Leeds - a Citybreak Star! - IgoUgo Leeds Journal

Shabab Bishopgate

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Restaurant | "Shabab - A Shining Example of Service and Value "

Shabab, Bishopsgate, Leeds Photo - Shabab Bishopgate, Leeds, England

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This December we are burning the candle at both ends. Take Saturday: we had already agreed to dinner with friends in Newcastle when I noticed that my local branch of Unison was running a coach down to Leeds for the day. It’s a city we both enjoy visiting and there were a couple of shops we particularly wanted to go to. We thought of lunch at one of the city’s Indian restaurants but changed our minds on the grounds that we’d only spoil the evening meal if we did. We decided instead on a light lunch and a couple of beers in the Brewery Tap on New Station Street but when a member of staff very rudely turned us away because we arrived two minutes before the official opening time (and the door ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 18, 2011

Shabab Bishopgate
1 Bishopgate Street
Leeds LS1 5DY
0113 242 7012

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Hansa's Restaurant

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Restaurant | "Hooray for Hansa's!"

Hansa's Gujarati Vegetarian Restaurant Photo - Hansa's Restaurant, Leeds, England

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The other weekend was a planned curry spectacular. In honour of my other half's birthday I had organised a surprise weekend in Leeds, the central part of which was a "Taste of Spice" cookery session (to be reviewed separately). To up the spice level we took ourselves to Hansa's Gujarati restaurant for our evening meal. We had both visited the (now sadly defunct) Bradford restaurant on separate occasions but this was our first visit to the Leeds restaurant. The restaurant is situated on North Street and is a five minute walk from Vicar Lane and the Headrow in the heart of Leeds main shopping area. There are a couple of very good bars in the area if you fancy a drink before or after your mea...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on September 4, 2010

Hansa's Restaurant
72-74 North Street
Leeds, United Kingdom LS2 7PN
44 113 244 4408

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North Bar

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Attraction | "North - The Place to Be(er)"

Simple fodder at North Photo - North Bar, Leeds, England

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For a fantastic range of beers from all over the world and knowledgable staff to take you through them as well as simple but funky surroundings, Leeds’s North Bar is the very best the city has to offer. Since it opened in 1997 it’s received nothing but highly positive reviews and even won the Best Bar Award in the Observer Food Awards a couple of years back. North is situated next to the Leeds Grand Theatre which may partly explain why they are able to boast some famous names as visitors to the bar. It’s nothing startling from the outside and you could almost miss it because the premises it occupies is long and narrow and therefore doesn’t have much of a frontage on the street....Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on May 21, 2009

North Bar
24 New Briggate
Leeds, United Kingdom LS1 6NU
+44 113 242 4540

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Boutique

Attraction | "Stylish Cocktails at Boutique"

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This intimate and stylish bar is situated on a pedestrian lane that links Calls Lane and Lower Briggate. It's housed in a lovely building, a renovated brick townhouse.Boutique prides itself on its classy winelist but the real highlight are its delicious and very handsome and often unusual cocktails. As well as the classics Boutique has a collection of "Signature cocktails" which are described on a glossy card that makes every one of them look very tempting. We tried the raspberry lagerita and one of the speciality margaritas. Both were beautifully presented and tasted delicious. It's not cheap, however, with each coming in at £6.00. But it's certainly worth splashing out as the...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 9, 2008

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Etap Hotel

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Hotel

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The Etap chain of hotels is a French concern and part of Accor, the same parent group of Formule 1, Mercure and Sofitel amongst others. They have hotels across France and Germany and are gradually opening hotels in the UK as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. The concept is simple; all rooms are identical, sleep three people and are designed to require little maintenance and all rooms are the same price. In the hotel in Leeds this is £32; it does not matter whether you have one, two or three people in the room the price remains the same. I think this represents excellent value. For even one person £32 is pretty good value for a central location and everything you need from a basic room. ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 17, 2008

Etap Hotel
2 The Gateway
Leeds

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Sandinista

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Restaurant

Sandinista Photo - Sandinista, Leeds, England

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These days when you travel within your own country (and sometimes abroad) you usually find the same chain restaurants that you have in your own town. These days it’s also quite likely that you’ll come across chain bars and pubs too. One town looks very much like any other when it comes to shops, pubs and eating places. All of which makes it especially pleasing to find somewhere that is not just different in terms of environment and what it offers, but in its whole ethos and the way it goes about its business.Sandinista in Leeds is not necessarily groundbreaking in terms of its ethos but the team that run this stylish and exciting café-bar certainly go the extra mile and really believe in wha...Read More

These days when you travel within your own country (and sometimes abroad) you usually find the same chain restaurants that you have in your own town. These days it’s also quite likely that you’ll come across chain bars and pubs too. One town looks very much like any other when it comes to shops, pubs and eating places. All of which makes it especially pleasing to find somewhere that is not just different in terms of environment and what it offers, but in its whole ethos and the way it goes about its business.

