Leeds Archives • Wandering Curiosities

March 19, 2018

Bundobust and A Snackers Dream

My love for food is never ending. I mean I’m a constant snacker, from the moment I wake until I go to bed I could eat. My name is Michelle and I am a snacker. (I feel like there are a lot of admissions on this blog). I was invited to try the new menu items at Bundobust in Leeds and I suggest you do too. Leeds is absolutely killing it at the moment with menu revamps of some of our favourite places to eat.

Firstly, Bundobust is a little hideaway on Mill Hill, you know next to THAT kebab shop. I promise you the that Bundobust is the better option not only for you late evening after drink snacks but also for an after work pint and food. Its all Veggie too. Please don’t turn your nose up at this fact because it’s actually really good. I was going to write ok, but that doesn’t really do the majority of the items justice.

What we ate:

Onion and Kale Bhajis £4
Okra Fries £3.75
Raghda Pethis £5
Nav Bhaji £6.50
Puri Bread £2
Basmati Rice £1.50

Sounds dreamy right? So the stand out items were definitely the Okra Fries and Raghda Pethis. I could do with a tub of okra fries and a beer any night of the week. Now the actual dream item for this Yorkshire Lass Raghda Pethis. Simply put a Yorkshire/Indian fusion of bloody mushy peas. Heaven in a tub. Honestly I could of eaten 2 or 3 of theses.

What I wouldn’t order again was the Nav Bhaji, a cauliflower based street food dish. It was just a bit meh. Didn’t really do it for me. The brioche bun it came with though. Now that was perfect for dipping into the Raghda Pethis.

Location

BUNDOBUST
6 Mill Hill
Leeds
LS1 5DQ

February 20, 2018

Hyde Park Book Club Brunch O’clock

If you’re from Leeds you probably know of the Hyde Park Book Club even if you don’t actually know it. That fancy dress shop in an old petrol station? Right? Told ya you knew where it was. Well for the last 2 years it’s been a cafe come events space with a corner of vintage and fancy dress. And I was lucky enough to be invited to try their brunch menu.

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Hyde Park Book Club is a little rough around the edges, but I kinda liked that. There is a cozy feeling, one that isn’t pretentious but welcoming. I have a feeling it’ll be that place where locals want to keep it a secret but will recommend it too anyone that listens. As that secret cafe that you must visit.

The whole menu is vegetarian, something that the owners decided on early on. They stuck to their morals been veggies themselves and devised a menu which includes sausages from the vegetarian butcher!

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Breakfast bagel vegetarian sausages

Hyde Park Book Club Leedsbig breakfast with ketchup and brown sauce

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds chocolate coconut waffles

Don’t they look good? I had the breakfast bagel which was egg, veggie sausage, avocado and spinach. Other offerings included rather fancy looking waffles topped with fruit and an almost rather healthy full breakfast.

So if you want to just pop for a coffee, hearty breakfast or check out some of the events that they this is the place to be.

Hyde Park Book Club Leeds Handpainted sign

Hyde Park Book Club Location

HYDE PARK BOOK CLUB,
27-29 HEADINGLEY LANE,
LEEDS,
LS6 1BL

December 1, 2017

Christmas Crafting With Viking

I can officially get my Christmas on. It’s the 1st December and let’s get the mulled wine out and say cheers. And this is exactly what I did at the Viking Arty Party Christmas event.

Now my love for Christmas begins on the 25th November and not normally a moment before that. But when I was invited Arty Party, a Christmas craft afternoon held on an unseasonably warm October Day. I made an exception. I put on my Star Wars Christmas T-shirt and got into the Christmas spirit.

Tucked away in Lambert’s Yard was a Christmas wonderland, festive music, mulled wine and of course a tree stacked high with presents. I was ready to get my craft on.

