It shouldn’t work, but it really does: an oyster bar and restaurant in Kirkgate Market that is cool – but not too cool
Leeds is currently hiding in plain sight as Britain’s best city. They won’t thank me for telling you that, though. People enjoying a low-key, Saturday mooch in the gloriously preserved, tastefully re-loved Leeds Kirkgate Market, and stopping for a quick beer and plate of Lindisfarne oysters at The Owl, do not wish for a million cool-hunters from down south. Those ambling among the food stalls, eating a thali tray from Manjit’s Kitchen or an Istanbul-style fish butty from Mr Mackerel don’t need an influx of TikTok stars making lip-sync videos by the yorkshire pudding wrap stall.
That’s a real thing, by the way: slow-roast beef, fried onion and gravy wrapped in a large, flat, carb-heaven pudding. My knee-jerk reaction to news that Leeds folk were wrapping their breakfast bacon and eggs and fried tomato in a Sunday lunch accoutrement was that this lawless mayhem must be quashed. But, having seen the joy it brings, my policy has taken a U-turn.
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