Wednesday at West Park Brasserie 7.5/10

Courtesy of a Groupon treat, on Wednesday Joe and I popped for dinner at the West Park Brasserie, just north of Headingley.  It was a spur of the moment choice and a well deserved treat for both of us.

I often feel quite spoiled living in north Leeds as there are such a number and range of restaurants, cafes and bars to spend your time in.  Quite feasibly, we need never go into the city centre for an evening out.  One of the thing I like most about the places in Roundhay, Chapel Allerton, Headingley etc.  is that the restaurants are more likely to be a bit quirky and give you proper variety, which in my view is somewhat lacking in the city centre.

West Park Brasserie continues these good feelings.  It's a small dining room space with simple, low key decor, and a relaxed vibe.  The food is gastro-pub-esque and worldwide inspired - think salt and pepper calamari, smoked salmon and prawn fishcakes or Thai beef salad with crispy noodles for starters, and gnocchi with summer vegetables and halloumi or Vietnamese style bream for mains.  There are a lot of styles to cover but it looks like there's something for everyone.

The groupon offer was for two burgers from the gourmet burger menu, although they did say that if we wanted something on the a la carte, we could just pay the difference, which was a good touch.  But we had come for burgers so burgers we had.  Joe opted for the kiwi burger, an Aberdeen Angus steak patty topped with beetroot, pineapple, cheese and a fried egg, which was a brilliant combination of flavours and textures.  I had the chicken and mozzarella burger with marinaded tomatoes and sweet chilli, which was also rather tasty, although my chicken was a touch on the pink side.  It wasn't something worth raising, but anything less done would have been a little dangerous!  Both burgers came with freshly made coleslaw and hand cut chips which were superb.

All in, it was a really nice evening and I'd definitely go back.  On a Wednesday evening they were busy, and from the looks of the food being ordered, these weren't just people seduced by the groupon factor.  Definitely one to give a try.

7.5/10 (points gone for pink chicken and they took an age to bring our olives which, admittedly, they went off menu for).

Those pesky olives

The kiwi burger

The chicken and mozzarella burger