Christmas Craft Afternoon with Viking – Block Printing

First up was block printing with Tea and Crafting, the last time I did block printing was maybe in art college 10 years ago. This time I went for a simple festive design. A Christmas tree design made from a triangle printed twice, something that could be easily replicated and made into a cute pattern. Who knew playing with paint could be so much fun? I’ll be storing all my Christmas cards in this file.

Christmas Craft Afternoon with Viking – Advent Calendar

Our next craft session was making an advent calendar; out of the most gorgeous glittery paper that a girl has ever seen. I mean it was bloody lovely. You know that glittery paper that your teacher at school wouldn’t let you have? Yeah that one. The good paper. The plan was to make 24 crackers and stuff them with little surprises to make a super cute advent calendar. I have slightly adapted this and made just enough for everyone for Christmas day, including crap cracker jokes.

Christmas Craft Afternoon with Viking – Calligraphy

Now this is the only picture I took, why because calligraphy is chuffing difficult. It took all my concentration to be able to write my own name never mind think about taking photos. Joyce from Artsynibs however did a wonderful job of teaching us, she made it look so easy and fluid. This is the craft that I have since tried again at home. I’m still no master but I am getting better.

Now then, a big thank you goes to Viking for inviting me to the #vikingartyparty. I had such a good afternoon getting my Christmas craft on.

Is there any Christmas crafts that you want to try this festive season?

October 22, 2017

A Night At The Opera And Why I Won’t Be Going Again

Hi, I’m Michelle and I’m 27 and I didn’t enjoy the Opera.

I promise I am not an uncultured swine. But until this week I had never been to the Opera. And in all honesty I don’t think I’ll go again.

I went to see Pagliacci. Part of Opera North ‘The Little Greats’ series. Opera North calls these short operas with huge emotions, and there are 6 mini operas.

Ok, so I took my Mum as she had also never been to the opera and well Kevin didn’t want to go.

As the Grand Theatre has a bar, we went for a quick drink first and people watched as bar started to fill up. There was a very varied age group there, and no one thankfully in tuxedos and ball gowns (because you know that’s what the opera is in my head).

We made our way to our seats and got settled, we felt a buzz in the air and was initially excited as the orchestra started to play.

One of the actors (are they actors? Or do you call them singers? Performers maybe? I’m not sure) introduced Pagliacci in English and for a moment I forgot that the rest of the show would not be in English.

Honestly, it went a little bit down hill around 15 minutes in when I lent over to ask Mum if she knew what was going on. Spoiler alert … She didn’t. When I looked round, everyone looked like they knew what was going on, maybe they didn’t and they were blagging it?

Since Pagliacci was performed in Italian with English subtitles, for goodness sake don’t forget your glasses or you’ll be screwed. To the sides of the stage there were large tv screens that had the lyrics on. This was obviously needed, so you had a better idea of the story unfolding.

I’ve never been very good with subtitled films. (oh crap maybe I am an actual uncultured swine?) But I spend too much time reading the words and trying to match them to the foreign word, I end up missing half of what’s going on.

This is kind of what happened throughout Paglicca. I wanted to know what was happening, so spent my time reading the lyrics on screen and that meant I was missing what was on stage.

Now it wasn’t the Opera its self that I didn’t like, the acting and singing were amazing. It was short, topping out at just over an hour and definitely full of emotion, I was not bored. I was just confused.

The only way I can describe it is, when you go and see a musical and there is that 5 minuets that you lose the plot and you’ve no idea what’s going on. But then in another few minutes it all comes back and you get it again? Well that didn’t happen. For 60 out of the 75 minutes I didn’t know what was happening really. It just came together in the last few moments and I more or less got it.

It comes down to, would I go again? Probably not. I’m a little ashamed to say that we didn’t stay for the 2nd performance of the evening. We called it a night and went home and cut our losses.

Dear Opera, you were an experience but sadly not one I think I’ll be repeating again anytime soon.

