Saturday 9 July 2011

Saturday afternoon - Restaurant review - Livebait Leeds

Ever the eagle-eyed deal spotter, Joe took me for a lunch time treat at Livebait in Leeds today. Livebait is a fish/seafood restaurant on The Calls, and until 14 July 2011 has 50% of all food (check the website for details).
The wine






Joe's favourite dish is crab and chips, and last weekend he had quite a disappointing experience with crab in Edinburgh.  This weekend I persuaded him to try it again (mainly because I really fancied crab and chips too!).  Livebait is an interesting restaurant.  It is stripped back, and pretty devoid of soft touches, but the food is ethically sourced (according to the blackboards inside) and cooked well. 
We started with bread and cockles, which was a first for both of us.  Joe worked out that cockles look weirdly like seagulls (or running goats) but they were vinegary and 
fun and the bread was nice too.
The main event was the crab, and Livebait do a whole brown crab from Whitby for £13.95, served either hot or cold.   It is well cooked, served with garlic butter, and involves lots of hands-on activity, which is my kind of thing.  For those who like getting involved with your food, I'd definitely recommend it (although you might want to avoid wearing white in case there are any claw cracking incidents). The crab was deceptively filling, but that didn't stop me scoffing down chips and a tomato salad too! 
If you can make it down to Livebait over the next 6 days, I'd give it a shot.  They are fully booked tonight, and have been fairly busy since the deal started, but it's worth a try. 
Word of warning - service was not perfect (slow, not clearing empty tables, just not observant enough) but the food made up for it.
Food 9/10, service 6/10. Total bill including tip was £41.20
Post eating shopping for Jo in Leeds market in her heels - good girl!
A special mention for my breakfast this morning - classic eggy bread like mum makes (not quite a good though!) Hi mum!!

1 comment:

SabrePC said...

I had this restaurant recommended to me by a friend... It did not fail! Absolutely amazing... Fantastic service... Beautiful food... Gorgeous cocktails! I didn't find it overly expensive for what we had. We both had a starter, main and dessert. A cocktail each and a bottle of wine. The restaurant itself is clean, spacious and I found it a lovely romantic setting for my first valentines day with my new partner. Will DEF be returning.