With all that being the case, the idea of going to a casino for food was quite far down my to-do list, so I wasn’t sure how to react when I received an invite to pop down to Sheffield and sample a range of new menus at the Grosvenor Casino. My curiosity was piqued and the menus read well enough, so when I found myself with a few hours to spare while Baby Fork was at nursery, I popped myself onto a train and made tracks South.

My naivety showed as soon as I arrived at the casino and was asked to surrender my satchel. After conversation with the pleasant receptionist, I was acutely aware of the potential for fraud and deception and made my way inside. The legend of there being no natural light in a casino proved correct – all the better to lose track of time – but the space was clean and comfortable with the bar area being segregated enough from the gambling activities to provide a space in which to relax in front of the appropriately outsized big screen.

With my focus shifting to food, I took a look at the four street food menus in which I was interested and decided to start off with the offering from Absurd Bird. This menu is an offshoot of the fried chicken chain and offers wings, burgers and buckets of fried food apt to soak up a few beers in front of that previously mentioned big screen. My challenge for the afternoon was to sample something representative from each menu, so I kicked off with some fried wings that were served in a box neatly designed to recline into a plate of sorts. It’s no real criticism to say that I’ve had more refined fried chicken elsewhere, but this was a cracking example of the breed, not too greasy but still messy enough to make sure you leave fingerprints on everything for some time.

Next up was a Garden Club pizza from Barrel & Stone. These guys’ core business is providing ‘plug and play’ solutions to other premises that allow them to broaden their offering easily. Here they’re just one strand of the menu, but pizza is bound to be a favourite and thankfully this one is comfortably good enough for the surroundings, with plentiful fresh toppings and a crispy base.

My next gearshift took me seamlessly into curry. This was branded up from Holy Cow and served along with rice and naan. I chose Rogan Josh on the recommendation of my server and enjoyed it, though the naan was on the dry side.

The last question asked of my appetite was by Field & Fin from a menu geared toward restaurant style dishes. I’d had an eye on the slow-braised beef rib from this menu and it was just the luxuriant I’d hoped to finish the day’s indulgences on. With the smoked bacon strip-topped meat smothering the mashed potato base, the presentation was a little monochromatic but the meat had justice done to it.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I accepted this invitation. If I’m honest I’ve not the time or inclination to start to understand the mechanics of gambling so this is unlikely to become a habit, but I enjoyed my visit and the food. The concept of multiple menus could have tripped up in lots of different ways, but the execution was satisfying and I can certainly see how this makes sense for this kind of venue. I’m not sure how much custom over and above their existing base this offering will get them, but I doubt many who do try this offering will be disappointed.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for my attendance. Opinions are impartial.

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The new restaurant is located at 7 Lendal in the city centre and follows hot on the heels of the success Zaap has enjoyed with their Leeds, Nottingham and Newcastle ventures. The space previously occupied by Gourmet Burger Kitchen will be completely transformed into a venue that will appear as though it has been lifted straight from the bustling markets of Bangkok. 

Funky tuk tuks Guests can expect Thai-inspired graffiti, funky tuk tuks, neon lighting, hanging motorbikes and an electric atmosphere that pays homage to the iconic capital city. And, then there’s the food. With over 80 mouth-watering dishes to choose from, ranging from mild to hot as hell, there’s a new favourite dish with your name written all over it. 

Thai street food classics on offer include the fragrant Gang Ped Thai Red Curry and the meaty Hoy Tod Crispy Pan-Fried Mussel Pancakes. The fast and affordable food menu also offers visitors the chance to take a gamble and try something new and exotic, such as the Pla Tod Gratium Deep Fried Whole Sea Bass or the vegetarian delight of the Som Tum Thai Spicy Papaya Salad with peanuts. 

New jobs in York
The new opening will create around 30 new jobs in York, ranging from management to waiting staff. Zaap Thai is part of the Sukho Group, who currently have 7 different restaurants in their portfolio. Head Chef and Owner Ban was born in Thailand and moved to the UK around 20 years ago with a dream of bringing her country’s unique flavours to a new audience. 