August 8, 2017

XO Supper Club Leeds – A Pop Restaurant With a Difference

I never win anything. Now this is a little bit of a lie because I once won a fancy dress competition dressed as a giant tub of pop corn when I was 6. So, it would seem all my winnings are food related because I won tickets to the latest XO Supper Club pop up at Mr Nobody’s in Leeds.

“xo – a modern Asian supperclub doing sick food for the people of Leeds”

Mr Nobody’s was where XO Supper Club decided to hold this pop up restaurant. And I couldn’t think of a better place. We were treated to a cocktail menu that hinted to the menu that was to come. Our first drink of the evening was the XO Spritz, it was light and refreshing with the perfect hint of fizz.

Before we get to the food can we talk about the table settings?! Little lego men and origami swans were sat on the table waiting for us. The cellar restaurant of Mr Nobody’s allowed for an atmosphere that I don’t think I’ve experience in a restaurant. There was a buzz about the air.

xo supper club a cheese burger spring roll

Cheese burger spring rolls are what everyone was talking about at the end of the evening and rightly so. They were bloody fantastic, I am a massive cheese burger fan so this is what I was most excited about. I was not disappointed. I don’t know how they did it but damn it tasted like a Big Mac. Yummmm!

Next was a rather fancy cheese toasty. It was a little posher then I’ve ever made with perfectly spiced Thai chicken, with mozzarella and kaffir lime. These were certainly a modern asian spin on classics and they did not disappoint.

The next 2 course struck fear into Kevin’s heart. Octopus and S**T Ramen. He was once a very fussy eater but over the last 8 years I have slowly made him into the man he is today. He will try almost anything now including octopus and actually enjoy it.

The Octopus was lovely and not as fishy as I was expecting, tasty and no scary suckers to stick to your teeth. (I actually have no idea why this is a fear of mine). The S**T Ramen wasn’t shit at all. It was delicious. Not too spicy and no over powering coriander taste like I normally find with some ramens it was seasoned perfectly.

xo supper club bo-ssam pork wraps
Bo-ssam, slow cooked belly pork. Belly pork is one of my favourite cuts of meats and this did not disappoint. I loved the tiny tea cups filled with toppings. The crispy lettuce were the perfect compliment and making little wraps was a great way to end the savoury section of our meal.

xo supper club hangover cone ice cream with bacon and crisps
The infamous hangover cone. This is not something you want to avoid like a dreaded week day hangover. You welcome it with open arms. An excellent balance of salty and sweetness, is something that you wouldn’t initially think of pairing but works so well.

If you keep an eye on XO Supper Clubs Instagram and Twitter you may find them doing a takeover of venues around Leeds so you can try the Hangover Cone and Cheese Burger Spring Roll for your self!

I had a great evening and Kevin did too. Winning a competition to eat such amazing food was definitely a highlight of my month!

July 10, 2017

Champagne School | Epernay Leeds

Remember when I went to Coffee School? Champagne school is also an actual thing!

Hello there lovely come and fill my glass up! Epernay Champagne Bar in Leeds are now offering you the chance to learn a thing or two about our favourite French tipple.

It is no secret that I am a fan of something cold and bubbly. So when given the opportunity to try champagne school*; how could I say no?

Champagne to me is always a luxurious treat; drank in celebration. Think birthdays, passing exams, New Years Eve that kind of thing. This means it’s not something that I drink frequently. Making Champagne School feel very exclusive.

Champagne School teaches you everything you need to know about this bubbly drink. The difference between Champagne and Prosecco, what grape varieties are used to make Champagne, what makes a vintage Champagne and so much more information that you can show off to your friends and colleagues with. I won’t be giving you any of the answers though because, well that is cheating after all!

So now armed with my new knowledge when I buy my next bottle of Champagne it will be a much more informed choice.

