Lovely Leeds

Advantages: Lots to see and do
Disadvantages: The weather can be disappointing

...houses shops including Agent Provocateur and Vivenne Westwood. There are the typical department stores and chains, including a huge M&S and Next, and there are a number of more individual shops. Leeds also has a booming retro trade particularly popular with the students. The city is filled with a mixture of streets and shopping centres. And, there is the legendary Kirkgate Market, which I could go on at length about. Restaurants: Leeds has a fantastic range of restaurants and eating establishments. From the every day Macdonalds (I can think of at least 4 locations in the city centre itself), the ever breeding Starbucks coffee houses and Greggs bakeries to the chains such as Pizza Express or La Tasca. There is also a good selection of more independent restaurants if you are willing to keep your eyes peeled. Pubs and bars are plentiful...

nicolap 22.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Leeds in general

  Harvester Restaurants

Advantages: Always one close by, quick turn out, children are welcome and catered for.
Disadvantages: Toilets can be quite disturbing, not all dishes taste as good they are described.

...Harvester Restaurants Restaurant Reviewed: Stag and Hounds Winchester Road Basingstoke Hampshire (next to Comet and Home Base) The Harvester chain of Restaurants have over 2000 outlets across the United Kingdom and owned and operated by Mitchells and Butlers, who claim to be the UK's leading operator of managed pubs, bars and restaurants. Harvester claim to offer healthy eating, drinking and entertainment in one reasonably priced outlet. **** Parking and Getting a Table ***** As with most of the Harvester's I have visited, there is usually ample free parking at the rear of the establishment. However on Saturday evenings and Sunday lunch times these places are heaving with customers, so avoid the crowds, go early and if possible ring and reserve a table. The Stag and Hounds is no exception but fortunately...

mrsmopples 27.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Harvester Restaurants

Best restaurant in Leeds

Advantages: superb food, service and ambience
Disadvantages: a bit pricey

...A really superb restaurant in the centre of Leeds, No 3 York Place, (used to be called Guellers). The only places I?ve eaten in the Leeds area that compare are the Attic, in Harrogate and the Angel, at Hetton in the Dales. I?m told that Pool Court in Leeds is also on a par . The restaurant is modern in sytle, and fairly minimalist which is its only drawback, food,and service of this quality and price I think should be served in a more luxurious surrounding. The service is excellent, staff are discreet but attentive. Upon entering I was greeted by name (I had booked) and we were given a welcoming aperitif (some type of soup in a little cup). We decided to have a drink in the pleasant bar area (smoking allowed) before sitting, we were not hurried by the waiting staff, and made to feel completely at ease. The food is modern French...

mattsays 18.06.2003 · Read review
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Review of No 3 York Place (Leeds)

When is Leeds found in Kent?

Advantages: A truly lovely castle
Disadvantages: Pricey entrance fee for one visit

.... This sheet was handed in as you left the castle through the front door. One of the guides was in the front hall to check whether you had any further questions and ask if you had enjoyed the castle before opening the door for you to exit. The Dog Collar Museum: Yes you did read it correctly, and we had to go and see what was in here. As we left the castle we followed the path up and round to the restaurant and courtyard area. We came across the Dog Collar Museum, which has to be the strangest collection I have come across in a small museum. It is a unique collection of over 100 collars spanning 5 centuries. It was presented to the Leeds Castle Foundation by Mrs Gertrude hunt in memory of her husband John Hunt. Some of these collars looked more like medieval instruments of torture than collars. It was very bizarre, but nonetheless...

catsholiday 08.01.2009 (05.07.2009) · Read review
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Review of Leeds Castle

Jurys inn - Cheap hotel in Leeds

Advantages: Cheap, presentable hotel, good location
Disadvantages: Soulless, very noisy from outside

...Jurys Inn, Leeds is a reasonably priced hotel that is a 10 minute walk both from the train station and shopping centre of Leeds. We stayed here one weekend in August 09 and it cost us £60 per night for a room with a double bed and a sofa bed (though it would have been squashed with 3 of us). We found the hotel clean and presentable, with reasonable facilities, but very soulless. The staff were polite, although reserved rather than warm. It is part of a chain of hotels, and I got the impression that probably every other hotel in this chain is exactly like this one. Checkout was at 12, though you could extend this (at a price). The facilities in the room were fairly standard for a budget hotel chain - there was a fair selection of tea and coffee, a desk with internet connection point, a television with more channels than we could hope to...

