The Owl has taken flight for a new chapter in Leeds.
One of the city's most celebrated restaurants, The Owl, is shaking things up and going back to its roots.
With a revised approach to service and collection of new menus, a brunch service will now be added, as well as a range of more affordable dining options and children will be welcomed into the restaurant for the very first time.
The Owl opened back in 2019 inside Kirkgate Market, as a hidden gastro pub that captured the hearts and attention on a national level before moving to Mustard Wharf in 2022.
The new restaurant is roughly twice the size of its previous market home, including an outdoor terrace, and has allowed more opportunity for diners to taste the outstanding menu options.
The new concept from The Owl will see still specialise in modern British cuisine, crafted using the finest Yorkshire sourced ingredients, and"care has been taken to bring back the accessibility of its Kirkstall Market incarnation, whilst ensuring the new menu is creative enough to satisfy its most discerning customers- as well as appealing to a wider audience".
The relaxed Michelin guide listed gastropub will hve new opening hours, with a brunch menu served from 11am on weekends.
Expect a classic Full English served to the highest degree with home cured treacle bacon, rare breed pork sausage, herbie mushrooms, scrambled eggs, butter fried, scrambled eggs, homemade brown sauce and crispy potato terrine.
Other highlights include Duck Waffle with crispy confit duck leg from Levin Farm with a malt waffle, maple and chilli sauce and fried duck egg.
Meanwhile, the lunch and dinner menus have ben revised to introduce a range of small and large plates with different price points.
Led by Co-Founder and Chef Mark Owens, the menu will feature everything from Baked Native Oyster with seasonal garnish, and Buttered Sourdough Crumpet with Whitby crab and apple, to unusual options such as the Beef and Oyster Sausage with onion marmalade and turnip puree.
And there's also a roast option served at the end of each week too with an 'elevated' menu including braised blade of beef, Rump of Yorkshire lamb and Roasted Roscoff onions.
Elizabeth Cottam and Mark Owens. / Image: Supplied
Award winning chef and founder Elizabeth Cottam said: “We're reclaiming our Kirkgate Market vibes with a brand-new menu that is both creative to keep our loyal customers entertained and accessible to allow everyone to spend more time with us enjoying our food. Our opening times are changing too to allow people to enjoy our brightly lit Canalside gastrobar for brunch as well as lunch and dinner. Also, due to demand, we’re opening brunches and lunches to small children too, a first for us, which offers families that are either out for an autumnal walk down by the canal, for gorgeous sunday lunch, we're the perfect place to start or finish a big day out."
You can find all new menus now available at The Owl.
Where to find The Owl: Lockside, Mustard approach, Mustard Wharf, Leeds LS1 4EY
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Eats
One of Leeds’ most loved sushi restaurants has just opened a second location in the city
Because one Fern Modern Sushi wasn't enough, we've now got two.
And guess what? It's even better than the first.
Fern Modern Sushi located in the unassuming Central Arcade has become a firm foodie favourite after opening just a couple years ago.
Run by the wonderful Chef Fern, who you could say is somewhat of a local celebrity at this point, the restaurant is known for serving delicious sushi with the freshest fish possible and traditional Japanese dishes with modern flair.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Full with hungry punters no matter the time of day, it's no surprise that Chef Fern has just opened Fern Modern Sushi 2.0 on Park Row.
This beautiful new space is serving up all the classic Fern dishes, from stacked donburi bowls and perfectly rolled sushi to miso glazed cod and hearty bowls of ramen.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Different for this location, though, is their exclusive cocktail menu - so you can wine and dine to your heart's content.
The interior has also levelled up, complete with a huge open kitchen so you can pull up a chair and eat whilst watching the magic happen.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
And this isn't all that Chef Fern is up to, after opening Tori Nori on Vicar Lane a few months ago this will be her third restaurant in the city centre, and that is no easy feat.
She's even got another restaurant imminently opening in the Central Arcade which will be focused on traditional katsu dishes, and we wouldn't be at all surprised if she had something else lined up in the pipeline.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Fern Modern Sushi 2.0 officially opens on 19 November, but is open now for soft launch with limited bookings.
A pub in Leeds has been crowned the third best in Britain by The Good Food Guide
Clementine Hall
A Leeds pub has been crowned one of the very best in the country by The Good Food Guide.
The trusted guide has just released its 100 Best Pubs in Britain list, and we're very chuffed with the results indeed.
Taking the coveted number three spot is our very own The Highland Laddie, a 100-year-old city centre institution that reopened in April 2025 in the hands of new owners Sam Pullan and Nicole Deighton.
These guys also run the Empire Cafe, so you just know it's going to be good.
Last year they soared straight to the top of the list and were crowned the best pub in the whole of Britain by the guide.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
This time, the Queen's Arms over in Eccles came number one followed by The Cow in Notting Hill.
We still think bagging third place is quite the achievement, and if you've visited The Highland Laddie yourself you'll know just how much of a special place it is.
Don't just take our word for it, The Good Food Guide labelled the Laddie as 'a true pub with a genuine community vibe'.
They also said: "Reenergised by the team behind the Empire Cafe in 2025, this is everything that a proper English pub should be – 'oh, and they have a mustard menu!'
"Inside, the Laddie ticks all the boxes, preserving the essentials of a traditional old-school boozer and maintaining a genuine sense of community while letting the good times roll. As for the food, it’s ‘both high-end and accessible’, pulling in ideas from all over, whether you fancy a freshly shucked Lindisfarne oyster, a keema toastie or an elevated ham roll with bread cooked over the coals.
"Dig deeper and you might find a lobster madeleine with Yorkshire chorizo butter, a treacle onion tart or pork schnitzel with two fried eggs. Club steaks are served by the inch, there’s no creative let-up when it comes to sides, and the nostalgia is ramped up with the likes of strawberry and Champagne trifle with ‘sprinkles’.
"But never forget that this is a self-proclaimed ‘drinkers’ pub’ dispensing everything from ‘properly served’ British brews and ’the best Guinness in Leeds’ to a staggering line-up of whisky optics."
Sophie Smith -
30th November 2023 
