Located in the centre of Leeds in Trevelyan Square off Boar Lane. Anthony’s is a family owned and run establishment. Each member has brought a wealth of skills to the restaurant, and more importantly are totally committed to ensuring a true fine dining experience. Both the Executive Head Chef and the Restaurant Director have spent many years perfecting their skills in Michelin Starred Restaurants. More recently both of them spent two years at the world renowned Three Michelin Starred, El Bulli.
Having heard mixed reviews and being a self confessed food fanatic this restaurant had me extremely intrigued.
So on a return trip to my home town my girlfriend and i decided to give it a go.
It was midweek at the back end of january and as we were only on a short visit to leeds we could only find the time to go for lunch.
On arrival, we were greeted with a smile, had our coats taken and then showed downstair's to our table. First impressions of the dining room were a little mixed..... Somewhat stylish but at the same time a little bleek with a hint of pretention.
On a matter of attention to detail or lack of... we couldn't miss the big clumps of dust that smothered the shelves carrying the awards.
At the table we were politley handed the menus followed by the complementary bread and amuse bouche... The bread was fantastic, accompanied by 3 different flavoured butters - salt, parmesan and buerre noisette - all great.
I began to feel excited,if a chef can make bread and butter taste this good then what could one do with a whole menu.
Then the amuse arrived, a cured tuna dish which sadly did nothing but leave a extremley salty taste and a feeling of disapointment. The amuse is designed to wake up the palate and set the tone for whats to follow, unfortunatley this set the wrong tone!
Still feeling quite optomistic, we chose the set lunch menu. To start i had a cauliflower soup with wendsleydale fitters - delicious. My girlfriend had crab meat with chicken wings and tomato spuma - an odd combonation but she claimed it worked...
For mains i had crisp pork belly - lovely. My girlfriend had plaice with oxtail and hazelnut jelly - Not popular to say the least.
Techinically, everything was well done and i don't doubt the talent in the kitchen and admire the ability of a kitchin which constantly pushes boundaries, but i couldn't help in thinking that maybe he's just trying a little too hard.
The service was okay but i could detect a slight arrogance which was unnecessary considering we were joined by only one other table in the dining room.
Lunch for 2 - all in all it came in just under £50 with drinks.
I cannot believe anyone would give this restaurant a five star. I booked for a group of friends (visiting from Ireland) and myself, wanted something very special. I was horrified first by the decor - it's more like a coffee shop inside, , echoing floorboards everytime someone gets up -staff were very very unprofessional no experience. I was hoping the food would make up for this but was horrified - it was very overrated and expensive. Having lived in France I understand fine cuisine and dining and this restaurant does not come anywhere near what has been said. I think if Anthony wants this restaurant to be anythin special, I'd move venue, change staff and menu. I would never want to go again and would advise anyone to save your money
As promised a second review of this place. And on reflection its definitely a 5 star and now a favourite place of mine - I only wish it was closer to home.
The generosity of our hosts meant that on this trip (for someone's special birthday) we got to see no menu and no prices and no bill either. We had taken over the whole place on Saturday lunch and when we eventually sat down, after much champagne and chat, we were greeted with a lovely little starter of cold squid done very simply but unusually in a light dressing. Next came sea trout with mango and feta which was delicious and then a main course of duck, served pink and with cubes of raw apple, some hot foie gras and something that looked like sawdust but which tasted a whole lot nicer. We then had a desert of milk done five different ways and this time I thought it a wonderful dish, much better than when I'd had it last time. I'm not sure if it had been pared down a little but whatever accounts for the difference this time is was a star and 10 out of 10. There was also a cheese plate of eleven different cheeses that come with descriptions and an order in which you should eat them. This is an excellent idea and I'd forgotten that we had the same last time. It's an excellent idea to give a logical order in which the cheeses should be eaten - they did it at the most enjoyable meal I've ever had and good places should do it more. Of course on a table of six after much champagne and wine and with so much chatter going on we didn't really observe any order at all this time. I'd also forgotten that the bread and three different flavoured butters plus an olive oil that they serve with it is excellent too.
Service was much friendlier this time and I recognised faces from our last visit and discovered that they had worked at El Bulli too.
I'd add that the restaurant is perfectly located in the heart of town close to the train station. Trains between Leeds and Manchester run all through the night I think and are definitely easy enough to use if everyone wants to drink also the atmosphere on the night train last whenever we've used it was fun and not at all intimidating.
So to sum up I think the place is brilliant and deserves the recognition it seems to have had from some. It's definitely a favourite and we'll certainly be going back. I'd urge anyone to go and enjoy it.
The food in this place is rated very highly in the Good Food Guide - its gets 7 out of 10 as opposed to 6 out of 10 for Chez Bruce in London which I enjoyed much more. The food is definately high quality though and very cutting edge. The chef trained at El Bulli in Spain which is acknowledged by many to be the best restaurant in the world and it is the type of place where the food is very elaborate. The choice isn't huge though and it can be quite challenging. For example, the white onion risotto with espresso and parmesan air is a signature dish and lovely and unusual as it was I'm still not convinced that rice, cheese and coffee is a marriage made in heaven. Similarly with my puddding, which was milk done 7 different ways, I couldn't help thinking that something a little less show-offy would have been nicer to eat. Service was excellent but a bit on the earnest side - I like a place where the staff can relax a little more than it felt they could do here. So I'm a bit torn on this place - its certainly aiming high and I guess for that reason alone it should be supported and the food is certainly innovative, unusual and of the highest quality. Going for the second time in a couple of weeks to will report back.
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