Kendell’s Bistro. Price per person: £24.50-29.50.
Offering a very splurge-worthy Christmas experience, Kendell’s Bistro optimises the use of warming, Christmassy flavours mixed with other luxury ingredients. Starters include cognac flavoured duck liver pate or black pudding with apple puree and red onion confit. The main course options follow a similar theme consisting a range of dishes such as mouth-watering red wine roast belly pork and saffron sauce soaked salmon baked in puff pastry. Lastly the desserts offer a homemade Christmas pudding as well as various tarts and mousses. This menu makes a lavish use of expensive ingredients and rich flavours, a very heavy and satisfying Christmas meal, the kind where you need a forklift to carry you home.
Shears Yard. Price per person: £27.95
Shear’s Yard, the new independent kitchen from the Arts Cafe Bar team, this year is offering a three course Christmas menu exhibiting modern and creative cooking. The menu offers a range of wintery flavours such as the celeriac and sage soup and Christmas favourites, including the traditional turkey, modernised as a ballotine wrapped in Parma ham. Additionally, catering for those who have an aversion to Christmas foods, there is also the option of ginger and lime cured salmon, served with a wasabi mousse. Of course, the menu is reasonably pricey; you are paying for style alongside flavour here. However, a chocolate and honeycomb pot is enough to tempt anyone!
Salvo’s. Price per person £21.50-25.50
A favourite in Leeds, Salvo’s three-course Christmas menu has a range of Italian inspired dishes. The turkey option is served with spiced pork, chestnuts and sundried apricots, sticking to comfortable and conventional flavours, cooked to perfection. Alternatively, there is a long list of exciting alternatives: seafood stew with garlic bruschetta, pasta with confit duck or pot roast shoulder of lamb. Salvo’s offers a huge amount of choice in their menu, catering to a variety of tastes. However, the only downside is that the dessert selection is only available on the day; preventing any pre-dinner menu planning.
Distrikt: Price per person: £18.50
A slightly cheaper option, just around the corner from Call Lane is Diskrikt. Their Christmas menu has a strong Mediterranean theme as the main course comes in 4 tapas dishes ranging from grilled vegetable stack with haloumi cheese to blackened beef medallions. The dessert comes on a platter offering delicious sounding balsamic roasted strawberries. Although this menu isn’t entirely festive (warm pigs in blankets is about as close as we get), the food is gut-bustlingly delicious and demonstrates a refreshing change from slightly monotonous options of turkey and stuffing. Lastly, they also boast special priced discounts and deals on drinks with the meal; which we all know is essential to any Christmas dinner booze up.
Chloe Brown