Browns, Always The Scene in Town
There isn’t much of a theatre scene in Leeds but what there is, is top notch.  We are privileged to know one of the cast of Opera North (although he never gets us tickets any more). Leeds Grand Theatre is surely the best theatre outside London for architecture and acoustics (especially since the recent improvements). The West Yorkshire Playhouse is also pretty good for a modern theatre and puts on some interesting modern pieces.
So where to dine before the show then?
If you are off to the Grand, I would recommend parking in The Light where you will find a range of eateries, some of which I will review in future posts. This time around it is the turn of Browns. A fashionable place under the Radisson Hotel, airy and yet austere (a former building society banking hall).
When in Yorkshire do as the tykes do, so I had the (Leffe battered!) fish and chips. Not too bad actually. although not as good as Langan’s brasserie which (shame) is in London, or Murgatroyds (near Leeds Bradford Airport), or the original Harry Ramsden’s in Guiseley (before it became a chain), or even the (unlikely sounding fish and chip venue) Flying Pizza in Rounday.
The wine was a Robertson Firefinch Sauvignon Blanc 2005 from South Africa (a place I find frustratingly variable in wine quality). This one at 12% was light yet full of wonderful tropical gooseberry flavours. Grapefruit and lemons and Margarita mix – a strange sweet and sour sensation. Something like licking a Love Heart dipped in salt. It went well with the capers in the tartare sauce.
At £15 a bottle it seemed reasonable value. I found it at quaffit.com for £7.50 so a 100% mark up is not too bad for a wine of this price.
Browns is one of those impossibly cool places – the only slight downside is that the service sometimes is too.
Browns Restaurant & Bar, The Light, The Headrow, LEEDS, LS1 8EQ
Tel: 0113 243 9353
Fax: 0113 243 9374
(Why do some restaurants go the trouble and expense of creating a posh website but don’t put an email ID on the Contact Us Page?)