Only came here for drinks and had a blast. It's a happening place on Friday evening. We started at…read morethe martini bar a few doors down then hopped over here and stayed. The ambience is fun and hip. Then randomly there were people painted and dressed as fairies dancing on tables and singing to live music. From other reviews it sounds like the food is fantastic so I would definitely return.

Really great spot that is easy to enjoy. Huge and beautiful space. Multiple bar areas to…read moreaccommodate huge crowds if needed. We simply ordered at the bar and found open seating in the bar area. The 12 hr munich pork sandwich was delicious. The cheese and mustard perfectly compliment the flavor and the pork shines. Served with house fries that were delicious also; crispy, salty and delicious. The bratwurst klassic was also great; exactly what you expect in a brat. Fantastic selection of German and Czech beers to choose from. Service was great, but, it was early on a Saturday and the crowd continued to build even as we were leaving. They had a drag MC that sang requested birthday songs and occasionally had something, ie one question trivia with winner getting a prosecco bottle, to break up between dj'ed songs. It made it entertaining without overwhelming you from enjoying food, beer and conversation. Absolutely fabulous!

The Real German Sausage stall is essentially a hot dog stall that does German sausages as opposed…read moreto the more common British hot dog stall who sell things like Cumberland etc. They do Bratwurst and Brockwurst (mixture of pork and beef) sausages, and Frikadel (pork) burgers. I was freezing walking through town recently and decided the smell was just too tempting to avoid. I got a Brockwurst with onions and cheese for £2.50. It was really nice, not too expensive and warmed/filled me up perfectly. The only problem is that they are really hard to eat without spilling ketchup or grease down yourself! I would recommend standing still with a handful of napkins if you plan to get out unstained.

Usually to be found on Kirkgate, outside Debenhams this is my favourite street food vendor…read more Despite the name they sell German sausage and burgers and they are delicious! I think what really sets them apart for me is that the lady is always so friendly too.

The Christkindelmarkt in Millennium Square now has a 'proper' restaurant! You can book it by email…read morethough you must do it at least two days in advance. We didn't, we went on spec as part of our Wednesday jaunt. The décor has gone a bit overkill on the beer garden look! The furniture is very new, untreated pine, looks lovely. There are some red and white gingham covered cushions but not enough to go round and the benched are very hard on the bum after a while. The tables are shared, so it's not a very romantic set up, but then it's not the place to go for romance. Our table held four groups so if the people on the inside want to get out, their neighbours have to get up; the benches have backs so you can't just step over. Not a place for conversation either as the Oompah Band were very very loud; ambiance is fine but you can have too much of it. It might have been better if they'd known some German tunes instead of Oomaphing versions of really bad 70s stuff. The service dispels the myth of German efficiency; I can't imagine what would happen if you booked, because it's a place where you find your own seats. What if you've booked and there aren't any? Or the only ones are mid row? Anyway, I'm going off track, when we arrived they weren't at all busy so we got a seat near the door; bad idea as I got a howling gale every time someone came or went. it was about half full but it still took a while to catch our waitresses eye and asked her for a menu, this seemed to surprise her. It took a while to catch her again so we could order. Only the people across the aisle were eating and we couldn't decide if everyone was waiting for food, everyone had finished eating (they were terrifically good at clearing dirty plates) or if most people were just drinking. I was beginning to worry that we were in another Tong Palace situation, when the food arrived. The food is very similar to the food in the Frankfurter Scheune (shares a website), but more expensive, apart from the drinks. I had the gluhwein and because they don't do any juice, my beloved had a fanta. I had the boiled ox-breast and he had the crispy knuckle of pork, at £8.50 and £8, these were just about the cheapest main courses. I had the better meal, it came swimming in a creamy sauce with a nice dollop of strong horseradish sauce on top, the salt potatoes looked pretty much like boiled potatoes but tasted slightly different and very good, while the creamed savoy cabbage was enough to make me reconsider brassicas in general! Beloved fared less well; his crispy pork could have been crisper, but the meat was good and it was huge, the bacon coleslaw, though nice (I tried some) contained no bacon at all, the gravy and dumplings were fine but nothing special. The people across the aisle seen to have the Traditional German Snack Plate to share; it looked very good and they seemed to enjoy it.

We found friendly staff serving good German beer and good curry sausage. I imagine it gets a bit…read moreuncomfortable when it gets full, but we found it just half full and really enjoyed ourselves!

Being a veteran and lover of the Christmas german market beer hall that graces Millenium Square…read moreevery year, I was caught in two minds about going to Bierkeller. My first thought was YESSS!!!! It'll be like the amazing nights I get to have every Christmas, but I can have them any time I want! But then I stopped and thought - would this ruin the novelty of singing along to many an anthem played by the wonderful Manny and his oompah band? Would it actually take some of the joy out of one of my highlights of the year? I chose to give it a go eventually, and have now been twice. I've taken in the experience after work on a weeknight when it's a little quieter, and also on a full on weekend evening when you get the full experience. The weekday evening came first, and left me wanting. The drinks are expensive - around £8 for the cheapest stein I think they were, and I had to wait for my drink for way too long considering there were only a couple of people in the queue, and the bar staff weren't very nice when I eventually did get served. They weren't rude or anything, but there were no smiles and didn't seem to care how long it took for anyone to get their drinks. Fortunately the place itself looks wonderful - almost like a proper beer hall but smaller. This saved it from being a bit of a nightmare first trip! Anyway, after being really quite unimpressed I nearly gave up on the place for good, but decided I should try it out at the weekend before I do. Fortunately, this was MUCH more like it! First of all, the staff were far more on the ball, and seemed to be enjoying themselves a little more. The drinks were no better, but the novelty of the stein was still there. But most importantly, the atmosphere was completely changed. Once this place gets packed out, everyone is clearly up for a big silly night of singing and glass clinking (although the latter is discouraged!). Once the oompah band came out I was back to loving the experience again. So, if you were to head into the Bierkeller at any other time than a Friday or Saturday night, I'd knock a star off my score. BUT if you do go on a Friday or Saturday, add one on. Once the atmosphere kicks in it's a joy to be there, but bear in mind you'll probably have to book seats in advance as we did.

