Indian Food Tour of Leeds
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
Leeds, like many northern cities, has benefitted massively from the cultural enrichment immigration brings and you can see the impact it has made on the culinary scene. From generations of food being shared, recipes evolving and nuanced approaches to method and ingredients, there is a thriving South Asian food culture. With so much choice and a long list of must-visit establishments, what better way than to immerse yourself in it than with the Indian Food Tour of Leeds.
Tours start at 2:30pm on Thursdays and Saturdays, meeting at the Black Prince Statue opposite the Queens Hotel in Leeds City Square. From here you will spend the next three hours gently strolling through the streets of town tasting your way through some of the best Indian food the UK has to offer.
Over the course of the afternoon you’ll visit a total of four restaurants, so it’s definitely advised to turn up hungry! Sensible footwear is also recommended as you’ll be walking between stops (roughly 1.4 miles). With the amount of food involved in the experience though you’ll probably be glad of the opportunity to stretch your legs and take a break from feasting. The Indian Food Tour takes place no matter the weather so come prepared for whatever the sky is suggesting on a particular day.
The variety and depth of the Indian food in Leeds is what sets it apart from other cities. Award-winning restaurants such as Tharavadu with its idiomatic Keralan cuisine act as neighbours to the craft beer and modern small dishes of Bundobust. Generations old food institutions like Mumtaz co-exist with the relatively young but revolutionary Manjits Kitchen. This culture of nuance, emphasis on a freshness of ideas as well as ingredients and the public’s appetite for excellent and interesting cuisine are what fuels a renaissance of flavour in the city.
