British indie-pop kings, The 1975, shone as they brought their dazzling two-part act to the First Direct Arena on Monday night.
Returning for the first time since their iconic Leeds fest headline set in 2022, the city was pulsating with excitement to see the band take to the stage at the First Direct Arena.
If you've had an eye on social media over the past few weeks, you'll know that The 1975's recent tour performances have been nothing short of extraordinary, phenomenal and down-right bizarre.
Awaiting with baited breath to see what Matty Healy could possibly pull out the bag this time, 14,000 people held tight whilst being soothed by support act Bonnie Kemplay's soothing and dulcet tones.
The calm before the storm, as they say. But this certainly didn't last for long as bang on 8:30pm the curtain dropped and their doll house-esque, living room-like set was revealed.
The 1975 at First Direct Arena. Credit: Chuff Media
The First Act
The best way to describe the first half of their performance was 'a show-within-a-show'. Band members were triumphantly introduced with opening credits as freehand camera operators followed them across the stage once they made their entrance through various doors on stage.
Last to appear was of course frontman Matty Healy, who when came on the stage a girl heroically shouted 'Daddy!' which caused ripples of laughter in the crowd. This most certainly set the precedent for the evening.
The first act showcased material mostly from the band's new album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, in a conceptual show-within-a-show concept which was designed to test the boundaries of what a 'pop' show should be.
Healy played the role of a drunk, misunderstood artist - stumbling around the stage, loose hipped and bendy, swigging from a bottle of red wine and chain smoking camel cigarettes.
The controversial yet loveable rockstar floats around the stage clad with mid-century furniture, clutching onto anything he can to steady himself as he spearheads crowd pleasers such as Oh Caroline and I'm in Love With You.
Then it all started to get a bit weird. One by one band members disappeared, Ross Macdonald the guitarist kissing Healy on the head before he departs.
Matty then sensually unbuttoned his shirt, softly caressed his body before thrusting his crotch directly into a camera lense. He then got on his knees, savagely ate a raw piece of steak, did some press-ups whilst grunting and then climbed into a TV screen.
This was supposedly meant to be a comment on masculinity, I'm not sure the audience immediately understood it but we definitely enjoyed it.
The 1975 at First Direct Arena. Credit: Chuff Media
The Second Act
Then, following the meat eating and the TV entering, the band return to the stage for what felt like a tsunami to the senses. "Cut all the joker nonsense now, how's everyone feeling, you alright?" Matty says, for the first time directly addressing us.
Here the crowd erupt into a 'Yorkshire, Yorkshire' chant, Healy rolling his eyes before exclaiming "Come on, get it out of your system now before I have to autotune it".
What followed was a dazzling performance of their best hits, the shimmying If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) and the toe-tapping, life-affirming The Sound had the crowd jumping up and down, in-awe of the controversial yet loveable heartthrob in front of them.
A small interval saw Healy talk about democracy and ask the people of Leeds to choose their next song, asking us to cheer for which we wanted to hear. This resulted in Paris, and as Healy got changed into an undone, almost pyjama-like blue shirt he grasped a bunch of roses flung onto the stage.
Clutching these in the same hand as his microphone, his floppy hair covering his eyes, the frontman was perfectly executing the indie-boy persona we all know (and love) him for.
Towards the end the band played Love it if We Made It, Healy turned his back to us and faced his bandmates, arms stretched out wide, eyes closed and head up. This felt like a moment of reflection, looking to his best friends who 20 years ago started a band in their garage to now perfectly executing a sell-out, UK stadium tour.
Letting us in on a little secret, Healy explained that their first ever gig which seated just 70 people was held at iconic Leeds venue, The Cockpit. And after a monumental and historic two hours of musical and theatrical prowess that night at the arena, we were more than happy to have welcomed them back to our city.
Your complete guide to Sunday roast dinners in Leeds.
As the weather starts to turn a little chillier, by the end of the week we're craving Yorkshire puddings and gravy over salads and picky bits.
So that can only mean one thing, Sunday roast season is on the horizon and we're here to make sure you know where you can get a banging one in and around Leeds.
From the city centre to the suburbs, here is your ultimate guide to the very best Sunday roast dinners in and around Leeds.
Banyan
City Square, Leeds City Centre
Image: Supplied
Okay, if you're looking to really get stuck in then the Banyan Bottomless Roast is the only answer.
Choose from beef, chicken or veggie and you'll get unlimited Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and gravy. Yes you read that right, you can have as many Yorkshire puddings as you want.
You can also add bottomless drinks to make it the ultimate Sunday celebration, and when it's priced at £41.95 it really is a no brainer.
This iconic pub on North Street is pretty famous for its brilliant roast dinners. You can choose from all the meats from beef and porchetta to chicken supreme and even a vegan roast, they also do a great Bloody Mary if you're feeling a tad ropey from the night before.
