A Leeds based Pub known for it’s large array of beers available bottled or on keg and cask, serving Burgers, Fried Chicken and Sunday Roasts, based in the growing Northern Quarter of Leeds Centre. Not a bad spot for a casual drink with food, maybe not too reliable for a large group meal from my first experience here, BOOK AHEAD!

Burgers (April 2023)

We visited The Brunswick on a Thursday evening, before an event at Leeds First Direct Arena as it was in a decent spot to grab something tasty but casual and I had seen that their simple menu offered great sounding burgers and fried chicken. The pub was fairly busy but we managed to grab a table downstairs, so I would recommend booking ahead, the service was a lot better this visit than my previous though (see below).

We each ordered a burger, and shared some chips and this was enough to pleasantly fill us up before the event. Beers will cost around £6, seems to be the going rate for town centre beers nowadays! Overall we spent about £33 for food and a drink each.

We enjoyed;

• BOB (Beef Onion Bacon) Burger £10.40 – 2 x Smashed Beef Patties, Maple Bacon Onion Jam, Emmental, Monterey Jack, Burger Sauce, Potato Brioche – because the burger wasn’t massive, it wasn’t too messy to eat which is good seen as we were going out after, but everything was very tasty and went well together. My burger was a little pink inside which I didn’t mind. and I preferred that there was bacon bits, rather than big, fatty streaks of bacon which I am not fond of sometimes. A fulfilling, yummy burger.
• Sriracha Chicken Burger £10.40 – Fried Chicken, Sriracha Butter Sauce, Aioli, Lettuce, Pickled Cabbage, Potato Brioche – The chicken coating was perfectly crispy and the whole thing was delicious. The burgers are just the right size, not too messy or over the top, just right.
• Brunswick Chips £4.50 (v,gf) – Hand Cut Double Cooked Chips, Aioli, Chives, Brunny Salt – These weren’t bad, the Alioli was VERY garlicky and tasted a bit floury to me. I would definitely recommend sharing the portions of chips over ordering one each.

In summary we enjoyed our food, and the burgers were really tasty, but I did feel it may be slightly over-priced for what it is as I can pay approx. £11/£12 in other places and the Burger would already come with a side/chips. I would definitely recommend booking a table ahead where possible.

Sunday Roast (Feb 2019)

Based on the outskirts of City Centre in Leeds’ growing Norther Quarter is this small independent pub & restaurant that was recommended to me by some of my Instagram followers. I decided to dine here with my friend and her family to finish off my birthday week. Unfortunately the visit wasn’t as stress-free and enjoyable as I had hoped. Maybe we just caught them on a bad afternoon as I have heard good things previously, however we did leave feeling a little disappointed.

I booked a table for 5 and a high chair, for 3pm on Sunday and we arrived just on time, my friend with her children arriving before me and having to stand in the doorway for a short time as the place was busy. We then were told our table wasn’t ready so we sat downstairs to order our food and drinks for about 10/15 mins before being shown upstairs. When we were shown upstairs we were told “There’s a nice big table ready for you now.” and were seated on a long table with benches, so we spread out a little. Shortly after we sat down a couple were sat on the end of our table so I had to move up as I had assumed we had the whole table, meaning I ended up spending the whole meal sat uncomfortably.

Only one of us ordered a starter of the baked camembert which came after being there for around 30 – 40 minutes. The camembert was nice, served with toasted (half burnt) bread, carrot and celery sticks to dip in. It was a good enough size for us all to try a nibble.

Another 20 minutes passed and we were starting to get a little restless, the couple that had been seated next to us were served their mains after 30 mins. I looked at my watch and at the waitress who must have then sensed my annoyance, and she explained “Yours is being plated up next.” By then I was starting to get agitated, especially as no staff had apologised for the long wait for food. From a menu that only consisted of Sunday Dinners and accompaniments… I wasn’t sure what the hold up was.

A further 5-10 minutes later and another server said they were plating ours now…. When the food finally arrived, the portions were decent and we did enjoy the food. Meat, veg and roast potatoes sat in lots of gravy topped with a large Yorkshire Pudding, nothing there to not enjoy. However the wait and the lack of service had dampened our enjoyment by then. The lamb and chicken was cooked beautifully, the beef was a little tough and fatty. We tried some of the side dishes; the cheesy leeks are gorgeous as is the sweet potato mash. I didn’t think much to the broccoli pesto side dish unfortunately.

The Brunswick does cater for children in that they can serve half portions for them. On a Sunday the menu offers small selections of starters, Sunday Roast as mains (you can pre-order beef wellington) and the dessert option is Sticky Toffee Pudding. If you aren’t looking for a roast dinner on a Sunday, this wouldn’t be the place to visit. If you are, please be aware that there may be some wait and I wouldn’t describe this place as the most relaxing of settings for a family meal. The food in the end though was cooked well and was very tasty. We pretty much cleared our plates (starving by then but enjoying the food too).

Please check out my other reviews, and my recipes too! If you have any restaurant/pub/café suggestions for me to try, please leave a comment below. If you are a restaurant/food vendor and would like to collaborate with me in any way, please just email me at jensfoodblog@gmail.com!

Happy munching!

Jen

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