We spent last Summer in Leeds and discovered Trattoria Il Forno from…read morethe waiter at another Italian place. All I can say is that the pizza here is amazing! My friends and I were here regularly and the food has always been top notch. So far the Spaghetti Carbonara is the best I've ever had in my life. The fig and goat cheese salad (Insalata di Rucola Fichi Caprino e Pinoli) is a must try. Rocco and his team give great customer service!

This used to be the most amazing pizza, since the new guy has taken over management it's an…read moreabsolute joke. Firstly you can never get hold of them when you try call to book for a table or to order for collection. We went there last Friday evening and the manager told us that they just don't answer the phone if they too busy. Which I think it ridiculous and such bad management. Secondly we walked in to make a booking as we tried 3 weeks in a row to call and book and no one answered. We got there and were told to wait an hour before we could get a table. We waited. Eventually we got a table it took another hour to get our food. We watched a family of 7 people arrive for a birthday dinner which they had made a reservation for, the manager turned them away and said that they too busy. Service is a massive role in the restaurant industry and the service lead by the new manager is appalling.​

When a restaurant that has a special place in your heart gets closed and revamped, you're always…read moregoing to view the reincarnation with some disdain and unease. This was my attitude after the best restaurant in Cookridge (Est Est Est) was overhauled a couple of years back and turned into a Gusto. I had been going to Est Est Est regularly and thought of it as the perfect Italian restaurant, and viewed the change with suspicion. I needn't have worried - Gusto is simply the new name for Est Est Est, and although they claim it to be a different restaurant, little has really changed, which is a good thing in my eyes. They do brilliant Italian classics simply and successfully, and there is always a special buzz about the place, almost as if the customers know how good their food is going to be. Some have said the portions are small, but to me they're spot on, allowing you to have three courses without feeling bloated, followed by an authentic espresso of course. Gusto, thankfully, is simply Est Est Est with a different name.

This is by far my favourite restaurant in Leeds. I go here all the time and I have never been…read moredisapointed.  As you walk up to the restaurant you can see the beautiful fairy lights laced across the window. Sometimes this can look really tacky and a bit in your face but paired with the ultra modern decor it looks perfect.  You walk straight in to the bar area where the very attentive bar staff await to take your order. The only problem is their drinks menu is full of such tempting looking things I'm always spoilt for choice! Once you are ready to take your seat the manager takes you through to your table. The first time I walked into the dining area here I was like wow! The delicate fairy light theme is carried right through but this time they are encased around a tree that stands in the middle of the restaurant. Yes a tree! This isn't just your average restaurant it was built around a 200 year old olive tree that is now the central feature of their dining area. The menu is large yet the quality is most definitely not effected. Every time I visit the menu has been revised slightly as they seem to constantly be trying to make their dishes better and adjust them to suit the season.  I am a huge fan of pate but I can be quite picky with it. Theirs is the best I have ever tasted, served with crisp breads I could eat it forever. The chicken primavera is the best pasta dish I have ever eaten. The vegetables are seasonal which really reflects in the taste and it is cooked to perfection. The chicken is plentiful and very juicy and flavoursome. Within the restaurant they also have an open part of the kitchen where you can see the pizzas being made fresh and put into the pizza oven. My dad orders a pizza every time he comes here as he says they are the best pizzas he has ever had. Even better than the ones he had in Italy! I have not had the chance to sample the dessert menu yet as the portion sizes are pretty big so I am always stuffed when it comes to the final course. Everything in the place is pretty much perfect. The staff are friendly and attentive, the tree is beautiful and the the food is amazing. I really urge everyone to try it out, Its more than worth the little trip out of town for some really special.

Rima is kind of like Luigi's (almost next door on New Road Side) little brother, and it specialises…read morein Italian eats in a less formal, more quirky way. Offering a menu based around the three things Italian cuisine does best - pizza, pasta and coffee, Rima is open all day and night meaning it can be a good place to go for just a coffee, a snack, a quick lunch or a full blown evening meal. It's more of a bar than a restaurant in terms of the formality, so if you are wanting an evening meal, it's probably not the best place to go. Cheap and cheerful, Rima has many positive aspects, but the most pleasing of these is not the lovely outdoor decking area, nor the amply sized pizzas, or the authentic coffee, but the fact that you can get take-away spag bol.

A surprising novelty in Leeds, Rima is an Italian cafe and takeaway that's actually run by…read moreItalians. While I'm not doubting the ability of other nationalities to make perfectly agreeable pizza and pasta dishes, there's something in the crispiness of a pizza or the basily tang of a pasta sauce that seems so much better when it's authentically made. Rima's doesn't offer the smartest or the nicest surroundings for an eat in meal, but the friendly and rather theatrical staff make good mealtime entertainment, and the takeaway menu is up there with some of the best.

