Brasserie Forty 4

Brasserie Forty 4 was in the vanguard of new-wave brasseries to hit Leeds & remains one of the best, happily situated on the banks of the river Aire in a former grain warehouse. The look is bright, light & modern in both the dining & bar areas. One menu fits all (with a 25% discount at lunch), & the kitchen might set the ball rolling with chicken liver parfait or goats’ cheese & baby beetroot salad with minted pea shoots, before delivering mains of confit duck leg with mash & swede, slow-braised pork belly with port jus or a warming dish of ox-cheek faggots wrapped in savoy cabbage with winter vegetable stew; there’s a board of daily fish specials, too. To finish, try rum baba with white rum, lemon & vanilla syrup or Brasserie Forty 4’s ‘famous’ chocolate fondue served with marshmallows.