Reviews in Leeds City Centre

My wife HATES driving in Leeds. You may ask “What’s that got to do with a restaurant review?” Read on! On Monday June 7th we booked an ‘early doors’ meal at the Sheesh Mahal in Kirkstall. We did this because the Leeds Coeliac Group had advised us they were planning a social do there, and as Anne is a coeliac, and both Anne and I like curries, we decided to ‘test drive’ the place first. As we approached nearer and nearer to Leeds, Anne (she’s the driver; I’m partially sighted) got more and more agitated. “I HATE Leeds!” became a frequent chant, not helped by slow moving traffic caused by a broken-down lorry at a roundabout on the ring road. As a grumpy coeliac and a grumpy partially sighted diabetic (me) finally arrived at the Sheesh Mahal you could say that the atmosphere was a bit strained, to say the least. Hardly the best start to the evening! And hardly the sort of customers the owners would have cheered to see. Nevertheless we were greeted royally, like old friends. The regulation popadums were provided, and the drinks order taken (a Cobra, and a white wine, even though wine isn’t on the drinks list). At this point, and with a heavy heart because I’ve seen this situation go badly wrong before, I mentioned to the very courteous waiter that my wife is a coeliac, and also has a violent life-threatening reaction to mushrooms. “OK,” he said, “no problem”. “No,” I said, “let me explain, she can’t have anything with wheat flour in the sauces. She can only have the sauces if they’re wheat free – if you use gram flour you’re OK, but not wheat flour”. “OK,” repeated the waiter “just wait a moment please”. Waiting for the inevitable “we can’t cope” reply, we were astounded when The Boss (as we later found him to be) arrived and stated that with the exception of obvious breads, like chapattis, puri and nan bread, the rest of the menu was almost certainly GF (gluten free), but if we’d like to make a choice he’d personally check the ingredients. We were amazed, thankful, and immediately hungry! Now I said earlier that Anne and I like curries: I normally favour the hot ones, but Anne likes the mild and delicately flavoured ones. Enter hurdle number two. Most of the dishes of the menu are described as “medium”, which in the past have proved problematical for Anne. When the waiter arrived, we asked if it was possible to have a mild version of dishes described as ‘medium’. “No problem!” I began to wonder if this was a stock reply, but he went on “we cook everything to order, so you can have what you like in any strength you like”. For starters, Anne ordered a Fish Pakora, and I ordered a Mixed Kebab (seekh and shami). This was to be followed by a Gobi Bhindi (cauliflower with okra) with pillau rice for Anne, and a Chicken Tikka Masala with Aloo nan and Bombay potatoes for me. Perhaps not very adventurous, but I’ve eaten them so many times before I tend to use them as a yardstick by which to measure the flavours of the restaurant. During the short wait, The Boss appeared and asked how sensitive Anne was to wheat flour, as he couldn’t be absolutely certain that the oil in which the pakora was fried had not previously been used with wheat. Now that’s what I call attention to detail! We decided to risk it. We can only describe the flavours and the quality of the cooking as awesome! I have NEVER tasted anything like them (and I’m a Bradfordian by birth, so I’ve had more than my fair share of curries!). Anne assured me that her meal was sumptuous, which was attested to by the speed with which it started to disappear – however, the portions are sizeable, so we both had to slow down a bit towards the end. During the meal we were tenderly cared for by the waiters – unobtrusive, but always ready to help, to check that the food was just right for us, or to respond to a request for more drinks. We couldn’t manage a sweet, just a lot of contented groaning over a coffee (excellent, not like the acidic brown dishwater often served nowadays). We chatted to The Boss afterwards, who even helped Anne to work out which was the best way to head back out of Leeds towards Horsforth. After we paid the modest and reasonable bill, and as we chugged contentedly away from the Sheesh Mahal, to my complete amazement Anne offered the highest of compliments I’ve ever heard – “Maybe Leeds isn’t so bad after all – we could always come back again. Soon!” - and we will!

fantastic food great service warm and friendly service the best Indian food in Leeds by far the owner and staff are very friendly you feel like part of the family for great food and a warm welcome go to the sheesh mahal

A welcoming and friendly restaurant. The meals are always of the highest standard. Gradually eating my way through the menu and have yet to be disappointed. I always recommend 'The Sheesh' whenever anybody asks for a decent Indian restaurant.