So, our first stop off on the Yelp pub crawl was at Kobe, (pronounced koh-bee not kohb, as I…read moredebated with the taxi driver) to stock up on burgers before our tour of the town. I'd heard on good authority (a fellow Yelper, naturally) that the burgers here were well worth a punt, and being as I'm on a sort of unofficial best burger hunt, it had to be done. Should you feel flash, they also do a chateaubriand - but that's fifty squids, so quite a lot to drop when it's not Blackhouse. Friday was, if you recall, incredibly warm, and so this was the perfect place to indulge in some summer sun - the outdoor garden has quite a few tables, and there are some covered tables, should the rains have come. Being as I'd yet to have my tea, I didn't take advantage of the boozes here. I did discover an incredible mocktail menu, however, and can highly recommend the Very Berry - it's an awesome mix of raspberry, cranberry, mint, apple and other bits, that make up both a healthy and delicious smoothie. The staff were all really helpful, especially the girls that served me, both when ordering the mocktail and my burger. I wanted to check out extras on the burger, and if I could have it served rare, amongst other details and both girls were really great with all my questions. Fantastic. The décor is fine, and in keeping with their other bars dotted about Leeds, although to my mind could probably do with an update. You know you're in an Arc bar when you go in, so there's that, but it is rather dark inside and I suppose feels a bit dated? I can't put my finger on it, but the black leather, dark floors, and varnished wood aren't my favourite. But, perhaps that's a minor detail when everything else seemed to be quality. The burger comes on a wooden chopping board, and the chips in a little mini metal chip pan, as seems to be the fashion. I do like the little pot of salsa though, which was really tasty. I opted for the Indonesian burger, and whilst it wasn't rare in the American sense, it was definitely juicy - thank goodness for a nicely cooked burger. Who wants dry meat? (Apparently lots of folk, as the waitress mentioned several people send them back to be cooked for longer - if you're one of those culprits, try it wet. I promise, it's better.) I couldn't taste the peanut satay creme fraiche very well, but the rest of the acoutrements that accompanied the burger were fabulous, and the bun was a perfect brioche bun. It's not the biggest you'll see in your life, but it's definitely decent so these guys make the list. I was very happy! In summary: I much prefer this place to the Headingley counterparts, and their burgers are damned good. The mocktail list is great, and give non-boozers something a little extra special to sup, so all in all I'm a fan.

Kobe is owned and run by the same folk that gave Headingley The Arc, The Box and Trio, yet it…read moredistinguishes itself from these student hangouts quite significantly. By far the trendiest business to every grace New Road Side, Kobe takes its name from the area of Japan where the farmers treat the cows like gods. Seriously. If you haven't read about this, get on Wikipedia now and look up Kobe beef, it's ridiculous; they give cows beer and massages! Kobe (the club) uses Kobe (the beef) for one thing on it's simple, grill menu, the Kobe Burger. Now, this is no ordinary burger- indeed, it costs around £17 (which would probably get you about 8 Big Macs) but then again this is the poshest beef in the world. Despite my love of beef and burgers, I could not justify the price, so went for the rump steak and cheese sandwich, which was top drawer. The service was pleasant and fast, and, while the prices are definitely on the expensive side, the quality you get makes up for this. Kobe by night is a similarly expensive but luxury experience, with the decor and upmarket drinks making you feel as special as those Japanese cows must do.

Eugh. Done once and never to be done again. Looking more like a conservatory or double glazing…read moresales base than an Italian restaurant from the outside, and looking like a bachelor vomited all over the interior, seriously, inside, purple suede, looks like MTV Cribs has had a word with the Cribette designers and said, pop in here and make it look silly. It all appears to try too hard, and maybe it is really all in the hope of distracting attention away from the food. If it didn't try too hard with pretention, then maybe we could accept it for what it is, basic food under the Italian food genre umbrella. The menu prices really are extortionate when you check it against the quality of the grub. Pasta is more tacky and chewy than the intended al dente texture, and my spinach and ricotta just didn't hit the spot. Flavourless and stodgy really. Steak at £20 really wasn't worth it, and my friend seemed to spend more time poking at it rather than eating it, as a foody, he really was disappointed with what was delivered. The salmon dish was ok, but my friend was not particularly impressed with what he got for his £13 meal. With high hopes it seems we were all a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing. The atmosphere didn't help. Loud, but not in the buzz of voices and general laughter department, more the sound of chairs and cutlery noise and general clatter. To sum it up, basic Italian grub, with Italian cuisine prices.

Replacing the long-running and exhausted Bellini's last year, Divino shares much of the problems…read moreBellini's did, but attempts to paper of these cracks with some eye-catching decor - purple and white suede give this place a false feeling of real class. Like Bellini's, Divino has pretty awful acoustics and the fact that it is crammed with more tables and chairs than it should be creates the same loud, echoey atmosphere that often ruined an evening at Bellini's. Despite the new ownership, the menu is very similar to that of Bellini's, and offers the usual Italian fare without any indication of creativity or uniqueness. The food itself is, infact, slightly worse now than it was under the old management - it is still satisfyingly adequate (I had the spicy pepperoni pasta dish and it was edible if unremarkable), but it was definitely better as Bellini's. Divino is usually fairly busy, so they must be doing something right (the attraction is surely a combination of the family-friendly environment and the low-end prices). If you liked Bellini's and you like purple suede, Divino is the place for you. If you want real quality Italian food, however, I suggest making the short trip down the Otley Road to Salvo's.

