Lounge Bar & Grill Review
Little Oliver Review ~ Yorkshire Evening Post
12 : 11 : 2009

Lounge Bar and Grill
Merrion Street, Leeds

Star ratings

RATING...........................................4/5

The Lounge has always been a bit of a mystery on the Leeds social scene. For some time it’s been sandwiched between the towny Woodhouse Lane and the increasingly fashionable section of Lower Merrion Street. So what punters have they expected to attract?

The exterior is even more baffling, a mock tudor elevation with an interior which is actually rather contemporary and de rigeur. Once inside, the aim, it seemed, was actually to pull in the kind of punters who might normally be heading down towards the Exchange Quarter. So what’s changed? Well, quite a bit, as it happens. That de rigeur interior is now tres de rigeur with even more lush fittings. It works really well. The cosy sumptuousness hits you from the second you walk in. And that’s not just down to the open fire in the corner.

They’ve added (tastefully, of course) lots of velvet here and there and the kind of flourishes that let you know the place was put together by someone with real taste. But the real triumph here is the menu which is split, roughly, between bar food downstairs and a bigger selection for the upstairs restaurant.

The trouble (and this partly harks back to awkward location of Lounge) is that no one is too sure what Lounge is, precisely. Is it a restaurant? A bar? A bar that does food? A grill(whatever that is these days)? So it was Little Oliver that popped in one evening for a bite and, in accordance, it was just a one course and drink affair. We ended up wishing we’d come in for the works , however. Be in no doubt, Lounge is a now a bona fide restaurant, with a bar downstairs that does an equally impressive selection of dishes.

The menu is genius. Oodles of thought has gone in there, from Nidderdale Trout baked in the bag to 8 Hour Ox Cheek and stout casserole and a Rump of Yorkshire Dales Lamb, they’re really tapping into the hearty locally sourced supper food here. And when we sampled the lemon sole and the day boat pollock we were mightily impressed. In fact we were smiling from the start since they brought out a complementary tray of bread and pate with pickles – a really nice touch which made us feel instantly valued.

Even more surprising is the extensive drinks menu which includes a brilliant collection of continental beers. We went for a couple of smooth Chimays which were just celestial. In fact there’s a real sense that this is a man’s restaurant – not that that excludes women, it just feels like a place which has hairs on its chest. For two people with a couple of beers and some side orders of fat fries our meal came to a not insubstantial £34.70. It ain’t cheap but the food here is of a high enough standard to warrant paying a little more, the environment certainly is. In fact, the whole quality experience is well worth venturing away from the Exchange Quarter to enjoy – go on, we dare you.