"AND THE AWARD GOES TO........." AZRAM AND HIS AMAZING STAFF AT THE SHEESH MAHAL. SPLENDID, JUST SPLENDID. VERY GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY, HUGE PORTIONS AND THE FOOD IS JUST FABULOUS. NOTHING IS TOO MUCH TROUBLE AND IF YOU FANCY YOUR CURRY A BIT HOTTER OR MILDER....JUST ASK. STAR SERVICE HERE!!!!! DEE XX

I have had a fantastic meal, as always, at Sheesh Mahal this evening. Their food is amazing, and a huge amount of choice for vegetarians. If you can't see what you want on the menu, ask and they'll try and cook it up for you! We go at least 2 or 3 times a month and have never yet been disappointed. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. The prices are very reasonable. Best curry house in Yorkshire (or maybe even the world...)

10/10 Been going here for years and have never been disappointed. Excellent food, Excellent staff, Excellent atmosphere, Excellent value for money. I can honestly say the best Indian in Leeds. My partner and I enjoy eating out and can honestly say this restaurant will always be our favourite.

I have eaten at the Sheesh Mahal for over 20 years and the standard has never varied "quality and consistency" every time you eat there. You are welcomed by friendly staff and most times Azram will greet you himself as if you are one of the family. Great food great people. You will not be disappointed even if you may have to wait a little for a table.

Great food, great service, great decor but great shame that you have to pay to park anywhere near. Also for a restaurant near a busy city centre to be able to compete it shouldn't handicap itself by denying its customers the opportunity to drink alcohol with their meal. No Drinks Licence & your not allowed to take your own drinks in. Sorry but there are too many good Indian Restaurants near by that don't have the drinks ban.

Went as part of a party of 24 for their set menu. Very impressed by the service (fast and solicitous), portion sizes (plenty of everything for everyone) and the quality of the food. Would have liked a few different options, though.

Fantastic food and service, very reasonably priced, best curry house in Leeds.

This is a fab little place, great value food - the box meals are amazing, you get your own TV dinner style box with little compartments of dipping sauce, rice, tempura (delicious), salad and whatever your main course is for about £12. I'm vegetarian and I love it as they have 'fake chicken' which appears to be a type of quite tough tofu, I'm making it sound weird but it's really yummy, loads of just vegetable type dishes as well if you don't like the fake meat substitutes. The only bug bear is that you can't book a table so if you are going on a weekend make sure you arrive with about 1 hours notice of when you want to eat as you will have to wait. The service can also be a little bit slow so be prepared to wait when they are busy

The Cross Keys is a taste of the countryside brought to the city centre. Cosy nooks, original beams and exposed brickwork all add to the character of this well cared for pub. Their drinks selection is varied and interesting, Yorkshire ales and bottled beers from around the world. But their real secret weapon is their wonderful food. Fresh British ingredients, unusual dishes and excellent cooking make dining at The Cross Keys a really enjoyable experience. I couldn't be more impressed and will be making the short journey out of town a regular part of my week. Love it!

fab night out food and atmosphere was great, would definitely recommend yum yum :)

Brilliant place, wonderful food, great service and lovely views for somewhere so near the city centre

La Besi provides a great atmosphere for relaxing during lunch or for entertaining friends over dinner. The home-cooked food is especially pleasing, bearing in mind the relative low cost and the friendly service by which it is brought to the table-side. Not only that, but La Besi serves the best coffee in Leeds city centre!

Akmal's is always my first choice for curry. The service is great and the food is always delicious. If you have never been, you must go, it is one of the best Indian restaurants in Leeds in my opinion.

