If there's one new restaurant you've got to try before the new year is out it's The Agora. Whilst it isn't fine dining in the strictest of senses, compared to say, Kendell's Bistro or Brasserie Forty 4, it is a fantastic place to eat. There's a few reasons, which I'll go into, but let me explain -the five star rating spans the whole experience. So, the staff. Every time I've visited this delightful restaurant the greeting has been most warm and the staff have been attentive. If there's something not on the menu at that time they've suggested alternatives and you're always greeted with a smile. The décor and ambience is lovely; it's spacious and classy without making one feel as though you've to be overly dressed up. Then there comes the food. Everything I've eaten here has been delicious. Their grilled houmous is some of the best I've tasted and the boreks are to die for. The lamb dishes are delicious and they make a mean moussaka, if that floats your boat. Basically, it's all fresh, mouth watering cuisine, cooked beautifully and above all they feed you like a king. On top of that the food seems to be really healthy, so you can eat until you burst on their fantastic lunch time deal, without feeling as though you've a small loan to take out. You can eat on a budget without having to accept sub-standard food, which feels like a rarity these days. Add to that the home made desserts, which are fabulous, and you're on to a great meal out right there. As for drinks, you can always partake of some of the usual wines and beers, but my choice has to be that home made lemonade. Simply delicious and I'll be sending spies for the recipe. read more

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Oh I'm sad :( I really, really wanted to like this place. So many friends have recommended it, and I want to support independent restaurants. The owners are really friendly, and it is cosy, but despite that, dinner was a disappointing experience. We decided to take advantage of their 3 courses for £14.95 offer, and - credit to the owner lady for her honesty - she dissuaded us from ordering extra houmous, saying we wouldn't need it. She was right - the portions are extremely generous! We started with halloumi which was really really good. Then we had platters for our mains (£3 extra on the deal, they told us upfront, and it's fair because they are HUGE). Boyfriend's meat platter was apparently quite tasty. My veggie platter had some nice moussaka and rice on it, but everything else wasn't so good sadly. The keftedes and falafel had been deep-fried for so long that they were really crunchy and just tasted of salty fried-ness rather than what was inside. The feta roll was also so oily I couldn't eat it. The briam was quite nice but nothing special honestly. We were feeling really full by this point so we got the bill rather than having dessert. Unfortunately because we hadn't had three courses we were charged full price for the dishes, and they are quite pricey! There was a sign on the wall saying two courses are £12.95, but this didn't seem to apply. To be fair, perhaps we should have enquired about this, but we'd already made a fuss over getting our drinks, so we wussed out. Service was quite slow, and we had to ask twice before our drinks came out - well after the starter had been served. Rowena's right though, the home-made lemonade is really gooooooood. Unfortunately we both felt pretty ill that night - not in a food poisoning way, but I think just massive indigestion from greasy food. I didn't finish my veggie platter, but I found myself wishing I'd skipped the keftedes and falafel entirely. Gah, I feel horrible giving just two stars, because they are really friendly. However I have to be honest and say I don't really want to eat there again - especially given all the other great places there are to choose from in Headingley. I've heard the desserts are amazing, so perhaps one quiet lunchtime I should pop in for some cake and a lovely lemonade and give these guys another chance. read more

I really rate The Agora, it is our go to restaurant in Headingley and we probably eat there twice a month. The main options around studentville are the plethora of Thai restaurants, any three of the generic arc inspirations bars or cheap chain pubs. Agora offers you a bit more love! They are equally happy for you to nip in for a few starters and a drink or cater for a table of 20. The Husband and Wife combo that run the place really look after you. Mr does the cooking and everything is freshly made including their delicious bread and Mrs runs front of house keeping you in drinks and chatting like you have known her since childhood! While the menu doesn't set the world alight, I would challenge you to find something you won't enjoy and they don't scrimp on the portions! My personal favourites are Haloumi, Calamari or Sueck (Turkish spicy sausage) followed by the Adana Kebab or Mixed Souvlaki. The significant other usually goes for mixed dips- hold the Taramasalata, Prawns or Keftedes potato and either Mediterranean Chicken or the Salmon. All mains are served with rice and plenty of salad and you will struggle to clean your plate! They also do some authentic drinks, Efes and Mythos beers, a solid wine list- you can even get Retsina if pine sap and wine mixed is your thing, Raki, Ouzo and Turkish coffee. They also do the best apple tea this side of Istanbul, although it's hotter than the sun when bought to you so let it cool for about ten minutes before diving in! The decor is a bit rough and ready, there can be a bit of a wait and sometimes things run out but you always get a decent meal at a fair price and all served by a couple whose restaurant is their life. They don't take cards but there is a Halifax literally next door with a cash point so you can't really complain. We often take friends there and I am yet to hear a bad word. If only grotty Otley road with its traffic jams and students was replaced with a golden sandy beach and the bright blue Aegean it would be perfect! read more