She opened her first Sukhothai restaurant 17 years ago in Leeds and has grown the accessible Thai fine-dining brand into the Yorkshire institution that it is today, boasting four venues across the country. The first Zaap landed in Leeds back in 2015, becoming an instant smash with those looking for a more casual approach to Southeast Asian cuisine. 

Zaap will offer a range of unbeatable lunch menus and daily deals, which will change on a monthly basis. The midweek lunch menu presents diners with the choice of 2-courses for £10, or 3 for £12.95 and runs between Monday and Friday from 11am – 6pm. Curry Monday allows customers to grab a curry and a beer for just £10 all day, while Pad Thai Tuesday’s offer the bestselling dish with a beer or soft drink for the same budget-friendly price. 

Asian cocktail creations 
The drinks menu spans beers ranging from Singha to Tsingtao, authentic Bubble Teas and a collection of delicious Asian cocktail creations. Zaap have also just launched a menu of non-alcoholic summer drinks, including refreshing iced drinks and smoothies. 

Owner Ban had this to say ahead of the York opening:

“We have been searching for a suitable spot to bring Zaap to York for 2 years now, and I believe we’ve found the perfect home at 7 Lendal. 20 years ago, I could never have imagined just where my dreams would take me, but it turns out that the UK has welcomed Thai food with open arms.’’

“We cannot wait to introduce Zaap to the people of York and look forward to inviting them in for an authentic taste of Thailand, where street food is not just a meal, but a way of life.”

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We decided that Doncaster Wool Market would be the perfect half way point at which to meet friends who live in Sheffield so, to that end, hopped on a train on a Sunday morning to make the 20 or so minute hop to Donnie. The Wool Market has benefitted from an extensive make over that’s turned it into a bright and open space full of independent businesses, a number of street food traders amongst them. Notable as well is the table tennis available for all and sundry to get stuck into and a glass covering that lets people admire a medieval well discovered during the renovation.

We started our exploration of the street food on offer with a pizza, acting on a tip off from a York-based street food vendor, and The Rustic Pizza company up to the task of turning out good value tasty pizza pleasingly quickly. Our roast veg offering certainly found itself split across the table very quickly. Next we hit The Barnyard for some chilli cheese fries. Nobody would claim that these were refined or subtle but they lived up to the name and were quickly dispatched.

York favourite Clucking Oinks has a presence here so we next fell back into their familiar embrace before taking their recommendation to try Peruvian “Rumba Skewers” from Taste Peru. It’s hard to dislike spiced chicken skewers with rice, potato and salad but it’s a shame they were only running a limited Sunday menu and had a relatively narrow offering.

To finish on a sweet note we called by Scrapes for ice cream and brownie. I’m not quite sold on the advantages of making ice cream by hand to order but, regardless of the theatrics, my mint Aero ice cream did everything demanded of it as did a hot double chocolate brownie.

The renovation at Doncaster Wool Market has left a bright and usable space that lends itself well to a few hours of grazing on nice food and browsing independent businesses. Based on the walk from the station, it seems like a definite highlight of Doncaster’s centre that one hopes will go from strength to strength.

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Assembly Underground opened in Leeds towards the end of 2018, offering a cool subterranean space crammed with food traders and an improbably broad selection of beers. Having set out its evening proposition, Assembly is now taking aim at brunch and is all set up for Sunday morning indulgence.

We headed across from York a few weeks ago when we were kindly invited to check it out and took an energetic baby along with out healthy appetites. Assembly is just a short walk from Leeds station which, taken briskly, can help work up an appetite.

All the traders in Assembly have clearly had a good chat to make sure that their respective brunch offerings work toward a cohesive offering. We kicked off with an example of the offering from Pizza Authority, who served up meatballs with focaccia to mop up the sauce along with samples of marinara pizza.