Ox Club
Headrow, Leeds City Centre
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Featured in the Michelin guide and the Good Food Guide, the Ox Club’s fire cooking is legendary in Leeds. When it comes to Sunday roasts, they don’t disappoint. Think roast rump cap of beef with bone marrow gravy, wild garlic and sage porchetta with smoked trotter and fennel gravy, or roast breast of guinea fowl and confit leg with tarragon gravy – then tell us you’re not hungry.
As for the non-meat eaters, there’s coal-roasted celeriac with pearl barley risotto and truffle gravy, or a truffle cheese pie served with comte, and truffle gravy. Divine.
Stuzzi
Merrion Street
Images: The Hoot Leeds
You've most likely been here for their Italian small plates, but during the winter period they serve up an exceptional roast which you don't want to miss. Paired with an Aperol spritz, that's a Sunday well spent.
Woodside
Crown Point Road
Images: The Hoot Leeds/ Woodside
One of Leeds' best new openings are making a roast which will get you wishing it was Sunday sooner. Kick things off with oysters before tucking into beef rump cap with smoked mash and three cheese broccoli gratin. Yum.
The Adelphi
1-3 Hunslet Road, LS10 1JQ
On Hunslet Road, this historic Leeds boozer has been serving up the goods since 1901, and its Sunday menu is certainly worth shouting about.
The sharing roast comes loaded with chicken, rump of beef and porchetta, alongside all the extras and trimmings because no Sunday roast would be complete without them.
The Highland Laddie
38 Cavendish St, Leeds LS3 1LY
Officially named one of the best pubs in Britain, The Highland Laddie don't mess about when it comes to a Sunday roast.
Opt for a choice of rump or half chicken cooked over open fire, served with all the trimmings of course. But be warned, you'll have to book in advance for this one.
The Cut & Craft
King Edward Street, Leeds City Centre
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The Cut & Craft, which is relatively new to Leeds, opened in 2022 and has made a name for itself for its opulent decor and steak offering.
Their roast in particular has got the people of Leeds talking, opt for the sirloin of beef with all the trimmings or the show stopping Sunday Sharing Roast which features beef, a half roasted chicken and crispy pork belly. Because one meat just isn’t enough.
Empire Cafe
Fish Street
Image: The Empire Cafe
Known for their incredible open fire cooking and rotisserie chicken, you just know they're going to whip up an excellent Sunday roast and guess what? They absolutely do.
Think roast rump of beef with chicken fat potatoes, it's unlikely you'll find something better than this in the city.
Cheesy Living Co. Sunday Fondue
Leeds Corn Exchange, Oakwood and Pudsey
Images: The Hoot Leeds
We cannot recommend The Cheesy Living Co. enough for many reasons, but this Sunday roast is next level. Expect a huge pot of gooey Swiss cheese with all your fave roast dinner staples like rosemary potatoes dusted in paprika, half-roasted garlic and of course, Yorkshire puds! You can build your roast selection as you see fit to make up the ultimate roast dinner, adding a board of Lishman’s cold-cut roast ham and beef; honey-roasted carrots and parsnips; stuffing balls or even a DIY cauliflower cheese offering to dip into the Alpine-style fondue pot- and it’s delicious.
Crowd of Favours
Harper Street, Leeds City Centre
Image: Crowd of Favours
You can't get more cosy than The Crowd of Favours, think roaring fires, board games and comfy seats in candlelight. Can you think of a nicer setting to get stuck into a delicious roast? We certainly can't.
Blackhouse
East Parade, Leeds city centre
If you're looking for stellar meat, this is the place to go to.
Choose from lemon and black pepper half-roasted chicken; sage and garlic rubbed pork loin or roast beef, served pink or well, with steamed greens, beef gravy, rosemary carrots, roasties Cumberland stuffing and, of course, a Yorkshire pud. Those looking for a meat-free selection will be delighted to spot the spiced squash wellington on the menu too, with roasted tiny totes, spinach and porcini gravy.
Every Sunday for a full 90 minutes enjoy bottomless Prosecco, gin, pink gin, vodka, rum, seasonal cocktails and beer with your roast. Now that’s what we call a Sunday Funday.
Choose from Roast Topside Beef, Roast Chicken Breast or Zucchini & Cashew Bake with roast potatoes, mash potatoes, a huge Yorkshire pudding, parsnips, carrots, cabbage and the best part - bottomless gravy.
Midnight Bell
Water Lane, Holbeck
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Another great pub Sunday roast can be found at The Midnight Bell, serving up a delicious lamb rump on special occasions, along with roast beef, belly pork and even plenty of vegetarian and vegan options too- but every week the options are just what you need for your weekend meat and carb fix.
Also, plates come with all trimmings and they're an excellent hangover cure (just incase you're a little delicate today).
