I’d heard lots of people raving about the Leeds based restaurant Home, situated where the old Darbar Indian restaurant once was in Kirkgate. I made a reservation for the Tasting Menu prior to Covid-19. Two cancellations because of the pandemic later, I finally managed to get to experience Home with my wife on a warm summer Thursday night.
A bit of background first, Home first opened in 2017 and is run by former Master Chef semi- finalist Liz Cottam and Mark Owens, former Head Chef at The Box Tree in Ilkley. Not a bad line up to run a restaurant.
The almost miss-able entrance leads you up a flight of dark stairs subtly lit into the upstairs bar, from here we were taken into a large brightly lit dining room with skylights, wicker light shades and dark blue walls.
The staff who looked after us and showed us to our table were superb, friendly, professional and knowledgeable. They explained that the 10 course tasting menu was The Season – and it was all about taking local seasonal produce then re-imagining British favourites into an innovative combination of dishes with a Yorkshire twist.
The experience from here on in was excellent, the dishes coming out at regular intervals with the waiters explaining the thinking and contents of each dish.
As it was a school night, we decided against the wine pairing menu with each course, but our host suggested a pleasant white which would go with the first half of the menu, before reverting to a red for the second half and cheese courses and a fizzy dessert wine with the puds.
The meal started with a pebble! Served on a plate of black stones, the edible pebble was unexpected and I won’t spoil it for you by telling you what’s in it!
From here the food came with the right amount of theatre and looked fantastic – an instagrammers dream. I couldn’t resist taking some pics and I’ll try and give a bit of information on what each course was.
Salad – a tasty mouthful of courgette with plum powder.
Lamb – one of my favourites of the night. Tender lamb with wild garlic, served with a delicious lamb tear and share warm bread.
Ragstone – a slice of goat’s cheese with caramalised onion. This was a rich dish with strong flavours.
Sea – another stunning dish, a langoustine dumpling. Also a taster of crab.
Scallop – a scollap tartar. A small mouthful – stunning not just to look at but to taste too.
Bass – another dish with wow factor. Sea bass with a crispy skin and an oyster tempura.
Olive – my wife was starting to get full by now and said I hope it’s just an olive. As it turned out it was a light small olive consomme.
BBQ – possibly my least favourite dish, but still good although a little chewy. This was an aged beef with garlic. Full of flavour but a little too tough for my liking.
Cheese course – we had ordered this at the time of booking as an extra. It was one of my favourite cheeses – Shepherd’s Purse Harrogate Blue with walnuts. Simple but tasty.
Malham – this dessert was apparently inspired by the clints and grykes of Malham Cove’s limestone pavement.
Extra dessert – really enjoyed this, fresh tasting Meadow sweet parfait
Cloud – the meal finished with a really light gin sour cloud marshmallow. A lovely cleanser.
I really enjoyed my first visit to Home and I am sure I will return. It wasn’t a cheap dining experience and with wine the meal was over £100 each. The food on the whole was top notch and whilst I preferred some dishes over others, the quality was consistent.
I love seeing the creativity, innovation and presentation of how the chefs have crafted the dishes, the thought that has gone into complimentary flavours, the nods to the Yorkshire landscape and culture as well as the local produce and its provenance.
A great dining experience.