Celebrating its 20 year anniversary, Sukhothai has re-launched its long-archived menu from their first opening in 2002.
Opening two Sukhothai restaurants (one in Leeds city centre and another in Chapel Allerton), six Zaap Thais across the North, winning countless awards and surviving a global pandemic that saw the even the best restaurants fall prey to the cruel financial reality of lockdowns- owner Ban Kaewkraikhot really has had a whirlwind twenty years.
Celebrating all that her team has accomplished, as well as their 20th birthday of their original Chapel Allerton restaurant, an incredible menu from 2002 is offering Leeds a taste of traditional Thai cuisine from time gone by.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The absense of the ever-trendy Pad Thai is replaced with a short, but well considered menu with favourites from the motherland and the UK that were served back when the restaurant first opened.
Seafood and spice are the main ingredients on this menu- and the combinations allows any visitor to consume a rainbow of colour and wealth of flavours without venturing too far from their long-time favourites- an ideal combination for any Thai food enthusiast.
Read More: This Thai restaurant in Leeds is bringing back its 2002 menu for its 20th anniversary
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Bringing a refreshing alternative to the usual satay stick starters, the Sukhothai Seafood Platter for two (or more) offers a generous selection of crispy satay fish, satay prawns and crispy squid in batter between well-dressed mussels and satay and sweet chilli dipping sauce, all placed a bed of salad shoots and leaves.
This stand-out sharer has had two decades of careful preparation to perfect the crispy, sweet and spicy fusion of flavour- and highly-requested reputation of Sukhothai seafood shows.
Those dubious to try seafood will fall for the classic starter alternatives of duck spring rolls with mixed veggies and the Mee Krob: a sweet, crispy noodle dish with beansprouts, spring onion and coriander.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
On the Mains menu, the seafood theme continues to outshine the other meaty offerings.
The Som Tum Supparod Pla Tod is a light dish, recommended by the servers for its spicy papaya salad. Served as a plate of crispy haddock fillet with papaya salad with nuts and pineapple, this refreshing main sits alongside longtime favorites like the Pad Nam Mun Hoi Gung, a stir-fried prawn fish with carrot, mushroom, onion and oyster sauce.
Meat-eaters don't need to opt for a pesci dish just to experience the flavours available from the 2002 menu: expect tender beef curry with aromatic Thai herbs or succulent stir-fried lamb with green curry paste served on a sizzling hot plate.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Alternatively, the Nua Luk Tao comes as a Sukhothai-own recommendation: a generous serving of grilled sirloin steak in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce that marries stir-fried veggies with traditional flavours that melt in your mouth.
Served with a selection of aromatic coconut and Thai sticky rice, as well as noodles and other side plates, the considered 20th birthday specials act as a testament to the restaurant's long-standing history in Chapel Allerton.
Regulars come back week-after-week, month-after-month for birthdays, anniversaries and Friday night dinners here, and as parents pass on their favourite restaurant dishes to younger generations, it's obvious that Sukhothai is going to continue to be that family restaurant you just keep returning to.
One of Leeds' most popular independent bakeries has addressed a recent one-star review, which slammed them for being sold out of sandwiches.
Silver's Bakehouse, which comes from the same team behind Silver's Deli, suggested that the reviewer should 'work on their manners'.
The review hit out at the Farsley bakery for being sold out of sandwiches by the time they travelled 'an 80 minute round trip', describing owner Chris Riley as a 'silly man'.
The reviewer said they have been 'loyal high-spending customers since the first one opened' but wrote that they won't be visiting Silver's again after being left empty-handed.
They wrote: "It's all very good being mr instagram but things can go south very quickly silly man, make more sandwiches if you are going to be sold out in the first hour, don't risk the disappointment!!!"
Silver's Bakehouse has now publicly shared and responded to the review, stressing that they won't tolerate 'rudeness' and detailing the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
He said: "Let me explain again for you, David…
Inside Silver's Bakehouse in Farsley. Credit: The Hoot Leeds
"We start baking at 5am and rarely finish before 6pm. Everything is made fresh, by hand, often taking days to prepare, in a very small bakery. You can literally see how small it is - and we utilise every inch.
"We make as much as we physically can. Sometimes we sell out earlier than we’d like, and we’re incredibly grateful that so many people want what we make. But there is, unfortunately, a limit to how much we can produce.
"For the record, I’m not overly enthused about being “Mr Instagram” - what a truly horrendous phrase to conjure up. I managed to avoid it for years, but needs must and all that.
"I am genuinely grateful for your custom, David. Rudeness, however, I’m considerably less enthusiastic about.
"So yeah, we’ll keep working hard. You keep working on those manners."
Major plans announced for Leeds Christmas Markets 2026 – food, drinks, stalls and more
Thomas Melia
Leeds Christmas Markets is returning to the city centre in just two months' time and some major plans and changes have been announced.
Although Pop Princess Zara Larsson might want us to believe "Summer isn't over yet", it's safe to say that the recent downpours we've had across West Yorkshire disagree.
Leeds Christmas Markets are also ringing in the new season with a jam-packed video posted to social media announcing all the current plans and changes for its 2026 schedule.
This year, outdoor events company Thor’s Tipi are stepping up as the all-new operators of this Christmastime spectacular and are organising a celebration where 'even if you’re not from Yorkshire, you’re going to leave being from Yorkshire'.
Leeds Christmas Markets are returning to Leeds City Square from Thursday 19 November with plenty of Yorkshire-centric stalls / Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Although Leeds locals already know that Yorkshire is 'God's Own Country', the Leeds Christmas Markets team are making sure that the county is represented through its food, drinks and wider stalls.
In a video uploaded to its social accounts, foodie expert and Little Bao Boy Founder James 'Jimmy Chews' Ooi was given the honour of revealing all these exciting plans.
Informing everyone that "You best come hungry", Ooi noted that some of the phenomenal vendors taking part include La Grassa and The Savvy Baker.
Real Markets Yorkshire and Stump Cross Caverns are also getting into the Christmas spirit and setting up their own stalls at Leeds City Square this November.
La Grassa is just one of many familiar foodie faces returning to Leeds Christmas Markets / Credit: The Hoot Leeds
Rated restaurants and bars are contributing to the festive frenzy too, like Cabaret Thursdays at Italian restaurant Bibi's and beer garden destination Green Room are hosting singalongs at Leeds Christmas Markets.
There will be plenty of activities for families happening all around the unofficial capital of West Yorkshire like elf-themed scavenger hunts, various elves on various shelves and lots of live music.
If it wasn't apparent already, in the words of Jimmy Chews himself, there's about to be "So much Christmas that Mariah Carey is going to look like the Grinch".
Leeds Christmas Markets are returning to Leeds City Square from Thursday 19 November and there will be plenty of exciting announcements to the upcoming celebrations ahead of the big day.
Sophie Smith -
29th April 2022 