Its very easy to miss Gallery Fortyone, a small restaurant/bar on commercial road in Leeds. This…read morerestaurant has only been opened a year or two but it has fast become a regular haunt for us when we fancy a bit of a treat. The menu is pretty standard italian food, no huge surprises, but is cooked well, very tasty and very reasonably priced for the quality of the food. They tend to have some interesting looking seafood on the specials board which isn't really my thing but it always gets a lot of 'mmmmmmmm's from the people who've had it. They also do takeaway pizza for £5-6 which I haven't had yet but something tells me its only a matter of time...

Friday evening and there were only two tables occupied. Music not conducive to relaxed dining. Good…read moreservice, food very good and reasonably priced, though they did not have the choice of pudding we wanted considering it was a weekend evening. Toilets poor. May not come again.

On a recent Friday my boyfriend and I had played our usual game of "who is going to cook the…read moredinner?" and came to a stalemate where neither of us were willing to do so. In the end we chose to browse the interwebs for the cheapest deal we could find and came across a fabulous one from gopher deals here at the relatively recent addition to Headingley, Giorgio's. Since we had no printer we photographed the deal voucher on our phones and called ahead to ensure that it would be alright, which it was! The deal was fifty percent off the food bill, which allowed us to enjoy all three courses without fear of breaking the bank. Our starters were huge. I chose the garlic bread and it was basically a huge garlic bread pizza and wouldn't have looked out of place as a main. For the next course I chose the lasagna and he had the penne pasta. Sadly for him the penne, although generous, was a touch on the bland side, whereas mine was excellent! I felt guilty enough to share half of mine, which was perfectly cheesy and creamy, but it turned out that this was a good idea since I was so stuffed! We chose puddings also, like gluttons, and I had the vanilla and pistachio ice cream. In a twist of fate I ended up feeling jealous of my boyfriend's ice cream as it was utterly fabulous, the strawberry was out of this world. Apparently it's proper Italian gelato, which is massively exciting since I don't know anywhere else that serves gelato. Yum! To top it all, the service was excellent. We were warmly welcomed, promptly seen to, there was banter aplenty and everyone here was wonderful!. With light fresh decor, fabulous staff and generous meals this place is a winner in my book!

Booked in here for Tuesday 24th April evening when the weather was rubbish and I had the holiday…read moreblues so didn't want to cook- and the added bonus of a Groupon voucher to use also swayed my decision. Parking isn't great to start with and I'd guiltily parked outside someones house down from the cinema entrance :-( We entered for them to address us quizzically and claim that even though I'd called earlier to book us in with my Groupon voucher reference they had nothing in the diary.. We were seated anyway- at a very small table squashed right up at the back- we had to 'bump' passed 3 other tables which I found quite rude to the people sat down. We had no sooner got our coats off & picked the menu up then we were pounced on to take our drink order- efficient maybe or just a bit too eager? We ordered a bottle of red wine anyway (not the house which I thought was a bit steep for a basic wine!) and it was brought quick as a flash- they then expected us to be ready to order- we had only been in the place 8 minutes! The waitress was sent back to us and we ordered the meat antipasti to start, followed by the Gnocchi for me & Lasagna for the Mr. We were brought a bread basket when the wine was produced however the butter given was solid- clearly not to be used!The bread was nice and fresh though. Again, i didn't even get a sip of my wine before the food was placed in front of us- had it been pre-prepared & sat waiting to be ordered? The starter platter was to feature ' A selection of Italian meats and cheeses served with artichokes, olives and homemade bread'- the only bread we had was from the initial bread basket and I wouldn't call 2 olives a selection! The meat was good quality but we felt a tad disappointed overall. We then had to wait 15 minutes for our main! My Gnocchi was nice, if a little bit bland, so I needed to be a bit over generous with the seasoning myself- it lacked a bit of bite to be honest but the portion size was good. My Mr didn't have may complaints for the Lasagna other than it could do with a bit more meat! (maybe just a man thing!) While we were eating, the close proximity of the tables to each other caused a few 'moments' with the waiters- a full portion of chips lost down the back of a diners chair and a bottle of beer knocked off the table when his bum stuck out a bit much in squeezing passed! Not really what I want to watch when having my dinner. We asked for the bill and sat for nearly 10 mins before I got up and went to the counter to ask again- they were in no rush to get it paid either so we took the bill to the counter and paid there. I can see a lot of people are impressed with this place and go back on a regular basis- I'm not won over after this visit however. - the tables are too close together - the service is either too eager or too laid back (where is the happy medium) - the beer & wine list is a bit pricey - the menu descriptions are a bit over zealous ( or they need to actually deliver on the description) - the food lacked seasoning. From when I observed during our meal, they are not short of business and do a good student trade. I'm not sure for the 'professional' couple however they have the right service/food/price quality balance I would be looking for to go regularly.