You can book tickets to Champagne School here

Location:
Épernay Champagne Bar,
Great George St,
Leeds LS1 3DW

For those that don’t know Epernay’s is in the Electric Press a Grade II listed building. They have an indoor court yard that is beautiful to sit in summer or winter watching the world pass by. One of the most impressive features though is the walk-in Champagne cellar that is chilled to the optimum temperature. I now want one of these at home and of course a bar tender to pour me a glass or 3. Any volunteers?

Would you like to go to Champagne School? If so you can find tickets here.

*I was lucky enough to be invited to try Champagne School for free but all opinions are my own, honest and belong to me with a glass of something chilled and bubbly in my hand.

July 7, 2017

Dessert Heaven at Kaspa’s Leeds

Dessert for dinner? Yes please! If like me you can’t say no to dessert for a dinner then Kaspa’s in Leeds hits the sweet spot. Terrible puns are included free of charge.

Ok now I have your attention with a giant banana split let me tell you about this dessert house. I got a sneak peek at what they had to offer on launch night and let me tell you that you’ll be desperate to visit by the time I’m done.

Not only do they do amazing desserts, think waffles; pancakes; exclusive gelato flavours; cookie dough and more. Basically all the best stuff. Kaspa’s is right in the centre of Leeds sat in The Core shopping centre. The Core is only 10 minutes walk from the train station, or you can park in the connected car park.

Are you hungry yet? The menu is huge as are the portions, we were treated to a selection of desserts. Including that amazing banana split, a strawberry indulgence waffle and a white chocolate crepe. I want to eat that waffle right now and its 10am. Actually I can’t stop thinking about it. When I can go back? I am a woman possessed by thoughts of strawberry waffles.

Kaspa’s interior is also a little dreamy. They have glittery walls and neon lights (be still my beating heart)! A 1960s diner style set up with bold colours and booths, makes for some awesome Instagram friendly shots. Kaspa’s also run a selfie of the week competition where you can win a free dessert! I shall repeat a FREE DESSERT!

Would I go back?

I think if you’ve got this far into this post and haven’t realised that I’d recommend that everyone stop by here, I have done something wrong. Weekend calories don’t count right?

Location

Kaspas Desserts
The Core Shopping Centre
Leeds City Centre
LS1 6JB

You can follow Kaspa’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest offers.

May 12, 2017

Getting My First Ever Energy Blow Dry at HOB Salons | Leeds

Sometimes a girl just needs a blow dry. There isn’t much more too it then that. A quick pamper session and visit to a fancy salon in-between hair cuts is what the doctor ordered. I was lucky enough to be invited to HOB Salons in Leeds to try out their new Energy Blow Dry. Even better I could bring a friend, so of course we made it into a real ladies who get pampered session.

Ok I’m starting with the end result to entice you in. Hello fancy products, a glass of something fizzy and two bouncy blow drys. Coming straight from work I can promise you our hair did not look this good when we arrived an hour earlier.

It is a long time since we’ve both been to a salon, maybe 5 years. See one of our best friends is a hair dresser and we have our hair done at home. So this experience was a real mid week treat. I see going to the salon a real luxury and I’m not going to lie; I was excited to have my head massaged while having my hair washed.

The Energy Blow Dry is a little different from your bog standard normal blow dry. It includes a personalised consultation to find out which products will suit your hair the best.

You go through a quick questionnaire about what you like about your hair and what you don’t. It also includes questions to do with hair length and if it is damaged etc. From this there is some wizardy and your unique Energycode is identified. From your Energycode you get a personalised selection of products that are used throughout your blow dry. This means that your new shiny Energy blow dry should last longer then a few hours and feel rather fabulous.

Ok so did I enjoy the blow dry experience? Yes I did. My hair is always a challenge, it is very fine but there is a lot of it. It is also oily and as I have a full fringe it can look greasy in a matter of hours. Kathryn’s hair on the other hand is thick, has a bit of a curl and there is lots of it. Two totally different hair types and one blow dry doesn’t normally mix. However as the Energy Blow Dry is personalised we both ended up with the same treatment but totally different results.

