Thursday - Primos and The Maven with Hunter Pig

Hunter Pig and I used to meet on Wednesdays for a cosy cinema trip, but in recent times we have moved to a bite to eat followed by booze - I think I prefer this arrangement. I am always on the look out for a food bargain, so on Thursday we decided to hit Primo's Gourmet Hotdogs for the Dog Pound deal - buy one full price hot dog and drink to receive another hot dog for just £1.

When we got to the Corn Exchange at 7.30ish Primos was pretty quiet, but I imagine is is quite the hub of activity in the day time. This didn't bother us one bit - the dogs were stacked high, the beer was cold and the bill really good value. 8/10.

My Picante. Bratwurst sausage topped with Primo’s chilli, Monterey Jack cheese, crispy bacon and jalapeños

We are cocktail fans, and after some aimless wandering up and down the calls we arrived at our next destination - The Maven. This isn't too surprising as it's a well kept secret when you could walk past for months and not notice its even there....we both loved it.

It's prohibition in style, with a relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. Ok, so what I saved on hotdogs I spent on cocktails but when they are this good I am more than happy to pay a premium.  We had three each; I can't remember the names of the first two but one of them was a spectacular! - see below....Hunter Pig and I both agreed that the third was the most delicious Amaretto Sour that we have ever tasted. If it hasn't been a school night there is no doubt that we would have spend the night propping up the bar until 4am (the weekend closing time). 10/10

Fire cocktail

Hunter in 2008....I am on the camera!

Wednesday - Safran with Hunter Pig

On Wednesday I went with Hunter Pig for a bite to eat at Safran followed by a couple of cocktails at Wax Bar and Juke Joint which is newly opened on North Street. We had both heard really good things about Safran and it didn't let us down. The restaurant is a little off the beaten track, but it is definitely worth making the effort to find - don't get me wrong, this is no fine dining but a family run Persian restaurant that cooks simple and interesting food really well at a bargain price - at the moment it is had a BYOB policy which is another big plus point, although they are actively looking to get an alcohol license at the moment. The food is very similar to Davish which we reviewed last year, so have a look here for a more detailed run-down of the sort of food to expect - they are both delicious but for me Davish has the edge.

Kaskh Bademjan

Freshly cooked bread

Mixed starter

Chicken wrap - this was outstanding!!

Short and strong cocktails!

Wednesday - A Feast of Sushi at Yo Sushi

I am a big fan of sushi, and when the 40% off dishes off the conveyer belt offer comes around at Yo Sushi I am there!! Not on my own I hasten to add - my dining partner was my great friend and best man....Hunter Pig!!! I hadn't seen his little piggy eyes since December so it was great to catch up....we also put the initial plans for my stag do in place - the lucky few will be getting further details very soon.

Below are pictures of all the dishes we had - 16 in total I think which was pretty good going. I have no complaints about any of them and some were particularly delicious. I am lazy and can't be bothered remembering what they were all called, so hopefully the photographs speak a thousand words!!

Bank Holiday Sunday - Dave Pilla @ Limetree & drinks with Rich & Josh

It was an early start yesterday, with Jo and I driving Dave Pilla to his gig on the main stage at the Limetree Festival which took place near Ripon. Apparently the Friday and Saturday of the festival had been pretty poor due to constant rain, but when he took the stage at 12pm the sun was out, and everyone enjoyed his set. See four videos from his set here (definitely worth a look)


You can find his blog here, twitter here and his youtube page here.

Dave and Jo

Back to the food, we had a great tasting snack from a Tibetan stall selling momo's which are a type of dumpling - one with meat and the other with spinach. Click here for info - Jo is under strict instructions to make some at home soon!

Momo's with homemade chilli sauce

A bunch of dummies at Limetree

With the weather changing we decided to head back to Leeds for lunch, followed by a couple of drinks with a good friend of our Rich Zach and his son Josh.

Lunch - left over chilli, salad and pitta

Rich and Josh

Joe's dinner - Special K and fruit!!

And finally, this is a quick video of me trying to give Jo and piggy back across Roundhay Park yesterday evening whilst a little tipsy....