Lamb and Flag
Church Row, Leeds City Centre
Image: Lamb and Flag
Lamb and Flag has to be up there with one of the best Sunday Roast dinners in Leeds. You can choose from beef, chicken, pork, lamb or a vegan nut roast... would it be greedy to have them all? And just look at the size of those Yorkshire puddings, says it all.
Offering a good mix of veggie, fish and meat dishes, Shear’s Yard has one of the best-looking Sunday roast menus in town. Think truffled leek and potato wellington, tikka marinated cauliflower, or overnight-braised shoulder of pork, and we think you get the idea.
The restaurant has only got a sample menu listed, but trust that you can get a solid roast with all the trimmings or a more adventurous main – with plenty of good options for all dietary requirements.
Whitelock’s Ale House
Turks Head Yard, Leeds City Centre
Image: Whitelocks Ale House
Often hailed as Leeds’ oldest pub, Whitelock’s also serves up a cracking Sunday roast dinner. Whether you’re after a roast beef topside, leg of lamb or pork loin, trust you will find them all here served with a Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and gravy.
Whitelocks has one of the most loved Sunday roasts in Leeds- there’s no doubt about that. So the fact that their nut roast is vegan friendly and they’re willing to cater to those with a plant-based diet is just another reason to love the cosy pub.
Cauliflower cheese can be added on as an extra, and as for veggies and vegans there’s a lovely nut roast option – also served with all the trimmings.
The Botanist
Outside Trinity Shopping Centre, Leeds City Centre
Image: The Botanist
Choose from Roast Sirloin of Beef, Roast Chicken, Pot Roast Lamb Shoulder, Slow Roast Honey Glazed Pork Belly or Celeriac, Mushroom and Pearl Barley Wellington. All roasts served with maple glazed carrots, roast potatoes, minted greens and gravy. They really take 'comes with all the trimmings' seriously, with loads of sharing sides to choose from.
The Whitehall
Wellington Street, Leeds City Centre
Image: The Whitehall
You can choose from Roast Beef, Roast Chicken, Pork Belly or a veggie or vegan Nut Roast. All served with roast carrot, cauliflower cheese, green beans, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding & gravy (lotssss of gravy). If you haven’t already, you need to swing by Whitehall for your next Sunday roast it’s truly 10/10.
Dakota
Russell Street, Leeds City Centre
Image: Dakota
You can choose from Sirloin of beef, belly of pork or breast of chicken, and you can bet it's cooked to perfection. Served with Duck Fat Potatoes, Maple Glazed Root Vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding with lots lof additional sides you can add. For all you veggies you can a delicious Nut Roast with onion gravy with Roast Potatoes & Maple Glazed Root Vegetables.
Gaucho
Park Row, Leeds City Centre
Image: Gaucho
For a truly indulgent Sunday roast, you can’t go wrong with Gaucho. The Argentinian steakhouse is known for its melt-in-the-mouth, wet-aged steaks, but it also serves up a killer Sunday roast with bottomless meat and wine every weekend.
If you’re coming here, it makes sense to go for the beef – sourced specially from premium Black-Angus cattle and bred at hand-selected farms in the southern Argentinian province of La Pampa. Cooked in its own dripping, each cut comes topped with crispy roast potatoes, glazed carrots, buttered greens, perfectly stacked Yorkshire puddings and lashings of gravy.
Pieminister
Boar Lane, Leeds City Centre
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The Sunday best - any classic pie & mash, two Yorkshire puddings, garlic & rosemary baby roasties, carrot & swede mash, a pork scratching, a pig in blanket & gravy. You couldn't really ask for more could you? And of course you can make it veggie or vegan!
Browns
Headrow, Leeds City Centre
Image: Browns
Choose between sirloin of beef, half roast chicken or belly pork, all served with seasonal veggies and crispy Yorkshire puds- this'll go down a treat with a glass of something red or white.
In the suburbs...
For those looking for a Sunday roast near your home.
The Three Swords
New Side Road, Horsforth
Taking the classic Sunday roast concept and igniting it with traditional Indian spices and flavours, like vegetables marinated in tandoori and slow-cooked beef in Goan spices. Veggies will be pleased to hear you can get a flaky paneer puffy pasty which tastes simply divine with the thick spicy nihari gravy.
Of course, you can still finish off with a classic sticky toffee pudding, because no roast would be complete without it.
Bavette might just be one of Leeds' most famous restaurants, having only been here for a short while but in that time having scooped up all of the awards imaginable. And rightly so, because it's just so brilliant.
Choose from Delica squash and hazelnut filo parcel, Slow roast pork belly with apple sauce, Bavette steak with horsradish cream or the 800g Côte de Boeuf to share between two and four, all served with Yorkshire puds, roasties, hispi cabbage, celeriac puree, leek gratin and generous helpings of gravy.
