If you're looking for a quintessentially British Sunday roast just in time for Christmas, get yourself booked in.
With so many turkey dinners available across Leeds, it can be difficult to choose a restaurant that will match your needs: whether you love your roasties or yorkshire puddings, the Grand Pacific inside the Queens Hotel, have plenty of festive showstoppers, all served to the sound of contemporary classical music from the Grand Pacific Palm Court Orchestra.
Though the Sunday Roast itself is well-presented, the opulent setting, inspired by the iconic Raffles Hotel, will have you looking anywhere but the dinner table. The sophisticated art deco furnishings transport you to the golden age, whilst the food and drink menus fuse old and new to provide customers with a selection of classic cocktails and fine-dining options.
The Grand Pacific bar area. / Image: The Queens Leeds
Every painstaking detail is thought of, right down to the positioning of the giant chandelier, where the light cascades around the room and makes every plate sparkle, no matter where you're positioned.
The food itself appears to have been through a rigorous detail-oriented process and could not be further from a slap-and-dash carvery Sunday roast. To complement the meal, guests can choose from an extensive wine menu, as well as bottled lagers like Asahi, and cocktails, both alcoholic and alcohol free.
To get warmed up, choose from carefully-chosen starters like Salt-Baked Beetroot Tian with whipped goat's cheese and candied walnuts and Tiger Prawn Cocktail with Kimchi Marie Rose Sauce, or pay homage to the building's worldwide inspirations and try the Duck Gyoza with sweet potato, miso and hoisin.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Served on an array of silver dishes, the Sunday Roast is served as a sharing platter for two.
Small dishes of well-seasoned carrots and savoy cabbage, as well as a baked macaroni cheese (with one of the best cheese pulls around) arrive on a large silver tray, accompanied by roast potatoes and some of the creamiest mash around.
Guests are invited to add their own serving to a plate of pre-portioned turkey and a giant Yorkshire pudding. both of which are fresh and utterly delicious, especially when covered in the chef's roast dinner gravy.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The mashed potato in particular summarises the decadence of the dinner: served in a silver basket with a tiny serving spoon attached, the butter-yellow dish is topped with chopped herbs that appear scattered by hand.
In January, the usual meat menu of beef or chicken will return to the Grand Pacific, with the same trimmings and side dishes as the festive Sunday Roast.
The Chocolate Torte and its melt-in-your-mouth sauce speaks for itself: a gooey, rich flavour hides between salted caramel, honeycomb and peanuts before being served with fruit and ice cream. Meanwhile the Coconut Rum Trifle is light, refreshing and beautifully topped with crème fraîche and edible flowers.
If judged by the Grand Pacific alone, it is clear that the grandeur of the building is mirrored in the food and service, making it the ideal spot to enjoy a Sunday Roast Dinner year-round- although the Christmas special well worth it.
A brand-new Christmas film is hitting cinemas nationwide next month - and it’s a proper Leeds success story.
Jack Spring directed his first feature film at just 19 years old and has spent the last decade carving out a career in independent film, as well as co-founding Leeds-based production company Shush Films.
His first movie, Destination: Dewsbury, was shot just down the road in - you guessed it - Dewsbury. And after moving to Leeds from Grimsby, Jack became determined to build his business from the city, putting down roots and growing his production company here.
Image: Supplied
Now, after years of working on independent projects, Jack has taken his biggest leap yet with a brand-new Christmas film, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint.
Set in Yorkshire, Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint follows Aubrey Flint, a reclusive model soldier painter with a lifelong hatred of Christmas, who is sentenced to community service at Willow Lodge - a retirement home on the brink of closure.
Roped into helping with a chaotic production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Aubrey clashes with its interesting set of residents...
And the cast is about as star-studded as it gets, featuring Richard E. Grant, John Bradley, Celia Imrie, Adjoa Andoh, Sophia Di Martino, Adrian Rawlins and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Image: Supplied
The heartwarming festive comedy will hit cinemas nationwide on Friday 6 November - a huge milestone for a Leeds-based director and production company, taking a homegrown Yorkshire story to audiences across the country.
You just can't beat a proper wholesome British Christmas film, so you can best believe we'll be watching in the cinema, popcorn in hand.
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 -
12th December 2022 
