Brasserie Blanc Leeds

We had a mixed experience at Brasserie Blanc. Starters were decent — the escargot and cheese soufflé were both enjoyable and well cooked. We shared the Chateaubriand for mains and the steak itself was cooked exactly to our liking and tasted great. Unfortunately, the extras let it down. The Roquefort and peppercorn sauces were watery and underwhelming for the £1.95 charge, particularly the portion size. The charred cabbage side was soggy and very bland, which looked disappointing as soon as it arrived. Again for the price I hoped for better. Service was okay — polite but fairly unremarkable. We wouldn’t rule out returning, but it’s not somewhere we’d be in a hurry to go back to.

We have dined a few times in Brasserie Blanc in Cheltenham and this was our first visit to Leeds branch. Thought we would see in the new year with family and why not Leeds. Not disappointed with our choice and heartily recommend dining here. It is noisy when very busy, due to low ceiling in an old industrial building.

Had a really lovely meal here on a Friday evening, everything was the best quality and decent size portions, the staff couldn’t have been friendlier or more helpful, we were looked after by a lovely young lady from Newcastle and even the chap who managed the google account was spot on. So why drop a star, in truth being a bit tight, I had the moules and they were prepared excellently but only came with chips definitely needed bread to take advantage of the sauce and the richness of the dish I asked for it twice off different servers and it never came, must have been a bread shortage 😁 the burger looked a little lost on the plate, once again only came with chips, not a complaint just looked like it needed more, the beef bourguignon and the chicken were real winners. Overall pleased with the meal, probably a little under staffed, I’ll let you decide.

We checked the app and there were plenty of tables available, but we did not book on the app as we were only a few minutes' walk away. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were just left standing in an open space while the manager deigned to wander over to us. She asked if we had a booking, then made a show of checking whether she could fit us in. We were offered a number of tables for two people, which she clearly thought were not great, as she said it was not possible to give us a larger table at that time. To be fair, the table we chose suited us fine and provided a great deal of privacy, with a view of the outside and the rest of the restaurant. The fabric of the restaurant is looking tired and worn, and the furniture is not only worn but grubby in appearance. This reminded me of the old adage: 'If they don't keep front of house clean, what is the back of house like?' After we had been seated for a while without any attention, a waiter arrived and managed to rescue the situation. He quickly brought us drinks and menus, and also suggested we order soon so as not to get delayed, as there were some large parties coming in who would soon be ordering. We both ordered a starter and a main, and the food was excellent, but we declined pudding as we would have been eating it for the sake of it – though there were a few items I would have liked to try. The only other disappointment was the wine, which was not chilled, but the waiter was quick to bring ice, which he topped up without being asked. I was paying, but it turns out they don't accept cash – though neither I nor my guest had seen any sign to this effect. This meant my guest had to pay on their card and I gave him the cash. While we enjoyed the food very much, the overall experience could have been so much better, and without much effort by being a bit more attentive. However, it was an enjoyable lunch, and I believe, very good value for money. Photo of worn and grubby seat, all the similar seats I saw were in this condition!

It’s just not as nice as it used to be. Bread used to be warm and butter soft, today it came from the fridge. The mains were OK but skin was left on my plaice and we were all left quite hungry by the time we got home. Everything was drowning in butter with little acidity to cut through. The floating island dessert was odd - a thickened custard, not much vanilla, slightly grainy and small meringue. It all felt like it has shifted from what it used to be to being mass produced. Service was VERY slow and surprisingly unfriendly. Took over 2 hours to get a couple of courses. Other tables had lots of friendly chatter from waiters so maybe we just seemed not worth the effort. When the bill finally came it was completely wrong, took another 15 mins at the end to sort out.