The Thornhill
18 Town Gate, Calverley, Pudsey
From roaring fires and comforting pub grub, you’ll find all this and more at The Thornhill in Calverley. And not only that, but it’s got a cracking history behind it too. The Thornhill was built over a whopping 400 years ago and was originally used as a coach house.
From juicy burgers and zingy tacos to your classic roast dinner with all the trimmings (just look at that cauli cheese), there’s a dish for everyone to enjoy in an atmosphere that makes you feel right at home.
The Mustard Pot, Chapel Allerton
Stainbeck Lane, Chapel Allerton
Image: Mustard Pot
This Chapel Allerton eatery has one of the most popular roasts in the city – and for good reason. Every weekend, you’ll find a choice of 12-hour Yorkshire beef rump, Yorkshire rare breed pork loin with crackling, or a Mustard Pot nut roast served with giant Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, mixed seasonal veg, creamy leeks and gravy.
The menu’s pretty big, too, so if you don’t fancy a roast you can tuck into other pub favourites like fish and chips, lentil shepherdess pie, beef burger or steak.
The Cardigan Arms, Burley
Kirkstall Road, Burley
Image: Cardigan Arms
On the menu here besides the showstopper of a Yorkshire, you'll find the likes of slow roast belly pork stuffed with pork loin, fennel seeds, herbs and garlic; beef topside served pink or Mushroom Wellington for those looking for a meat-free alternative.
Served 12-5pm, make sure to book in advance for this one- we reckon it'll be a sellout option!
Heaney and Mill, Headingley
Image: Heaney and Mill
Choose from Dry Aged Roast Beef, Roast Corn-Fed Chicken Supreme, 8oz Roast Lamb Rump or a vegetarian Leek & Cheese Wellington. All served with with rosemary & garlic potatoes, truffled mash potatoes, cauliflower cheese gratin, selection of seasonal green vegetables, traditional Yorkshire pudding, carrot puree & red wine gravy.
You can choose from Sunday Pork Belly, Hand-carved Turkey Breast, Sirloin of Beef or for a veggie option there's Candied Vegetable Roast. All roasts are served with ruffled beef dripping roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, thyme-roasted carrots, broccoli and honey-roasted parsnips The best part? you can have as much gravy as you like!
Square and Compass, Harrogate
Image: Square and Compass
Serving up an irresistible choice of three meats every single Sunday, Square and Compass near Harrogate has a roaring fire for cold snowy days and an incredible outdoor fire pit for weekends basking in the sunshine- given the unpredictable weather this week, our shoutout goes to a bar that can offer you a comfy seat by the fire, whatever the weather.
The Fat Badger, Harrogate
Image: The Fat Badger
Choose from Roast rump cap of beef or roast loin of pork with stuffing, both served with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes, creamy mash & gravy. And if you still have room you have to try the sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce & vanilla ice cream.
Feature Image- The Lamb and Flag
News
Behind the doors of the spectacular £750k Yorkshire home with stunning Victorian interiors
Clementine Hall
Fancy a look inside a beautiful Victorian home that's just come on the market in Yorkshire?
The only thing is, you’ll need the small matter of £750k before you can call it yours.
Of course, it goes without saying that the vast majority of people reading this article won’t have that money just sitting plum in their bank accounts right now, but if like us, like a good nosey then allow us to introduce you to this absolute stunner.
Take a look behind the grand front door of one of the finest properties on the Yorkshire housing market has to offer at the moment.
Images: Rightmove
Gads Hill is a distinguished Victorian home built in Yorkshire stone in 1882 and extends to over 3,700 sq ft.
As you can see, the house retains plenty of its period details, including intricate decorative plasterwork, stained glass, restored redwood floorboards and six fireplaces. Yes...SIX.
Images: Rightmove
Located in Calderdale, the property also has far-reaching views across the Upper Calder Valley towards Stoodley Pike and the Saddleworth Moors. Bliss.
Inside, its two grand reception rooms include a drawing room with a wood-burning stove and cocktail bar, alongside an impressive dining room with space for up to 20 guests. Just imagine the parties you could throw in there.
There's also a spacious, light-filled kitchen overlooking the gardens, complete with bespoke cabinetry, quartz worktops and a central island.
Images: Rightmove
Upstairs, the gigantic principal bedroom boasts panoramic views across the gardens and valley, exposed ceiling beams and even a freestanding cast-iron bath.
There are three further double bedrooms, beautifully finished bathrooms and an additional attic room, with plenty of original character carried throughout the house.
And of course a special mention must go to the collection of wallpaper used, Laura Ashley could never.
Images: Rightmove
To top it all off, the property has its very own summer house with its own bar, so you can entertain all-year-long.
Like what you see? Well thankfully, the property is now on the market and could very well be yours.
Or you could just take the cheaper route instead and have a nosy at the Rightmove link here.
Clementine Hall -
24th January 2023 
