Friday evening dinner : Arts Cafe Bar Leeds

And so we continue our mission of Eating around Leeds. This evening we decided on early doors (before 7 p.m.) dining at a the Arts Cafe. It is a small, unpretentious cafe-bar in Leeds' historical red light district, Call Lane. This area is awash with  independent cafes, bars and restaurants which is so much much better than identikit chain restaurants.

We hadn't booked a table so it was fortunate that we arrived early as from 7 p.m. all the tables had been reserved - always a good sign! This place is small, serving around 50 covers (but larger than the picture depicts as there is another room behind).

The decor has a European, cosmopolitan  feel to it with dark wooden floors and simple wooden cafe furniture. The "arts" part of it's name comes from the wall art which showcases the work of local and regional artist in six weekly rotations.

The food was a delight with a seasonal menu. The early doors menu was extremely good value at £12.50 for two courses or £15 for three courses.

Because it is traditional to eat fish on a Friday, I chose Beer battered haddock, hand cut chips, mushy peas and homemade tartar sauce.  It was absolutely delicious and quite a substantial meal so I'm glad I was ravenous.  For pudding I decided on the honey roast plum crumble with vanilla creme fraiche which was had a very slight tartness to it and which was heavenly with the milky, sweet creme fraiche.
My score : 8.5/10 - Heart warming comfort food in a relaxing atmosphere.