This £30 bottomless brunch comes with some of the best food in Leeds.
Described as a 'relaxed fine dining restaurant', Shears Yard is repeatedly on hot lists for the best food in Leeds (not to mention its admirable score of 85% on the Rate Good Roasts scale).
Offering an intimate dining experience, the chefs here are experimental and offer evolving menus guided by seasonality and local produce. Open four days a week, with a flavoursome lunch menu on offer, we can only think of one way that will improve the delectable choice of meat and sarnies: bottomless booze.
Image: Shears Yard
Of course, like all good Leeds restaurants, Shears Yard doesn't disappoint in this department either. Every Saturday for £30 per person, guests can expect a ninety minute bottomless experience with plenty of drinks and the same quality of food as on the regular menu.
The idea here is you choose one brunch dish and one alcoholic beverage at a time (although you can have this refilled as many times as you'd like) across an hour and a half.
Image: Shears Yard
Choose from winter warmers like wild mushroom and truffle orzo with roasted butternut squash with lemon and sage pangratatto or opt for a pork belly slice in black treacle glaze, Roscoff onion with ham hock and cheddar parsley liquor, carrot and suede.
Early brunchers will be keen to snap up the likes of smoked bacon and cumberland sausage sandwich in a brioche bun with onion chutney, rocket and pickles, whilst those looking for a balance of protein and carbs may opt for the smoked salmon with a warm salad of new potatoes, seaweed and capers in a buttermilk dressing.
The braised beef and root vegetable ragout is a standalone special served with buttered mash, rocket and parmesan salad: this mouthwatering combination would be our choice, particularly as the bottomless drink options would complement the flavours perfectly.
Bare in mind, this is just a sample of the menu for Shears Yard and as the restaurant mindfully alter their menu according to seasonality and produce available, so it's likely each time you visit you can try a brand-new dish. So really, there's even more reason to visit often.
Image: Shears Yard
Washing these culinary delights down is a choice of hand-pulled ales, the Czech pale pilsner, Prahva, poured by the pint; as well as bottomless classics like Aperol Spritz and Prosecco.
If that's not enough to tempt you, Shears Yard's cocktail Strawberry Fizz, with a Briottet Fraiser liquer, strawberry syrup and lemon topped with Familifa Botter Prosecco might just be the laid-back drink you need to finish off the afternoon. Failing that, there's always a Bloody Mary.
Food critic Camilla Long visited Leeds for her latest review for The Times with her sights set on Horsforth's finest - Bavette Bistro.
Ever since opening back in 2024, Bavette Bistro nestled in the leafy suburb of Horsforth has made waves across the country for its sheer brilliance.
It's pretty much received five star reviews across the board and been handed awards from left, right and centre. And rightly so.
The Good Food Guide crowned Bavette the best local restaurant of 2024, and Michelin handed them a well deserved Bib Gourmand - so it's safe to say it's not just us who think it's really something special.
So it was only a matter of time until The Times popped in for a review, and this one is truly glowing.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The review labels Bavette as "warm, unmannered and unpretentious" as well as "authentically French".
Long describes the food as "gorgeous, confident, surprising" with a menu that "isn’t too long" and "filled with sturdy, noble dishes, whiffing mightily of the sea and the soil."
It continues: "All of it made with generosity and cheer, served fast by nimble waiters, with a long, if slightly eccentric, wine list. To bang out French dishes with this much fiddly detail and to do it to a full room is not easy. Yet all four courses came in under two hours, for about £75 a head, which in London terms is nothing.
"It’s not that this place was perfect, it’s that it was decidedly not perfect. A bit too much chat about the menus; the oeufs in the meurette not quite runny enough. But the point is: it didn’t matter. All of it came charmingly together. It felt relaxed, just right."
The review is then wrapped up with a pleasing five stars, the cherry on top of the cake.
It's a review only restaurants can dream of, and we can't think of a more deserving team - congratulations Bavette.
Team behind Headrow House and Belgrave to take over and reopen Woodside just one year after opening
Clementine Hall
The foodie-favourite restaurant and bar is now under new management.
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that Woodside has sadly been closed for a few months.
We certainly have, and ever since December we've had a Woodside Sunday roast-shaped hole in our hearts that's been gasping for one of their glorious Marmite glazed parsnips.
But luckily, it has now been confirmed that Woodside isn't going anywhere as Superfriendz, the team behind Headrow House, Belgrave and many other top Leeds spots will be taking over. Hallelujah.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Woodside opened at the end of 2024 from the owners of The Brunswick and The Melbourne.
Labelling itself as a 'neighbourhood eatery and bar', Woodside quickly became a favourite amongst Leeds foodies and was known for its smoked meats, great cocktails and stellar Sunday roasts (do I need to talk about the parsnips again).
The menu was fresh and innovative, with oysters topped with kiwi granita and an incredibly garish banana split standing out as highlights.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
We hope that the new management continues to maintain Woodside's brilliance, but mainly we're just so glad that it's sticking around.
Superfriendz take care of a whole host of spots in the city, including proper Leeds favourites Headrow House, Belgrave Music Hall and Waterlane Boathouse.
Announcing the news to Instagram, Woodside said: "After a longer-than-expected winter break, Woodside is back and will reopen on Thursday 19th March!
"Your favourite neighbourhood bar and eatery returns with the same warm welcome, but an all new management team.
"We can’t wait to see you so keep your eyes on our socials for news on great food and drinks, big screen sports, quizzes and more.
"We’d also like to thank Sam and the original team for all the hard work that went into setting-up the venue. We hope we can do it justice."