A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

…and I must first of all apologise for the lack of pictures to accompany this post. The reason is that I was not intending to ‘publicise’ what was initially going to be a quiet day out with my Mum and Dad. That is until we received shockingly different levels of service and quality of food at two Leeds eateries that inspired the Dickens theme for this post. So where did the weekend start…?

The weekend started well with the collection of my beerswap spoils. While I was posting I decided to contact Katie at Leeds Grub to see if she had any suggestions as to where I should take my parents for Sunday dinner. My Mum wanted to do some Xmas shopping so I needed somewhere in the City Centre but, as I don’t see them very often, I was wanting somewhere I could be sure was going to be good first time. Katie very kindly suggested one of the Leeds Brewery pubs which she told me, although she had never had a Sunday lunch, tend to do quality food on any day of the week.

It was with some irony then that the reason I turned up to meet my parents with a dry mouth and slight headache was the fact that the Cuthbert Broderick had had Leeds’ Midnight Bell as a guest on the Saturday night. With my CAMRA tokens they were only costing me £1.39 a pint. Wizard….

Having done the necessary shopping we finally retired to The Midnight Bell to have some lunch. At 3 O’clock we nearly had the upstairs to ourselves and our drink orders were taken before we had even really had time to take out jackets off. I’m not sure if it was because we were eating during thhe afternoon lull but this brilliant service continued throughout. I cannot speak highly enough of the two girls who served our table, being attentative, polite and even humouring my old man when he told his rubbish jokes!!

And the food…me and my Dad opted for the 28 day aged Sirloin while my Mum chose the Pork Loins. Both dishes came with Yorkshire Puddings, Roast Potatoes and Carrots and Broccoli. Not to mention the gravy that had me wiping the plate with my finger once the food had been finished. The beef dish was £11.50 which would have put me off had I known in advance, I think breaking the £10 barrier on a main is dangerous territory but, if ever a meal and service were to change my mind, it would be have been The Midnight Bell. The only downside that I would note was that I could have eaten more, although both of my parents said the portions were just right and I am well known for having an enormous appetite.

So if that was the best of times, where was the worst…? The worst of times was tea at two for one Lawnswood Arms on the Otley Road. The food was rubbish (it was thhe first time I ever had a steak sandwich I didn’t like but then I couldn’t taste the steak through all of the butter) and the service was non existent but rather a teenager who would rather be somewhere else throwing the food onto the table. In short I could not wait to leave.

So there it is, the best of times and the worst of times. Most certainly a tale of two cities. I know that £11.50 is a lot for a Sunday Roast and that the ‘equivalent’ meal costs about a fiver in the two for one place. By no means am I a pretentious eater, I grew up going out and about with my Dad in his lorry and love a bargain as much as the next guy. Having said this, if it was a choice between going to The Lawnswood Arms every Sunday or The Midnight Bell every third……I’ll see you in a couple of weeks time…..