Water Lane Boathouse, Leeds

Recently opened in Leeds and situated just by the side of the Leeds/Liverpool canal is the Water Lane Boathouse.

The building was built in the 1800's and was originally a shipment warehouse.

Our visit was on an early Monday evening. The range of people visiting was very mixed: office workers taking an early evening drink after work, couples of all ages and also friends meeting up. With this mix of clientele it felt like it was a place that you could either dress up or dress down when you visit.

It was pleasing to see on the long tables bottles of cucumber scented water - a novel touch but something I have not seen before. It made a change of having to ask for water.

Most people appeared to be just having a drink, but if you didn't have a pizza on your visit you would be missing out. They have their own bakery where they bake the buns and bread every morning. The bread that arrived before our meal was fresh, tasty and well presented, served with oil and vinegar.

Upstairs is the kitchen as well as another seating area. A wood burning pizza oven has been installed which is heated to 400c.

The menu concentrates of Sourdough Pizza, Salad Bowls, Hot Sandwiches as well as Cold Sandwiches, the latter being served until 5pm.

The pizza dough is made from only 3 ingredients: organic Yorkshire flour, water and salt.

My partner's Mixed Leaf Salad was fresh and tasty. My pizza of Prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, pickled radicchio and mozzarella had just the right amount of topping so you could taste all the ingredients.

My partner's Pizza of Nduja mascarpone, spinata calabrese sausage, caramelised onion, San Mariano tomatoes and mozzarella was described as "worth visiting just to have a delicious pizza"

They don't do desserts but the Dark Arches coffees were excellent. These are provided by North Star Coffee Roasters of Leeds.

There is a huge seating area outside, situated just by the side of the canal which is the main attraction to the Boathouse. On a hot summer day this will be very busy I should imagine. With this in mind they have installed a hut that will serve drinks.

Inside there are plenty of sockets to charge up your mobiles. In fact there must have been at least 2 power points behind or below each seating area.

There was nothing outside to say that they served food which is a shame as the pizzas are reason enough for your visit. They are priced very attractively too starting at £4.95 and no pizza is more expensive than £8.50.

It is an ideal place to rendezvous and being on the edge of the Leeds/Liverpool canal very handy if you are walking along the canal. It is only a 5 minute walk from Leeds train station too.

It is not pretentious but friendly and welcoming as are the staff. It is a place I would return to again.

Water Lane Boathouse, Water Lane, Leeds, LS11 5PS
www.waterlaneboathouse.com