We have been dining with our family in Leeds for many years at The Ivy and decided to switch after Will and the family really enjoyed RBG(you gotta love those initials) on his last trip here in the spring. The prices are similar(quite high) and the menu is similar as well, but we had a super server, maria, from Argentina who has a great sense of humor and made it a fun evening as well. She prefaced by saying the menu and wine list were changing the next day and thus, 1/2 the items were gone. It was quite sad as almost 1/2 the items and 80% of the wines we chose were sold out! The one BIG plus was that they had plenty of wine glasses unlike our last fiasco at the Ivy where they ran out!!
The Filet Steak Tartare here is a treat and uses excellent beef filet with a free-range egg yolk on top of a large piece or sourdough toast with Horseradish & Parsley. The sourdough was NOT toasted making it quite hard to cut through the chewy bread and a thinner piece would have been welcome. Asparagus are Char-grilled and served with a poached Duck Egg and Hollandaise while the Heritage Beetroot Salad came with avocado, soy labneh, orange, crushed hazelnuts and micro basil.
Our first wine (that was available) was the 2022 Malbec Atocedro reserva from Uco Valley in Mendoza which Maria suggested as she is from Argentina, and it was quite yummy. The second red was really amazing as it was a 2012 Chateau Meney from St. Estephe Bordeaux which we all just went crazy with.
Main courses were a Halloumi Burger with Spicy sauce and chips (that fries, USA folks); Roasted Lamb Rump which was a huge portion with potatoes, minted greens and red wine sauce. The Tuna au Poivre came with Bearnaise sauce on the side and was cooked a tad too much when asked for rare as was my Slow Roasted Crispy Duck with Stir-fried greens(broccolini and bok choy), ripened tomatoes, red chilli coriander paste and a honey & Sesame dressing.
The setting in a huge old historic building is quite dramatic as it is some three-stories tall inside with elegant leather booths, chandeliers and cushy chairs. The noise level is high, but hot horrible and it has a truly grand old world feel.
For dessert there was Honeycomb Ice Cream; Warm Chocolate Fondant with Shortbread Crumb and Vanilla Ice Cream and the very nice cheese trio of Wookey Hole Cheddar, Tunworth(like Camembert) and Colston Basset Stilton with quince jelly.
The best part of the meal was the family!!