One rainy autumn evening, hubs and I decided to try The Agora for some Greek and Turkish style noms. Being a self confessed food snob and all round fussy eater, I was prepared for it not being up to my fuss-pot foodie standards. Inside is lovely, but not super special. Think up market cafe or cosy relaxed eatery. We had lovely seats in the window on padded "diner" style benches, which I really liked. I should imagine that you could be asked to move away from the window, but for hubs and me, we enjoy the sport of watching students in various states of fancy dress prance around Headingley. Being a first visit, I opted to go for the fish platter, and hubs for the meat platter. A good opportunity to sample a little bit of everything. We had a flat bread, all toasty and warm, with a selection of olives and feta cheese brought out to us before our meal. I do so like it when small complementarity nibbles are brought out to you. My fish platter had swordfish, 2 grilled sardines, a fillet of salmon, 3 calamari ring, 2 giant king prawns in garlic and butter sauce, a nice baked potato and a very generous Greek style salad. For the price, it was certainly good value, and I could not finish it all. The prawns were particularly excellent, and I will go back just to have these again. Sadly for me, i found the rest of the fish to be over cooked, with both the salmon and the swordfish rather dry. The Calamari and the sardines, less so; more than passable and certainly tasty. I did feel the batter on the calamari was a little "chip shop" style for my tastes. I will remind you dear reader, that I am a food snob and fussy eater, so this may not be as important for other people. Hubby's meat platter had just as much variety, but as I was tucking into my own I failed to make a note of the range of meat he had. Hubs really liked the spicy sausage, his kebabs, and adored the traditional slow cooked lamb stew. i thought his chicken kebab to be on the dry side, and his sausage felt, well sausage-y and stodgy. A good quality in my hangover banger, but not for din-dins! Now my husband is a big eater, and was pleased that we did not have a starter, so I can vouch for the generosity of the platter portions. While our platters were OK value for money, I did feel that everything else was just a little over priced for what we received, and sadly it was enough to push the whole cost. Our pudding portions were small for the price we paid. We had baklava and revani, both of which were no more than 3 inches in size, and did not stand out from any other that I have eaten in the past. I thought 4 pounds for a bottle of beer was excessive too. If we had a starter and a bottle of wine, it would have pushed our bill well into the £70 bracket! Note to self: don't order the two biggest dishes on the menu if next time! They do have an early bird set menu for under £15 per head, which I look forward to trying on another visit. the service was very nearly excellent. We were greeted by a lady who i would assume is the proprietor, and she was lovely and friendly. It's clear she makes an effort with her customers as she noted we had not visited before and told us that they did not take cards in advance. While our waiter and waitress were attentive, it did take a good 15 mins for our main course plates to be cleared. While this doesn't bother us too much, I can imagine that this would be irritating for other people. So over all, a lovely place to go and eat, it's cosy inside, the food is tasty, hearty and filling and the service a lot better than most places, just missing my personal wow factor. read more

The Agora - Fish Platter from The Agora, Headingley. - Turkish Near Me - Leeds, XWY

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I don't know how we came across this because it's on a main road just outside of Leeds and it's about 18 miles from where I live.. but anyway, it was my other half's fathers 60th and we wanted to try something different.. The staff were friendly and welcoming and the host was a bit cheeky which lightened moods.. the food also tasted nice, my lass got falafel to start and I got some kind of spice Turkish sausage which both tasted nice we also got a sharing platter on the table as it's a good way to try the different foods although you only got a selection of 4 things and you only get a smallish piece each.. For mains I got moussaka, mainly because my Greek friends mum used to always cook it for us when I slept over at his house.. the restaurants version was really nice but the portion size was a little small. In short.. the food tastes really nice but it's a little expensive for the portion sizes.. I would have give it more stars but it was £13 for a small moussaka.. I cleared the plates but for the 4 of use the bill came out at just over £130 and I wouldn't say we had over 30 quids worth of food each, especially as we only had 3 starters at the table.. It's good for a treat though.. go, try it.. you'll probably enjoy the food. read more

Great early bird options. Great fresh food. Great Desserts. Nice atmosphere. One of Headingleys best independent restaurants. A usual spot for me and my partner. read more

This is a little gem. Rustic, hearty,authentic food. Great service, I too sampled the lemonade it is delicious. Heavenly baklava and other totally homemade desserts. Give this place a go, it's a lovely bistro with a happy relaxed atmosphere. read more