I had heard good things about this place, so one rainy afternoon I popped in with a couple of…read morefriends for the full German experience. It was mid-afternoon so I knew it was unlikely that we'd see the full musical show or get the full atmosphere, so we were just expecting a pleasant pub experience. What we had didn't come close. The venue itself looks like a lot of fun - long wooden benches, ceiling beams, brick archways, It's theatrical rather than authentic, but I think it works - I'm pretty sure it's designed to poke a little bit of fun at itself. And I can imagine it's a memorable experience to glug a tankard or two, cosily squeezed between your friends in a corner. We sat down where we could fit on a bench, shimmied off our soaking raincoats and muscled in between two guys who'd clearly been there a while (indicated by the empties around them) and a few girls who were surrounded by shopping bags. Being underneath the Sports Bar, I imagined it being a little male-orientated so it was nice to see some post-shopping ladies grabbing a beverage next to us! However, then I laid eyes on the waiting staff. All the men were dressed smartly in black shirts and black trousers and they were all a wide range of ages. All the female waiting staff, however, were basically teenage girls trundling around in poor-quality skimpy leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination leiderhosen. Talk about your double standards! And I know it probably sounds prudish - buxom barmaids are quite the stereotype and I appreciate it can be seen as "part of the experience", but it was just plain tacky. Really tacky. More than anything, not a single waitress could muster a smile the entire time we were there. They just mooched about by one corner of the bar looking fed up and miserable. ...which then leads on to the terrible service! We couldn't actually get anyone's attention to come up and serve us for a start. We tried to make eye contact, we waved, we shouted when the waitresses passed us, but each time they had their eyes down and strode right past us. Eventually we did manage to order drinks and food and we found that being able to pay for a round of drinks at the table is a really nice touch. And the menu itself was exactly what you'd expect, bursting with bratwurst and schnitzels and pretzels. However, the food really wasn't anything special. I had fries and a frankfurter and they arrived lukewarm and pretty average. For average pub food prices, I knew it wasn't going to be gourmet, but I expected more for my money. The place was only half full and it was late afternoon, so it wasn't like they were struggling to get orders out to a busy restaurant. Overall, I would never go back there. It's tacky, the beer is overpriced, the service is appalling and there are too many wonderful bars/pubs/more-appealing rainy street corners in Leeds to bother going back to the Leeds Bierkeller.

Right, for starters La Zouch is not just an offy, it's also a pretty good restaurant and listing it…read moreunder off licenses isn't doing it any favours at all, so I shall get that changed pdq. As the name suggests, it has an extensive cellar and it takes as long (if not indeed much longer) to choose the wine as it does to choose the meal. The owner is very knowledgable and friendly, making the choice a little easier. Upstairs there is a sitting room where you can take your drink while you wait for your table, so getting there a bit early is no problem. It also has a large whisky shop up there with the finest assortment of malts (and the odd brandy) this side of... ummm... Oh I dunno, somewhere that sells a lot of whisky. This isn't the usual supermarket chioce either. While you'll find a few bottles that you would recognise off the shelves of your local CostLo, the range at La Zouch is more what you would expect from a good whisky shop and contains some pretty fine drams. It's not as extensive as some I have been in, but it's probably similar to the whisky shop in York, for example. Back down in the restaurant, the food is well cooked and well presented. I've been a few times and have yet to have anything to complain about. The service is always pleasant and the price is pretty reasonable. My only gripe with this place, and the reason it hasn't hit the dizzy heights of 5 stars, is that they never seem to change the menu. I must admit I haven't been for a while now, but the a La Carte menu is still the same now as it was 4 years ago when I first went. If you happen to be visiting the bustling busy business district of Ashby de la Zouch and fancy a power lunch with some high flying clients, then La Zouch is a great place to visit, although you'll soon get bored of the food choice, which, considering the baffling choice of drinks, lets this place down. It doesn't have the web site listed under the name here either, so here it is: http://www.lazouch.co.uk/index.htm

Superb ambiance, family (baby) friendly. Both food and service were impeccable. Salmon was made to…read moreperfection can't recommend enough. Prawns are cooked perfectly, generous sharable portion.

This place directly in our viewpoint from our hotel window so much that Joe insisted upon going…read morethere and we did. We were lucky because we got there in between the raindrops. It was nice because it wasn't crowded at all so good service was had. Since it was pub food once again I went with the child's pick of chicken tenders and joe got the classic bratwurst with sauerkraut. The food was delicious but filling. The different dips they provided were so interesting, see pic below.