After a slightly ropey week, date night was pushed to Saturday. With the impending arrival of mini-Sheppard we decided a nice meal out was in order – every dinner feels like it could be the ‘last grown up dinner’ for a while!
So we decided to go to an old favourite in Leeds – Reliance. It’s a little bit out of town, but one of those places that is always packed with people in the know. It has a lovely airy bar, with a great selection of Belgian beers and real ales – including non-alcoholic Jupiler (hooray!) Then there’s the restaurant area which has a cosy but ramshackle feel to it with a mixture of Formica tables, mismatched wooden chairs, fairy lights and an open kitchen!
The menu is seasonal and very reasonably priced (starters are around £4-5, mains £8-12). There’s usually favourites such as beer battered fish ‘n’ chips, sausage & mash and steak to fall back on, but the seasonal dishes shouldn’t be missed. For starters we had a really light salmon fishcake on a tomato chutney and a pumpkin & chestnut risotto (which was especially good!) For main, Tom had pork loin on a cider & thyme risotto and I had a rump steak with portobello mushrooms and twice cooked chips. I really take my hat off to a restaurant who can do a rump steak ‘medium-well’ and it still be beautifully moist & tender – yum!
Be warned, the portions are decent and so fitting in a dessert is often a struggle! However they do a mean espresso and home made biscotti, which is my favourite way to end a meal there.
The service was excellent, despite the fact there were also several big groups dining. Plus it’s a bit of a spectacle being able to keep an eye on the chefs (usually only 2 or 3) cooking up a storm in the open kitchen (and wondering how on earth they look so chilled out!)
