Inside story of a real winner
Oliver Review ~ Yorkshire Evening Post
10 : 02 : 2007

Lounge Bar and Grill
Merrion Street, Leeds

Star ratings

FOOD...............................................5*****
VALUE.............................................4****
ATMOSPHERE................................4****
SERVICE.........................................5*****
***** EXCELLENT **** VERY GOOD
*** GOOD ** AVERAGE * POOR

The old adage "never judge a book by its cover" has never been more apt. From the outside Lounge Bar and Grill looks like a country pub you might find nestling somewhere north of Harrogate.

Its mock-Tudor cladding, meanwhile, is more akin to a manufactured Cheshire village where you might find residents by the name of Wayne and Colleen.
In short, it's all very chocolate box but rather incongruous with Leeds city centre.

Inside, however, it's a completely different story.
Downstairs flagstone floors and whitewashed walls compliment dark wood tables and chairs and leather-lined booths dot the walls.

A well-stocked bar runs the entire length of one wall and candles and tea lights are everywhere.

Upstairs, the main restaurant is different again, with more of the dark wood but a plusher feel with leather banquettes and plaster busts skirting the window ledges. More candles provide that vital subdued lighting and the kitchen doorway is further hidden by an antique-looking screen.

It all goes to create a cosy but upmarket environment which works equally well, whether you're enjoying a romantic meal for two or having dinner with friends.
We arrived at the Lounge (to which I'm officially abbreviating it), early evening and received a warm welcome. The waiter had evidently taken the time to look at our booking and greeted us by name.

We were seated (the waiter pulled out the chair can you believe? When was the last time that happened?) and handed us our menus.

Downstairs there's an exhaustive bar menu of lighter bites like soups, mussels, bruschetta, fishcakes and nachos, to more fulfilling meals including chicken and pancetta pasta, prime rib-eye steak sandwiches, burgers, slow cooked lamb shanks and confit duck leg.

Upstairs you can enjoy the a la carte menu, which although more limited offers a varied quality choice.
An extensive wine list led us to a delicious New Zealand sauvignon blanc at £18.95. There's a good choice, though, for £15 and below.

Starter options include thai style tuna salad (£4.95); Caesar salad with seared King scallops and crispy Parma ham (£7.95) and Scottish mussels with tomato, chilli and garlic. I opted for the roasted squash, saffron and organic pepper risotto (£5.95) while my partner plumped for the warm salad of Gressingham Duck, glazed apples and pancetta with honey and aged balsamic (£5.95).

My risotto – so hard to get right – was perfect with just the right ratio of bite to creaminess. The saffron was added with a light hand, just to give a hint of flavour without overpowering the whole dish and a drizzle of pesto dressing made the dish come alive.

My partner's duck was seared but wonderfully pink and tender. The apples and pancetta were the perfect combination and the balsamic welded the whole thing together to make a dish that would take some beating.
There are just six mains on offer, alongside a couple of steaks.

It's pleasing to see the chef has not fallen to the temptation of being a master of everything and provided 20 different dishes.

Instead, he appears to have honed his skills on a select few – and the results are impressive.

Choices include venison steak with glazed winter root and rioja and rosemary jus (a snip at £12.95); whole grilled lobster with garlic herb and pernod butter (£23.90); saffron roasted halibut steak on cheese and potato puree with chorizo, pimento and lemon (£14.50); fillet of seabass on wilted spinach, chive and leek beurre blanc (£10.95).
I went for a keenly priced fillet steak at £15.50 with Roquefort butter and wild mushrooms and my partner selected the salmon fillet on basil mash with a tomato and basil tapenade, a bargain at £9.50.

We ordered three sides: rocket and parmesan salad (£3.50); homecut chips with aioli (£1.95) and buttered french beans and mangetout (£2.70).

As it turns out, we need not have bothered, because the main courses could be described as nothing short of "hefty".
The steak comes just at the exact stage between rare and medium, where a minute either side would have been a disaster (in my opinion) and is accompanied by a mountain of delicately sauteed wild mushrooms.

The salmon in its tapenade crust is sat atop a vast helping of basil mash.

So the chips – magnificent as they were – could, and should, have stayed in the kitchen.

To finish, the restaurant offers just three desserts all with simple unfussy flavours; classic creme brulee; warm chocolate fondant with madagascan vanilla bean ice cream and Baileys brioche bread and butter pudding (all at £4.50).

As we placed our orders – brulee and the chocolate fondant – we were keeping our fingers crossed that all the restaurant's good work would not be undone by bought-in frozen sweets.

The waiter told us the desserts were all homemade and even complimented my partner's fondant as an "excellent choice".

As they say, though, the proof is in the pudding. And in this case it was there in spades.

The brulee was superb – the crisp caramel topping to reveal the delicious set custard spiked with real vanilla pods.
The fondant, was as the waiter suggested, a triumph. A crisp outer shell gave way to a moist and oozing centre, topped off with the best vanilla ice-cream you will ever taste.

The bill for three courses, including wine, came in at a respectable £73 – not to be sniffed at for food of this quality.
All in all, a lesson learned then – it's definitely what's on the inside that counts.