Jah Jyot were up next, fresh from their appearance on BBC’s Million Pound Menu and confidently showing off their brunch plate here. This featured chapati, spiced bacon, ‘Indian Hash Brown’ and a sweet tamarind sauce. This “Kathi roll” was reminiscent of the equally wonderful breakfast offerings from Dishoom and scores highly by virtue of also being available closer to York. Delicious.

By now the table was well into the swing of things and ready to receive The Falafel Guys who are offering sharing platters featuring falafel, halloumi fries, sweet potato chips, hummus, mixed pickles, bread & baklava. Falafel is so often a sphere of dry powdery disappointment but no such worries here and I can certainly get on board with the idea of sweet potato and halloumi fries for breakfast.

One of the headline acts at Assembly is undoubtedly Slap & Pickle, whose burgers and loaded fries have quickly become things of legend in Leeds. For the brunch offering here, they were serving up samples of their loaded tater tots and “Mick Muffins”. The tater tots were an obvious hit around the table with the generous topping of avocado, blue cheese mayo and bacon rain while the “Mick Muffins” were a much more wholesome version of a similar thing available from a well known fast food chain.

By this point, our appetites were flagging a touch, but we still were up to sampling chicken skewers from Bread & Butter Churrasco. These were pleasingly succulent and well cooked along with a fresh salad and a few other bits and pieces.

The drinks front certainly wasn’t neglected amongst all this with Vocation & Co supplying a range of breakfast cocktails featuring Breakfast Martini, Bloody Mary and Bellini of the week. Quality coffee was on offer from Stage Espresso & Brewbar.

The range and quality of this brunch offering is truly impressive and a great way to please a crowd of friends wanting to shake off the excesses of a Saturday night on the town. It’s a fun atmosphere too, though never becoming raucous enough to distract Baby Fork from the important business of lapping the floor. We’ll certainly be happy to pay another visit.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for attendance, opinions are impartial.

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I started my day by hopping on the train to Manchester, a journey I’m familiar with thanks to Manchester Airport being on the same line and one that only takes an hour and a half. Thankfully the train was not as crammed as can be, so I was able to crack on with some work throughout the journey while trying to whittle down my list of places to visit.

When I asked on social media for recommendations to explore Manchester, I hadn’t been prepared for quite how inundated I’d be. The suggestions flooded in and seemed to all be worthy of a check out. A little bit of my decision making was forced by my visiting on a Monday when some places were shut so I crossed a few off my list and was arriving before I knew it.

Arrival at Manchester Piccadilly is now marked by a beautiful sculpture that depicts blinded soldiers in the First World War and was commissioned by Blind Veterans UK. There was another sculpture around the corner from the station that I wanted to check out so I continued that theme to see the memorial to Alan Turing, who of course had strong associations with the city.

By now I was in serious need of caffeine and stumbled across the diminutive and charming Nibble who were perfectly placed to oblige. Suitably refuelled, I made my way onwards to another Manchester institution. Afflecks is a labyrinthine mix of niche retailers that cater for all manner of tastes. I spotted plentiful clothes, lots of vinyl, a tattooist, card games, posters and a shop specialising in Manchester themed memorabilia.

Next up was lunch, something I’d failed to decide upon having been overwhelmed by the quality and breadth of the offering. My decision was made when I happened upon Cottonopolis and checked out the menu. This was strongly recommended by the world of social media and didn’t disappoint. The menu is made of small plates divided into sections roughly aligning with raw, fried, griddled and steamed with some snacks and sides thrown in.

The welcome was warm and I was made entirely comfortable dining alone with sensible advice given on the menu, from which I chose 3 dishes to make up a light lunch. Yellowfin tuna nigiri arrived first with four pieces neatly presented, which proved hugely satisfying with well seasoned rice and delightful slices of tuna. The seafood theme continued with crab tempura served with togarashi and kimchi mayo. The batter was thankfully light and further given character by the kimchi. I hoped that the final dish to arrive would be the star and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m an absolute sucker for steak tartare so had to get my hands on the Wagyu beef tartare. This one was everything I hoped for, served with quail egg and a honey and mustard miso that gave it a healthy kick. I grabbed a few more suggestions from the server, parted with around thirty quid and made my way onwards.