What a disappointment! I used to eat there few years ago when the service and the atmosphere were excellent. Unfortunately something must have changed as yesterday I had a very disappointing experience when I went there to eat with a good friend with the intention of treating ourselves. The food was average: I ordered a Vegetable Tempura that was nice but slightly cold. My main course was a Green Thai Curry with coconut rice. The curry was blunt and lacked of any flavor while the rice had certainly not been in contact with any coconut! The service was mediocre too. On top of this, when it was time to pay, the POS was not working properly and it nearly took us 20 minutes to pay. No apologies were given and we had to insist to have the copies of the failed transactions. The bill reached a good £80 for 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 cocktails (and no wine!!!). We would have not minded it should have we been satisfied. I think I will give it a miss for another couple of years and see if things might improve!

The following is the actual letter I wrote to Mumtaz following a terrible night there. If you take nothing away more than remembering to ask for your parking ticket to be stamped, then there was a point to this review. The outcome of the complaint after much communication was a rather insulting "£20 voucher off" our next meal there, received over a month later. We duly returned the voucher... Haven spoken to the Manager, Rap, and the floor manager, I am, as suggested, writing to let you know about the series of events that upset our Valentines diner at your establishment last night. From start to finish, nothing seemed to go right, and by that I mean from booking on the phone to leaving the car park. I have no idea where you are trying to position the restaurant, but I was looking for a high class experience, and it was simply dreadful, worse than the service I would have expected in a greasy spoon cafe! Clearly it was valentine’s day and I had already booked to see the Opera at The Grand in Leeds. After seeing a news story about how Clarence Place was suffering, I decided to look up the restaurants as I am from London and do not know Leeds. The promise of a new restaurant that had spent millions on the decor seemed a great choice, however, this list of issues below perhaps shows why the area is in dire straits: On booking, I was told there was ONLY the choice of the set menu that night, yet I saw other people ordering alternative food On arrival, the staff that were milling around the entrance seemed uninterested that we had pre-booked, and for ease to us pre-paid After a short spell huddled on over-crowded sofas, We were shown to a table and left there for 15 minutes, then, a different waitress took pity on us and asked if we were being looked after, to which we replied no, and she went and at least got us at the valentines menu to look at. We were giving some fizzy grape juice, with no mention of any other drinks available, yet I saw other people with non alcoholic cocktails, we were not provided with any sort of drinks menu The food came, which was fine, not great, but fine. The dessert came, which was not, two specific complaints, the milk pudding was served with a tiny tea spoon, we had to ask twice for an “adult size” spoon, the ice cream was more like a milk shake it was so melted and the drips down the side and base made it look dirty. Is it too much to have them wiped before they are served? We did not eat the puddings. The table was cleared and we were left sitting there. We waited and tried to decide what to do, I had after all paid before we arrived. We sat with our coats on but no sign of our waiter. A different waitress came up and asked us what are we waiting for? I replied I don’t know, our table is clear can I have a bill or receipt or something? She said we should take the bill folder to the front desk, our waiter never mentioned this. Despite me telling several people we had paid, I was asked again for £49.95 I complained at the time, and the floor Manageress who asked us to take a seat. While we waited, an unannounced coffee we didn’t want arrived (which we didn’t drink), followed by the floor manager with a box of Indian sweets (which are not to our taste) by way of apology. I thought this was a joke, but as the evening was ruined enough could not muster the energy to make any more of a fuss, that is until I got to the car park... To top it all, we went to the car park to pay for parking (£4.50). I fellow guest who had seen us in the restaurant came up to me and said, oh, in future Mumtaz will validate your parking ticket for free! No mention at any time of this when in the restaurant, how would we know to ask? So not only did we have a truly terrible time, we paid 10% more than everyone else for the privilege! Finally, this meal was advertised as a Valentines Dinner. I am not sure what this was supposed to mean. There was absolutely no effort to make the place feel in any way valentines, one tiny red candle does not make a valentines dinner, no flowers, no mood lighting, just a regular over priced and under-performing night at Mumtaz. Really really bad.