Wakefield is currently hosting a trial of a new Eat Out to Help Out-style scheme that can save you up to £10 from Monday to Wednesday.
Called Eat Out Round About, it’s a sustainable reworking of the August 2020 programme that pulled diners back into restaurants and created over 51 million claims across the UK last summer.
Like last summer’s scheme, its aim is to encourage people to return to hospitality venues - pulling them in at off-peak times when venues are more likely to be struggling for business.
Queen's Mill Tea Rooms is one of the independent venues taking part in the scheme
Its vouchers also work similarly, offering customers £10 off their food bill (including soft drinks and coffees) with any spend over £20.
Eat Out Round About Vouchers are currently available for employees from employers, local businesses offering them to customers and through other local promotions such as with The Hoot. The app places a big focus on sustainability: ranking its participating restaurants from bronze to gold, depending on how locally they source their produce.
Eat Out Round About also connects businesses with charities based in local communities, with voucher donations.
From tapas to steak, pizza, pasta and Thai, there’s a wide range of Wakefield restaurants taking part - giving diners a perfect opportunity to revisit old favourites and maybe even discover some new ones.
The Yorkshire Deli in Wakefield is the home of the metre long pizza
These include independent venues like specialty coffee shop Throwback Coffee House, The Yorkshire Deli and Castleford’s Queens Mill cafe, which sits within the world’s largest stoneground flour mill.
Casa Peri Peri, the restaurant from Masterchef’s Bobby Geetha, also features, guaranteeing a perfectly-grilled English peri peri chicken or beef short rib at a midweek price that won’t break your wallet .
Then there’s cosy restaurant Felice Bella Roma with its mix of pizza and pasta staples, family-run authentic Spanish restaurant Jose’s Tapas, or modern bar and kitchen CINTA.
TET is known for its traditional Thai tom yam soup, creamy curries, satay and seafood specials
Thai and Vietnamese spot Tet also feature, giving diners a chance to sample their new summer menu with some tasty savings.
And if you’re looking for somewhere with a bit of grandeur, you’ll be pleased to know that the historic Quarry at Horbury is also taking part in Eat Out Round About.
The trial is running up to 16th July, giving you plenty of time to get stuck in and sample some of Wakefield’s best restaurants.
To use your voucher when you dine, all you need to do is download the app and enter your promo code.
Head over to the website to download the Eat Out Round About app, register and select promo code, enter ’thehoot’ and claim your code.
Eats
Neighbourhood Leeds bistro hailed as ‘a bit horny’ and ‘brilliant’ by national critic Camilla Long
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."