To make sure I grabbed some culture before I made the return trip East, I headed up to the People’s History Museum. This extensive collection lays out the history of the development of democracy in Britain and proved as fascinating as I’d hoped with plenty of hands-on exhibits and well told stories that gave life to our country’s history, particularly pertinent given the present goings-on in Parliament.

By now the need to think of getting back to the station was becoming relevant, if not pressing, so I made my way over to Hatch. This is a box park similar to Spark:York so I was keen to take in the differences and similarities. A Monday afternoon isn’t the best time to let a venue such as this shine but there were still a healthy few serving a good bunch of happy punters enjoying the sun. I’d initially thought it looked a little on the empty side, but this is the result of new units having been put up for an imminent expansion. It was the perfect spot to finish the day with a superb coffee from Takk.

By happy coincidence, a friend was working in Manchester that day, so I was able to finish off my chance to explore Manchester with a quick drink at one of the bars in the station before resting (well, working) on the train home. I’ve plans to explore Manchester a couple more times this year and now have a great resource of places to try out. It was great fun becoming reacquainted!

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.

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Food halls seem to be popping up all over Yorkshire these days. In York, we have Spark to host a range of street food vendors at the moment and the promise of another food hall in the recently refurbished Stonebow House to come in 2019. In Leeds, Assembly Underground has just opened with 50 beer lines to support the existing Belgrave Music Hall and Trinity Kitchen and a little further south, Sheffield is now host to The Cutlery Works in Kelham Island in a building that, perhaps unsurprisingly, was previously a Cutlery factory.

Our visit didn’t get off to a particularly smooth start thanks to an inconsistent bus service in York that left us running a mile or so pushing Baby Fork after which we were able to relax for three minutes before sharing the vestibule on a packed train with seven other people, a pushchair and luggage. On arrival at Sheffield, we recovered with coffee before trekking through the rain hoping that The Cutlery Works would live up to expectations. Thankfully we found it a superb retreat from the rain, welcoming and buzzing while still family friendly with the first floor easily accessible via a lift and featuring decent baby changing facilities.

The range of traders is truly impressive and broad while not cramming too much into the space. There’s a nice mix of food and drink businesses that cover a great range of bases without letting any genre dominate or unduly tip toward feeling like a drinks led space. Downstairs feels more like the kind of place to swing by for a drink and a snack while upstairs dots a few more sofas around, suggesting a longer stay. In terms of traders, the downstairs features craft chocolate from Bullion, Indian from Ma-Ba, poutine from The Gravy Train, arancini from Fritti, pies from Pie-Eyed and burgers and baos from Fin&Bone. Upstairs finds freshly roasted coffee from Foundry, plant-based treats from Shed, and Edo serving up sushi along with a few bars to enjoy.

We settled upstairs, bagging a sofa and a high chair to base ourselves in before exploring the menus. Predictably there’s too much to work through in one day here but I enjoyed living vicariously through the sights and smells as I made my way around. A couple of street food chefs in York had suggested the poutine so I started with Gravy Train’s “Montreal” dish. Peculiar to Cutlery Works compared to other food halls I’ve visited, there’s table service, so I pointed out our table on a plan and returned to the group, where the food appeared quickly enough. The suggestion turned out to be spot on: really well prepared fries paired with curd and drenched in a deeply flavoured gravy. This was a deeply satisfying way to spend £6 while my companions’ similar dish chucked bbq chicken into the mix for another couple of pounds.

We decided to go for something lighter next and ordered a selection of sashimi from Edo that was as beautifully fresh as it needs to be; the scallop in particular being delightful (£15). The other side of the table opted for a selection of small plates from the same outlet that included duck gyoza, Japanese fried chicken and octopus dumplings which my stolen bites served to confirm their positivity (3 dishes for £12) . Finally we hit Fin&Bone for a Bouillabaisse which had a decent punch of flavour but could have been a bit more generous with the seafood to hit the same heights of the dishes we’d enjoyed so far.

