Browns Bar & Brasserie - Leeds Reviews

We have eaten at the St Martins Lane branch several times, so decided to eat at The Light when visiting our son. We were made most welcome by the staff and the food was very well cooked and most tasty. It is recommended.

We visited in May 2009 on a visit to Leeds and took advantage of the £29 'friends of browns' deal and had a 2 course meal and bottle of wine for two people for £29. It was busy during mid-week, which always speaks volumes. Only gripe was the waiter did take a while to take our food orders, but quality of food and ambiance did make up for this. There’s great live piano playing and plenty of seating.

I have been to Browns a few times and each time the food has been perfectly cooked. Definitely recommend the brownie and sticky toffee pudding. I found the atmosphere rather loud especially near the piano when the pianist is playing.

We took our daughter and her friend to Browns recently. They are at Leeds Met training to be nurses and we wanted to treat them to a good meal. We'd had an excellent Sunday lunch there about a month before and we were not disappointed with our evening meal.

The service was excellent and our waiter was exceptional. I had a king prawn starter that was brilliant. Other starters were stuffed peppers and mozarella flat bread. Two hot chicken salads a vegetable lasagne and rack of lamb, which was cooked to perfection and a couple of portions of chips. Three of us had puddings, which were delicious, and we managed two large carafes of wine. All that came in at £105.45, which I think is pretty good considering the quality of the food the surroundings and the service. We would certainly go again when we are next in Leeds.

I am not sure what to make of this restaurant. The last time I was in the same building it was the Leeds Permanent Building society. Browns is in a part of a big complex called the Light.

The menu is quite basic and only offers about half a dozen choices for starters and main courses but there is a daily specials board but seemed a little uninspiring on that day. It may be that I picked the wrong day.

I chose smoked salmon for the starter which was pleasant but a bit greasy, I suspect it was the usual farmed variety with that orange appearance that seems so common these days. I opted for the Aubergine bake for main course which I must say was disappointing. It was smothered in a tomato sauce which over powered everything else.

A friend who was with me had the Venison which was fantastic, superbly cooked and well presented. The vegetables were a little under cooked for my liking but may be to the taste of others.

My other friend who was with me had the steak pie which came in a small pot with a puff pastry top. Not my idea of a pie but was reasonably tasty but rather small.

Service was good but a little erratic but that was due to the number of people there. It does get a little busy on a Saturday but not too crowded. Price is a little high for the type of food served in my opinion but Leeds is becoming a very expensive place due to the massive development boom in the city centre.

To conclude: A pleasant place to eat but needs to look at the menu especially the vegetarian options! Stick to the meat courses as they are the best. It would benefit from a menu re-vamp, possibly a little more choice and variety, also portion size could do with increasing as some of the dishes are rather meagre.