Shears Yard (££)

This contemporary restaurant on Wharf Street serves an ever-changing menu of classic yet flavourful dishes made with seasonal and local ingredients. Shears Yard is housed in a former rope and canvas factory and its interior has an industrial feel with exposed brick walls, steel beams with hanging spotlights. The restaurant offers an à la carte menu along with a tasting option and is also known for its excellent Sunday lunches. Starters here include a ham hock and pig’s head terrine, accompanied by smoked egg yolk, piccalilli and mustard cress. Alternatively, you can try a vegan celeriac and pineapple shawarma with sesame satay, spring onion and furikake. Among the mains, you’ll find dishes like glazed heritage beetroots with a sweet potato puree, or breaded cod cheek and red wine braised octopus, while for dessert you can enjoy a scrumptious almond milk panna cotta, served with an apricot and strawberry salad, tarragon sugar and smoked almond.

The Swine That Dines (£)

Situated in North Street opposite Lovell Park, The Swine That Dines offers ‘uncomplicated cooking with a little bit of sunshine.’ This relaxed restaurant has inviting, natural decor and a friendly, informal atmosphere. The Swine’s menu includes only a few options for each course but the talented team here know which flavours work well together and ingredients are used in ways that showcase them at their best. To begin your meal here, you can choose from starters such as pear, celeriac and stilton, or smoked mackerel, pickles and brown butter toast. Mains include pork belly, chicory and marsala, or a goat’s cheese souffle with confit fennel and hazelnut. Afterwards, you can enjoy sweets like a boozy rum baba, accompanied by caramelised bananas and cream. The restaurant’s staff got through the COVID-19 pandemic with their gourmet sandwich business Here Comes The Bun. This has continued to thrive and customers can still tuck into freshly baked stuffed buns here between 12-2 on Fridays.

Sarto (£)

If you’re looking to celebrate in laid back surroundings while tucking into some authentic Italian food, Sarto may be just the place. In contrast to Leeds’ many popular pizzerias, the highlight here is the restaurant’s delicious pasta. This is homemade in house and provides the foundation for lots of the options on the menu. Sarto’s prices are modest and there’s plenty of choice for vegans and vegetarians. Starters here include a range of small plates and snacks, such as heirloom beetroot, Knochraich crowdie, pistachios and balsamic, or wild garlic arancini with confit lemon ricotta. You can then pick from pasta dishes like bucatini with caramelised celeriac puree, capers and thyme, or rigatoni, lamb shoulder ragu, mint and sheep rustler cheese. To follow your meal here, you can then sip a traditional Italian digestif like Limoncello, Frangelico or Amaro, or try the cannoli of the week.

Fleur (££)

Located in The Light, Fleur describes itself as a ‘British brasserie with International flavours’. The restaurant’s concept was inspired by the travels of its menu consultant, MasterChef finalist and Great British Menu star Bobby Geetha. To start a meal here, you can tuck into crispy fried buffalo cauliflower or French-trimmed grilled lamb chops in a mild spiced mango sauce. You can then move onto such delights as miso and ginger marinated Atlantic salmon, which is roasted and served with stir fried broccoli, baby spinach, kimchi and butter beans. There are also plenty of vegetarian options to choose from, such as gnocchi tossed in a mushroom cream sauce with spinach, chestnut mushrooms and cheddar cheese. Desserts include the restaurant’s signature French toast – a heavenly concoction made with pan-fried brioche, cream and berry compôte. This is presented as you’ve never seen it before, with a crunchy coating of cornflakes and rose gold dust. Another talking point is Fleur’s seriously Insta-worthy decor. The restaurant’s interior has a luxurious yet playful feel with tropical colours, hanging blooms and a ceiling that’s filled with butterflies.

Ox Club (££)

Residing in Headrow House, this contemporary British restaurant uses a solid-fuel grill to cook up dishes that celebrate the very best of Yorkshire produce. Ox Club’s seasonal à la carte menu features starters such as hand cut beef tartar, bone marrow rosti, pickled mushroom and wild garlic, or Wye Valley asparagus and cull yow pancetta with a wild mint sauce. You can then tuck into mains like salt aged Thirkleby duck, confit leg and offal sausage in elderberry pontack sauce, or coal roast cauliflower, grilled alexanders, pecorino and wild mushroom. If you have any room left after all of that, desserts include a burnt Basque cheesecake with hay poached rhubarb. There’s also a changing selection of carefully-chosen drinks to sample, like a Yorkshire rhubarb negroni or non-alcoholic cranberry and hibiscus.

HOME (£££)

The brainchild of chef patron Elizabeth Cottam, HOME brings together influences from nature and the art world to offer a unique and memorable dining experience. The restaurant is situated in Brewery Wharf and you can watch boats passing on the River Aire through its huge windows as you dine. Its interior is sleek, dark and modern with smooth black surfaces that help the vibrant colours in the food to really stand out. Every dish here is exquisitely presented and some courses look like something you might stumble across on a beach or find down a mine. These include ‘Inspired by Colour’, featuring seaweed, salt, lemon and wild herb, and ‘Be Too Much’ with venison, burnt raspberry and parsley. HOME offers a series of exciting set menus consisting of 5-12 courses and a meal here can be rounded off with desserts like ‘Bitter Sweet’, which combines coffee, milk and cookie. Each course carries its own message in the form of a philosophical reflection or mantra, so eating here can feel like a voyage of self discovery.

Images- @shearsyard, @fleurrestaurants, @oxclubleeds