The Cutlery Works is a fantastic use of space to give a home to some seriously good food and drink businesses. I absolutely loved the atmosphere; it had plenty of buzz but still felt family friendly without ever looking like a soft play area. Each of the businesses seemed to have space to present its own identity and one can only assume that this will quickly become a stable of the food and drink scene in Sheffield.

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The newest big name on the food scene in Leeds is Assembly Underground Leeds, an appealingly subterranean food hall that features (predictably enough) great street food and a huge range of beers to choose from. The space that it inhabits, I’m reliably informed, used to house a nightclub and has been artfully distressed into a comfortable space that uses its corners to be deceptively spacious, fitting in a good number of food vendors.

On the drink front, the headline number is 50… there are 50 beer lines available to give a pretty startling choice of beers. It’s perhaps even a little overwhelming if you’re not committed to your beer knowledge; one assumes that the staff sampling sessions are suitably prolonged affairs.

On the food side, Bread & Butter serve up rotisserie style Brazlian “churrasqueira” and high quality meats cooked on skewers for super indulgent sandwiches. The Falafel Guys have earned themselves a great reputation over the last few years, serving up street food treats from their bright red van on Briggate, and now have a home more suited to the British weather thanks to Assembly Underground. On the preview evening I attended, there was sadly no pizza to be had from Pizza Authority but I was in the company of a very good pizza chef who assured me that the set up was up to the task of cranking out good pizza. Coffee duty is taken care of by Underground Coffee, but I was more interested in the colder drinks available so grabbed a cold beer before sampling some of the food.

I managed to hit Slap & Pickle and Jah Jyot for a couple of plates before my appetite gave out, first taking in a juicy, indulgent cheese and bacon burger. Slap & Pickle claim to serve the best burgers in Leeds. While that’s not the kind of absolute statement I’m given to making, I’m totally happy to say that this was a superb mess of enjoyment to work through. I can’t wait to check out their speciality loaded fries. The chicken Amritsar curry I had from Jah Jyot was a decent blend of spice and subtlety. In retrospect I wished I’d had enough space to fit in a masala dosa or one of the platters they were serving up but the chicken curry was perfectly enjoyable, though didn’t provoke the same praise from the group as the Slap & Pickle burger.

I’ll be back to Assembly Underground Leeds to check out the rest of the traders when I can but it’s safe to say that this is a great space with good food and drink options that’s bound to find its own niche in the Leeds food scene. I’ll look forward to a return visit.

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With its founders so in love with Leeds that they relocated from down South, the independent street food business is about to open its flagship permanent site in the city centre.

Slap & Pickle will be occupying one of six food units at Assembly – a new underground food and drink venue opening in mid-November in a prime location just off Millennium Square.

With a vibrant programme of events in the pipeline and Vocation Brewery bringing in a speakeasy bar and 50 beer lines, Assembly is the ideal home for Slap & Pickle and the ‘burgers, vibes and loaded fries’ promised by the unit’s neon sign.

Along with burgers, Slap & Pickle’s main food offer at Assembly will be the off-the-wall loaded fries that have populated many a social feed with rapturous posts from the brand’s fans.

And, because mental health is a subject close to all of Slap & Pickle’s team members’ hearts, the business will be rolling out a series of initiatives to promote positive mental wellbeing amongst the people of Leeds.

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The new upstairs beer hall will serve 40 beers at a time and will also include the new Born To Lose Burger Kitchen run by street-food chef Mark Hill, known in York for his Street Cleaver business.

The venue will open to the public on Friday 24th August, following a private event the night before for some of the 661 people who invested in the brewery’s crowdfunding drive, which helped make the expansion possible.

