No matter how much you praise Leeds, the West Yorkshire city still manages to remain underrated. With loads of great things to do, delicious things to eat, and cracking nightlife, it’s one of the UK’s great cultural hubs.
And we’re big fans of Leeds here at Time Out. We’ve got guides to the city’s best things to do, bars, art galleries, hotels and so much more. Excitingly, we’ve just fully revamped one of our most essential Leeds guides for 2025: its tastiest restaurants.
So where should you dine right now in the UK’s fourth (or fifth, depending on who you ask) biggest city? Our local food expert Vicky Chandler says you should drop everything and head to Bavette.
This French bistro is the definition of small but mighty. It’s not only us who rate it highly: it was also awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin this year, recognising its excellent cooking at a reasonable price. But what do we love so much about it?
Vicky describes Bavette as having ‘classic French dishes cooked to perfection’, and specifically mentions that you must try the wine ‘exclusively blended for the bistro from Cousin’s [co-owner Clément Cousin] family vineyard in the Loire Vally’.
Narrowly missing out on first place was Empire Cafe, ‘a historic café turned uber-cool restaurant’ where ‘the vibes and the cocktails stand up to the kitchen creations’. In third place was Ox Club, which does wonders with traditional wood-fired cooking.
Another spot on our list comes highly recommended from the experts at Michelin. Prashad, which offers ‘hearty, traditional southern Indian dishes in a family-run spot’, placed 12th.
You can read the full list of Time Out’s top restaurants in Leeds here.
Eating in the UK
Want something else to stick your teeth into? We’ve uncovered some secret foodie locations that you might not have thought of, and we have lists of the best restaurants in the country, as well as our picks for the most romantic places to eat in Britain.
If you’re an avid Time Out reader (first of all, thanks!), you might have noticed that recently some of our UK food guides have had a massive overhaul. Check out revamps of our top restaurants in Glasgow, Brighton, and Manchester.
Here are all the UK restaurants that won new Michelin stars in the 2025 Michelin Guide.
Plus: The UK’s top 50 cocktail bars have been crowned for 2025.
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