beckyXX 14.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Jurys Inn Leeds, Leeds

Holiday Inn Leeds Garforth

Advantages: Excellent food, friendly staff, convenient location
Disadvantages: Small rooms

...We stayed at the Holiday Inn Leeds Garforth for one night on Saturday 30th March 2008 as an overnight stopover on the way up to Darlington for my friend's wedding the next day. We chose this hotel because of its location, the late check-out time and because it looked alright from the website. Hotel Information The Holiday Inn Leeds Garforth is a 4 star hotel located in a quiet rural location on the outskirts of Leeds. It has 144 rooms situated over 2 floors, the majority of which are non-smoking. It has plenty of parking spaces in a well lit car park and parking is free, we had no problem finding a space. It has a health centre with swimming pool which we didn't have time to use, a business center, bar and restaurant, and 24 hour room service. Check in is from 3pm and check out is at 12 noon. Rooms start from £53 but are more...

rd52169 08.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Holiday Inn Leeds, Garforth

The Seafood Restaurant

Advantages: Great fish, sides
Disadvantages: None

...Rick Stein - The Seafood Restaurant On a recent trip to Padstow, Cornwall we decided to go to Rick Steins famous fish restaurant, The Seafood Restaurant. Rick Stein is an English chef, restauranter and television presenter. He now specialises in fish cookery. He opened his first restaurant in Padstow in 1974 and now runs quite a few businesses in the town including a cake shop, cookery school and a fish and chip shop. The Seafood Restaurant is his upper class restaurant in the town and is known for it's fabulous fish. It really is in the best location for fish. Padstow is a historic fishing port and so receives fresh fish every day. The restaurant is right at one end of town by the harbour and so is perfectly place to recieve all the best catches of the day. It's quite hard to get a reservation in the restaurant. I think I booked...

Spottydog11 02.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow

Piccolino'd My Pocket!

Advantages: City Centre Location, Good Decor, Good Waiting Staff
Disadvantages: Expensive, Service Charge Automatic, Overly Attentive Staff

...It was The Blonde's brithday on the 19th and she turned the ripe old age of 22. As it was, I had been speaking with a colleague at work and had been discussing restaurants to visit in the City centre and Piccolino's came up. The Leeds branch (For they are a chain with restaurants in many of the major cities in the UK) opened fairly recently and I hadn't had a chance to sample it. My colleague gave it a good word, so I decided to surprise The Blonde on her birthday by taking her out for a meal there. Housed on Park Row, it was a mere 10 minute walk from where we live, although the weather at this time of the year didn't lead to an enjoyable walk! Especially with The Blonde wearing her new Christian Leboutin (Whoever the hell he is) heels. Booking the table was beautifully easy over the phone, I was simply asked what time I wanted...

beevorm 22.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Piccolino Restaurant, Leeds

The Fynest Chain Restaurant

Advantages: Wonderful fish and seafood
Disadvantages: Very limited choice for vegetarians

...round our chairs. We had two small pine tables, a little the worse for wear, pushed together. There was already a basket of bread slices and a not overgenerous serving of butter on the table. The paper place mats show photos of and give information about Loch Fyne's fishermen - it's good to see they get some recognition. I immediately liked the feel of the place itself. Situated in the imposing Vulcan Building on the Canalside, the restaurant has a high ceiling with wooden beams painted white from which spotlights together with small lamps in wall brackets create a soft lighting. The whole of the back wall is in red brick. The theme of fish and the sea runs through a series of paintings on the walls. There is a bar behind which the collection of wines is displayed, and there is also a counter where you can see elaborate seafood dishes being...

denella 13.01.2009 (24.01.2009) · Read review
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Review of Loch Fyne Restaurant, Portsmouth

LEEDS CASTLE

Advantages: Wonderful - not to be missed
Disadvantages: none

...For a wonderful day or evening out go to Leeds Castle. It is not in Leeds as one would suppose but in Maidstone, Kent. During the Saxon times the area was called Esledes and the name Leeds came from that original name. It is not just a castle for you to wander around and look at the antiquities; it is a castle that is - once seen never forgotten, whether that is for the Norman architecture, the surroundings or the wonderful event/s you may experience there. I have now visited this castle twice in my life, the first time with a boyfriend and it makes a wonderful romantic day out and the second time with my husband and in laws, this made a fantastic family day out. A little bit of history. The castle was built during the reign of Henry 1st by a Norman baron, it is built on stone on an island, and it has been a royal home...

teacherofhooch 01.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Leeds Castle