Located on St Peters Square, just opposite the BBC Leeds studio and near Northern Ballet, is The Wardrobe, a bar and kitchen as well as a popular live music and comedy venue.
I decided to visit before going on to my session at Leeds Drawing Club and took my boyfriend with me. We arrived at about 5:30, in time to still take advantage of the early evening menu which offered two courses for under £16. Whilst the choices weren’t extensive, there were plenty of dishes that we both thought sounded delicious, including a couple of vegetarian options. But, as I don’t often eat steak, when I saw that ‘steak and chips with rocket and parmesan salad and peppercorn sauce’ was on the standard, non-offer menu, I decided to forego the two dish deal, and instead went for the steak. My boyfriend opted for the ‘beer battered fish and chips with tartare sauce and mushy peas’, which was an option on the early evening menu.
I asked for my steak to be cooked medium rare, and when it arrived, it was cooked to perfection. It was also slightly charred on the outside, as if it had been on the BBQ, which added even more flavour to the already delicious meat. The steak came with chips, which were also really tasty. They were crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Whilst the portion of chips was a little big for me, I enjoyed having plenty of chips to dip into the deliciously rich peppercorn sauce which was served on the side in a jug. The rocket salad was as you would expect, but I liked how the parmesan shavings added a nice salty kick to the overall dish.
My boyfriend’s fish and chips were also pretty knock out, which surprised me seeing as we weren’t in the chippy. The fish was flaky and soft, and the batter was crispy and well cooked. Neither of us could have guessed it was beer battered, but that didn’t detract from the dish. The mushy peas were tasty, but a larger portion would have been appreciated. And the tartare sauce was fab, a nice addition to cut through the richness of the dish.
As part of my boyfriend’s two course dinner, he opted for sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. We decided to share the dessert, and I am so glad we did because it was delicious. The pudding itself was rich without being heavy, and the sauce was sticky and sweet. The ice cream was an ideal addition, melting slowly over the dessert as we enjoyed. It goes without saying that we polished off the whole portion and if I was at home, I would have licked the bowl, too!
We both had a lovely pre-Drawing Club meal at The Wardrobe and agreed to go back to The Wardrobe to combine a music or comedy event, with some more food – and certainly with another portion of that sticky toffee pudding!
Photographs by Gemma Bridge.
