Before Christmas I was invited out for a Food Tour of The Light in Leeds. Gone are the days when The Light was a destination for me as a teenager – a trip to the cinema followed by all you can eat Chinese! The Light is now a foodie destination with options varying from a light snack to grab on the go, to going all out on a special meal with cocktails to follow.
Instead of trying a meal at one of the vast variety of restaurants on offer for eating out in Leeds, we were taken on a tour of restaurants with one course at each destination – a fun way of mixing up your evening out. We started at George’s Great British Kitchen for a cocktail and their amazing sweet shop inspired menu did not disappoint.
Knowing we had a long night ahead of food and drink, I opted for a shorter, lighter cocktail in their Parma Violet offering (who can resist a Parma Violet flavoured anything? Not me!), but the other girls had some amazing candy floss concoctions in the Candy Annie. By all accounts the cocktails were super sweet, but definitely a hit and with a variety of deals on cocktails every day it’s definitely worth a pit stop.
We continued on to FireLake, a restaurant tucked away inside The Radisson Blu hotel, but unlike any hotel restaurant I’ve ever visited. We were seated for our starters amongst their plush high backed booths and chic tiled floor, a mural and hanging fire pit just around the corner. For anyone staying at The Radisson Blu, you’d be mad to order room service to your door and miss out on this incredible decor.
We tried a range of starters from the FireLake menu, which puts a Yorkshire twist on it’s Minnesota roots with locally sourced produce. Unexpected cocktails were served by the most enthusiastic cocktail bartender I’ve ever come across, who brings his signature style into the menu he created. The staff were knowledgable and clearly proud – I think FireLake was my favourite place on the tour and I’d love to try their full menu next time I’m eating out in Leeds.
Next on our food tour of The Light wouldn’t have been a personal choice for me as I don’t eat red meat, but we had a table reserved at Estabulo, The Light’s Brazilian all-you-can-eat offering. We were provided with a token to show the serving staff whether you were too full of meat or hungry for the next round and the meat just kept on coming with pork belly, sirloin steak, sausage and chicken thighs amongst their menu. I was mostly interested in the salad bar, though, that offered fresh sushi, a cheese selection (including this amazing carved beauty pictured below) and some meaty beans which are always my favourite BBQ/grill dish of choice!
We rolled out of Estabulo wondered how we were going to squeeze in a pudding from round the corner at Turtle Bay, but the banana and toffee cheesecake was calling my name. With a colourful Caribbean vibe throughout, Turtle Bay seated us at a long wooden bench with vibrant chairs. Still in keeping with the theme, the puddings were served in worn looking enamel dishes – I was a little upset the end of my cheesecake seemed to have gone missing, but really I didn’t have enough room for that extra bite anyway ;)
The Light is found on The Headrow in Leeds with around 16 places to eat and drink inside.
Loves x xx
