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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
5:30 PM 4th November 2019
lifestyle

Bill's Restaurant, Leeds

 
If a restaurant is busy on a late Sunday afternoon it must be doing something right. The recently refurbished Bill's restaurant in central Leeds is a welcoming place indeed.

If you ever have been to one of Bill's restaurants you will know that no two restaurants are the same. Bill even chose the wallpaper on the side of the staircase which you will see if you go up to the first floor.

The design inside is distressed wooden floors with the air conditioning and heating visible in ducting hanging from the ceiling, which seems to be the trend these days. Mind you, with the tempting food on offer here you will be looking down at what is on your plate rather than looking up at the ceiling!

Decorative palms abound, soft music plays, the service is friendly and efficient and all seems fine.

They do a set menu Sunday to Thursday with two courses for £17.50 or three courses for £20.50 with mains such as Minute Steak, Asian Chicken Salad and Pan Fried Bass.

Water is brought to your table and any allergies are asked about before you order. We are off to a good start. I then discover that they had sold out of certain mains, but not to worry there is plenty of choice. We chose off the main menu where mains start at £10.95.

If you fancy a pre meal drink there is a cosy bar area.

Chicken and Sesame Dumplings
Chicken and Sesame Dumplings
My partner's Chicken and Sesame Dumplings served with spicy chutney were light, crisp and delicious, whilst my Stone Baked Bread was hot and tasted like it had just been baked and fresh out of the oven.

It was a cold evening and I needed warming up. What better than the Chicken Green Curry to hot things up? If you have had a Bradford Curry then you know what the bass line should be here. Served with coconut rice, sugar snap peas, red peppers, mint and spring onion with a dash of chilli I was glad I had a large glass of water to hand to cool me down. Hotter than a Bradford one? Nearly. Tastier than a Bradford curry - possibly.

Chicken Green Curry
Chicken Green Curry
My partner went for the 8oz Sirloin steak which came chargrilled with fries, but you can swap for sweet potato fries. Cooked to her preference she described the steak as perfect.

What did other diners think though? Well I overheard a fellow diner sat opposite say that his steak was "awesome". The couple sat next to us were very cosmopolitan - he was Australian and his partner was from Russia. They both thought that their meal was excellent. I thought that they had good taste residing in Yorkshire until they spoilt it all by informing us that they had a train to catch back to London!

My dessert of Melting Banoffee Sundae was like unwrapping your favourite box of chocolates, with each layer offering another delight. Bananas, salted caramel ice cream, biscuit chunks, whipped cream with warm caramel sauce on the side. Perfect.

Warm Blackberry, Apple and Ginger Crumble
Warm Blackberry, Apple and Ginger Crumble
My partner's Warm Blackberry, Apple and Ginger Crumble was not sweet enough for me but she thought it was just right.

By now any thoughts of the ducting hanging above my head had been forgotten, our cosmopolitan couple were well ahead on their journey to London, but at least they had found Yorkshire for the weekend - and visited one of Leeds' best restaurants too.

Bill's Restaurant, 1 Albion Place, Leeds LS1 6JL
Telephone 0113 245 2010

https://bills-website.co.uk/