to our table and offered the menus. We both picked off the set lunch menu which was 3 courses for around £15-20, I forget the exact price.

First up was Pea soup with a poached egg and smoked bacon dressing. The soup was delicious, velvety smooth and fresh and the egg beautifully runny in the middle. However I didn’t get any smoked bacon from the dish, to be honest id be quite happy to just put two crispy pieces on the top. Bring on the bacon!!

My partner opted for the smoked salmon with quail’s egg and young onions. Which I’m told was very good, the young broad beans scattered about the place were a nice touch. This course also came on a slate which is pretty edgy for the Tees Valley. I bet the locals weren’t impressed? So far so good.

The final course was Pan fried sea trout with orange and fennel salad. The trout was cooked perfectly soft and moist in the middle with a lovely crispy skin but the salad seemed to have been dressed in water and there was no appearance from Mr Fennel, maybe they’d ran out? This really let the dish down. I love fennel but could have dealt with just a mixed leaf salad if it had some form of dressing to tie the dish together. Anyway the fennel was gone so I made do and quenched my thirst on my moist salad.

All in all I like this place, it’s about 1 mile from my parents and the lunch menu really is reasonably priced. I’d recommend it for those in the area that are after more than a trip to Frankie’s and Bennie’s, it’s probably slightly cheaper than most of the other “fine dining” alternatives around as well.

7/10

High Ln, Maltby
Middlesbrough

TS8 0BG

www.chadwicksinnmaltby.co.uk