I got bouncy waves that I can report lasted pretty well. I had to give the ones at the back a quick tweak with my tongs the next morning as they had dropped a little. But hello super fine hair, it was always going to happen. Kathryn reported back that her straight bouncy blow dry lasted perfectly and still felt really soft the next day.

Honestly I never thought I’d be a blow dry kinda gal. Normally I end up just quickly straightening my hair before going on a night out. But if I was going somewhere special I think that i’ll be taking a trip back to HOB Salons for a little extra pampering.

Location and Treatment

HOB Salons
12 Duncan Street,
Leeds,
West Yorkshire
LS1 6DL

Energy Blow Dry £25 with selected stylists

There is another little secret that I will let you into – HOB Salons in Leeds offers NHS employees a 20% discount! Now if that doesn’t tempt you into a post work Energy blow dry I don’t know what will.

*I was lucky enough to get to tryout the Energy Blow Dry for free but all opinions are my own, honest and belong to my sassy blow dry

April 7, 2017

Bulgogi Grill Korean BBQ – Leeds

Bulgogi Grill is a Korean Table BBQ place in Leeds and I think it may have changed my life a little bit. It’s almost hidden next to Smoke in the Merrion Centre. Formally known as ‘The Arena Quarter’.

This was my first experience of Korean BBQ and I am not sure what I was expecting but I’ll be going back. I’m gonna say that it is not vegan friendly but there is plenty of fish options for vegetarians.

You’re seated at a table with a hot plate in the middle and a huge over head extractor fan. This is because you cook the meat right in front at you at your own table. We went at lunch on a Saturday and the menu is limited but it was only £11.95 each. What a bloody bargain. The portions are huge and really we could have shared but we decided to indulge. I didn’t finish all my beef though.

We were given some plastic tongs as our chopstick skills weren’t quiet up to scratch, the waitress even gave us a quick tutorial haha! You basically cook your meat then wrap it in a lettuce leaf with rice and some veg. Voila.

Would I go again?

Yes but I think I’d stick to a lunch time for the time being. For less than £15 I had an amazing lunch and a glass of pop. (Lunch runs from 12 to 2.30 Tuesday to Sunday). The evening menu is £24.95 pp I’ve yet to try it, maybe one day I will do but I’m not sure I could even eat that much.

Have you tried Korean BBQ?

March 19, 2017

Barista School at 200 Degrees – Leeds

I attended Barista School at 200 Degrees Coffee in Leeds and learnt a whole lot about coffee as well a few tricks to making the perfect latte. Leeds is really stepping up its game in the more unusual activities that you can find hidden in even the most unexpected places; like coffee shops.

I’m going to put this out there now, I am a decaf kinda girl. Caffeine under no stretch of the imagination agrees with me. Luckily 200 Degrees caters for the decaf brigade if you book a class in advance at Barista School and let them know.

The Barista School starts with our skilled barista how many times can I fit barista into a sentence? teaching you about the wonders of the coffee bean. Not to give too much away but I left feeling much more informed about my coffee choice. The class normally last 3 hours but we did the slightly shorter version lasting around 2 hours.

Part of Barista School is getting all clued up on the history of coffee. The regions that coffee is grown, how it is harvested and then turned into the coffee we know today. The different flavours, there are over 1200 flavours of coffee compared to the 800 in wine, so you really can become a coffee connoisseur. Once we learnt the theoretical side of coffee we got to test out the fancy espresso machines and try our hand at latte art.

I paired up with Gina from CultureBean and we got to work attempting to make a fancy coffee or 5. It is much more difficult than it looks. Getting a good creme, texturing the milk and having a good pouring technique, is all important. It took a fair few attempts and we made a mess more than once.

If you’re a coffee fan, this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon. I was with a group of local bloggers and we all had a great time not only drinking coffee but also learning about our friendly morning pick me up.