Sandinista in Leeds is not necessarily groundbreaking in terms of its ethos but the team that run this stylish and exciting café-bar certainly go the extra mile and really believe in what they do.

Described as a ‘cantina bar’, Sandinista is styled on a central American theme and as well as being a bar, offers tapas style snacks, bigger meals and a Sunday roast special. From Thursday through till Saturday there are live DJs and there are occasional gigs too. Although Sandinista is as far from the traditional British pub as you can get, it still has a real ‘local’ atmosphere with a weekly quiz, newspapers and board games – the latter being perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons.

The place opened back in 2002 when a group of friends stumbled on the idea of turning their passions for music, food and drinking into a business. With a hugely Latin influence, the bar is named after the Nicaraguan political movement and the album by the Clash; the ethos of the establishment is very much influenced by both of these with a definite internationalist conscience being at the heart of the way Sandinista conducts its business.

Sandinista serves Fairtrde tea and coffee and drinking chocolate; it only serves Fairtrade orange juice from Cuba. You won’t find Coca Cola here because the owners deplore the poor corporate record of the multinational. They have also boycotted Bacardi for similar reasons. They even refuse to buy ANY products from countries that have not outlawed whaling. All very impressive ideals but doesn’t it rather limit what they do?

Not at all! I can personally vouch for the delicious food and excellent range of cocktails. We tried a selection of the tapas dishes. First up we went for some lovely marinated olives while we waited for our hot tapas; it was a decent sized dish and they were delicious. For hot tapas we chose albondigas (spicy meatballs in a tomato sauce) and some crispy Jamaican saltfish croquettes. Both were excellent though – even for tapas – the portions might have been a bit bigger. Tapas dishes cost between £3.95 and £4.95, so not the cheapest but certainly better than many places I’ve eaten tapas in the UK.

On another occasion we had bocadillos (sandwiches); Sandinista has a small but varied selection of really exciting sandwiches. The rare roast beef is to die for and is served on a granary roll with a gutsy horseradish mayonnaise. The Emmenthal cheese sandwich should please veggies and comes with a spicy homemade chutney that goes well with the creamy cheese. Sandwich prices are similar to those for tapas dishes.

The décor is shabby chic with a Latin American feel that is understated rather than trying too hard. There are basic wooden chairs and tables and simple wooden blinds at the windows. The bare floorboards and walls painted with slogans add to the atmosphere and you really do get a laid back Latin feeling.

The music is mixed but they do have a loose 'no dance' policy which means you get a good mix of rock, indie and world music. Punters are cool with out being aloof and prententious.

Service is relaxed and friendly, food was served in good time. We really had no complaints about Sandinista. From the cocktails to the cold beers this is a stylish but unpretentious place that is original without being wacky and that doesn’t charge over the odds for what you get.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 19, 2008

Sandinista
5/5a Cross Belgrave Street
Leeds LS2 8JP
+44 0113 305 0372

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Tropical World

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction

Tropical World Photo - Tropical World, Leeds, England

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Tropical World is situated at the Roundhay Village end of Leeds Roundhay Park. It is an intriguing combination of winter gardens and zoo with a series of expertly created landscapes such as Amazonian rainforest, Australasian desert and swamps for the visitor to explore.Curiously – sine the theme is short-lived, you embark on your trip via the "HMS Tropical World" – not a ship at all just a concept – and the first stop is a tropical beach scene; rather disappointingly there is not much to see here, just a mock up of a tropical beach. It’s at this point that everyone takes off their hats and coats in preparation for the heat and humidity that lies ahead.Each ecosystem is home to ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 17, 2008

Tropical World
Canal Gardens
Leeds, United Kingdom LS8
+44 113 266 1850

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Leeds - a Citybreak Star!

Shabab Bishopgate

Hansa's Restaurant

North Bar

Boutique

Etap Hotel

Sandinista

Tropical World

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