10 Leeds restaurants recommended by celebrity chefs and food critics including Jay Rayner and Gordon Ramsay

By Abbey Maclure

Published 10th Apr 2023, 15:30 BST

Famous London-based food critics and celebrity chefs love to visit for food and drink in Leeds’ top restaurants and bars.

The food and drink scene in Leeds has attracted attention from the likes of Jay Rayner, who studied here as a student, as well as Masterchef regular Grace Dent, food writer Marina O’Loughlin and even Gordon Ramsay.

Here are 10 Leeds restaurants recommended by the top critics, and what they had to say.

Food critic Jay Rayner and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who have recommended restaurants in Leeds

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Food critic Jay Rayner and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who have recommended restaurants in Leeds Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images - Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Indian restaurant Prashad shot to fame after appearing in Ramsay's Best Restaurant in 2010. Located in Bradford at the time, Gordon was blown away by the food made by head chef Minal Patel (pictured) and the restaurant finished in second place. Now located in Drighlington, Prashad has gone on to win multiple awards - including Overall Restaurant of the Year in the YEP's Oliver Awards 2023.

2. Prashad - Gordon Ramsay

Indian restaurant Prashad shot to fame after appearing in Ramsay's Best Restaurant in 2010. Located in Bradford at the time, Gordon was blown away by the food made by head chef Minal Patel (pictured) and the restaurant finished in second place. Now located in Drighlington, Prashad has gone on to win multiple awards - including Overall Restaurant of the Year in the YEP's Oliver Awards 2023. Photo: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Tom Parker Bowles was "spellbound" by Man Behind The Curtain when he reviewed the restaurant for the Mail on Sunday in 2017. Michael O'Hare's Vicar Lane restaurant is the only Michelin star business in the city, and Parker Bowles praised the "witty, inspired and often brilliant cooking". He added: "This is modern, bold British cooking at its best, touched by both genius and a whisper of madness."

3. Man Behind The Curtain - Tom Parker Bowles

Tom Parker Bowles was "spellbound" by Man Behind The Curtain when he reviewed the restaurant for the Mail on Sunday in 2017. Michael O'Hare's Vicar Lane restaurant is the only Michelin star business in the city, and Parker Bowles praised the "witty, inspired and often brilliant cooking". He added: "This is modern, bold British cooking at its best, touched by both genius and a whisper of madness." Photo: Tony Johnson

Jay Rayner visited Michelin-recommended Ox Club, in Headrow House, in 2017. In a review published by The Guardian, he said the cooking was "boisterous and assertive". He praised the "genius dish" of cubes of melon with savoury fermented chilli, as well as the trout with "silvery, heat-blistered skin like crackling". Rayner added: "They know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it at a reasonable price too. This corner of rustic country cookery in the heart of the city more than works."

4. Ox Club - Jay Rayner

Jay Rayner visited Michelin-recommended Ox Club, in Headrow House, in 2017. In a review published by The Guardian, he said the cooking was "boisterous and assertive". He praised the "genius dish" of cubes of melon with savoury fermented chilli, as well as the trout with "silvery, heat-blistered skin like crackling". Rayner added: "They know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it at a reasonable price too. This corner of rustic country cookery in the heart of the city more than works." Photo: Bruce Rollinson

Grace Dent visited Owl, then a gastropub located in Kirkgate Market, in 2019. Run by chefs Liz Cottam and Mark Owens and now located in Mustard Wharf, Dent said their decision to open to market's first pub in 150 years was "fantastically ballsy". In her review for The Guardian, she said: "Mussels cooked delicately in white wine come with warm bread. Steamed dumplings are fat, thick, soft-skinned, slightly sweet clumps of joy filled with well-seasoned boar and venison or an earthy stew of mixed wild mushrooms, and served on a bed of buttered root mash and deep-scented gravy."

5. Owl - Grace Dent

Grace Dent visited Owl, then a gastropub located in Kirkgate Market, in 2019. Run by chefs Liz Cottam and Mark Owens and now located in Mustard Wharf, Dent said their decision to open to market's first pub in 150 years was "fantastically ballsy". In her review for The Guardian, she said: "Mussels cooked delicately in white wine come with warm bread. Steamed dumplings are fat, thick, soft-skinned, slightly sweet clumps of joy filled with well-seasoned boar and venison or an earthy stew of mixed wild mushrooms, and served on a bed of buttered root mash and deep-scented gravy." Photo: Owl

Chinese restaurant Wen's had a visit from Jay Rayner in 2020, who said the family-run business was going in "thrilling new directions". Writing in The Guardian, Rayner praised the dumplings cooked by Mrs Wen, writing: "spicy, minced beef pan-fried dumplings have gossamer and silky skins, which are precisely crisped on the bottom".

6. Wen's - Jay Rayner

Chinese restaurant Wen's had a visit from Jay Rayner in 2020, who said the family-run business was going in "thrilling new directions". Writing in The Guardian, Rayner praised the dumplings cooked by Mrs Wen, writing: "spicy, minced beef pan-fried dumplings have gossamer and silky skins, which are precisely crisped on the bottom". Photo: James Hardisty