James Martin: The Leeds Kitchen

So tonight we've been for a meal at James Martin's new venture - The Leeds Kitchen which is down at The Clarence Dock.

As he has a slight HUGE man crush on fellow Yorkshire man James, M was overjoyed to learn that the man himself would be in residence in the restaurant for the first two weeks, so that we'd be able to sample food cooked by his fair hands.

The restaurant itself is inside the Alea casino which was slightly strange on entry as I had to give my date of birth.  I presume it's because I look really young as they let M through with just his surname.  I'm not complaining.

Once inside, the restaurant space is very small and intimate.  We were shown straight to the table which was fairly close to the kitchen area - which is completely open at the front.  When we sat down M asked "did you see him, did you see him" in an excited voice.

As I was walking towards our table apparently with my eyes shut I appeared to miss James standing directly in front of the kitchen hatch!  Damn I thought, I've missed my chance to see him (I was facing into the restaurant - I let M have the prime seat facing the kitchen so he could drool).

We ordered some drinks and then as we were perusing the menu, James walked past.  More perusing and he stopped off at our table to shake our hands and ask what we were having.  He was so personable and offered some recommendations on the dishes.  It was a really nice touch.  I'm pleased to say M didn't wet himself, he was close though, heck, even I was at this point.

So, the starters came out really quickly and it looked so good I forgot to take a picture until I'd already eaten part:-

 Fried Laverstoke Park Mozzarella with Ampleforth cider and pear chutney.

Pot-roast chicken breast with smoked bacon, vegetable and mustard shoots.

As you can see - I forgot pictures again and had already added some carrots and some mash.

Finally - Cox's apple custard tart with Yorkshire clotted cream.

The food was ACE.  Perfectly flavoured and delicious.  The starter was just enough for a pleasant introduction. I was struggling to finish the main which was delicious, the chicken was really well cooked.  The mash, well, I could have just eaten three bowls of that for all courses.  Such great comfort food.

M had a cod and monkfish starter, lamb which looked lovely if a little pink for me and then the jaw dropping sticky toffee pudding - the pudding which he'd been sure he'd have at James Martin's restaurant before he'd even opened the restaurant.  He said of the sticky toffee pudding "memories of bonfire night treacle toffee with added awesome in a light toffee sauce that you could drink in pint glasses" - he doesn't just talk like that in conversation, he wrote that for a review, obviously.

It was so funny seeing the ladies reaction to James wandering around the restaurant, there was lots of swooning happening.

Great food, and so reasonable too.  I hope it continues to be a really lovely new addition to the area.