At the public launch, there will be 60 beers: 40 in the new hall and 20 in the original downstairs bar. Half will be from Brew York, with the rest carefully selected from other breweries. There will also be live music from the Disco Daze DJ collective, customers will be able to try the new ‘hoptails’ (beer cocktails), and visitors will get a sneak preview of the Brew York shop, which will open at the front of the building in a few weeks.

Mark’s opening menu will have three main burger options: The Bourdain, The Big Cheese and The Reuben, with vegetarian and vegan options also available. His eclectic range of small dishes will include kimchi mac cheese, pig’s head crubeen donut, chicken skin tostadas, and a sharing platter of Korean-inspired dishes.

Lee Grabham and Wayne Smith, co-founders of Brew York, are looking forward to welcoming existing and new customers.

Lee said: “We’ve had a fantastic first two years, and now we are building a venue that any city would be proud of. Places like Leeds and Manchester have some incredible venues, and this will be up there with those. To have been able to do this so soon, here in the city-centre, is a dream come true.”

Wayne said: “It’s going to be really different from anything else in York, and will be fantastic. Because we have direct relationships with lots of other breweries, we will be able to get hold of exclusive and very rare beers that people will really want to try.”

For the Friday and Saturday, admission is by ticket only, to manage capacity. Tickets are £5, which includes a glass and a £3 drink. To book, visit buytickets.at/brewyork

The beer hall will also be an evolving street art space, in collaboration with The Art of Protest gallery in Little Stonegate. Giant works will be painted on the hall walls, before eventually being painted over with new pieces.

Mark said: “This will be something completely fresh for York. I’ll be using local suppliers and ingredients and people will be able to see everything we’re doing. Venues like this are working all over the world but there hasn’t been one in York yet. But there should be no reason York should be any different to places from LA to Leeds, where you can get a great burger, amazing fresh food and a brilliant local beer. We will be working together and with other businesses to really get the best out of our industries and doing a lot of work to showcase the best beer and food pairings.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure this is the right thing for York as well as for us, and feel York really needs something like this. And we won’t be secretive about what we’re doing. If people want the recipes, they can have them.”

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Having a good crowd meant that we could be sure to get through as many of the new dishes as possible, though this meant a relatively involved discussion to choose our strategy. Something that was eased by a few mouthfuls of Bhel Puri, a tangy vegetable and puffed rice snack that seemed to have gained a significant amount of spice since I last tried it. Further help arrived in the form of a dish of Peanut Pakoda, peanuts deep fried in gramflour that hadn’t quite reached their full potential, remaining a little bland compared to the other generously spiced dishes. With these snacks addressed, we got our order in and took a couple of outstanding beers from Leeds based Northern Monk Brewery to keep us company.

We were a little sad to find that the Pani Puri had sold out, though this was apt given that we were meant to be focussing on the newer offerings. Okra fries, chicken Hyderabadi Murgh Tikka and Masala fried squid came up first and revealed a preference amongst us for the Okra and Chicken, both of which offered the right balance of spice and texture nicely. I’ve eaten the tandoori mixed grill on each of my visits to The Cat’s Pyjamas and it remains a great value crowd pleaser, ensuring it’s always split perfectly fairly – the only divisive note being the lamb that packed significantly more heat than the other elements.

From the curry we plumped for the Mean Molee, a gently warming fish curry with a coconut and ginger sauce. This one drew unanimous praise as we competed to get our hands on it. To soak up all this we grabbed some pilau rice, roti, a Yorkshire cheese naan and a Kachumber salad to give a lighter element to the feasting. All the sides were up to snuff. I’d have liked a more aggressive cheese taste in the naan but that’s splitting hairs as everything soaked up the spice perfectly. The table also commented on how the curry was lacking the layer of grease that sometimes makes it hard to digest anglicised curry.

The menu at the Cat’s Pyjamas is superbly well judged and consistent. This was my third visit and I think it hits its marks perfectly. There’s a wide beer menu and the place lends itself happily to either a chilled out series of dishes with friends over a few drinks, or a few quick snacks on the way to a later engagement.

​Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. The final bill would have been £74 to feed four people (which included several alcoholic drinks).

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