Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine when I was a toddler and my mum used to lift me up to post letters to her friends in the large brass mailbox at the city’s main post office that one day, decades later, I would be dining inside that very building in one of the smartest restaurants in town.

It’s easy to understand why, over the years, The Restaurant Bar and Grill in City Square has become a firm favourite with lovers of good food, wine and relaxed and sophisticated dining.

Situated in the old G.P.O., as my gran used to call it, the restaurant is always busy and has become a fashionable place to be seen in.

Always an impressive building, the restaurant has recently undergone a £2 million renovation which has also extended to its popular al-fresco dining area.

The restaurant itself is more than spacious, and the wonderful gold-embellished ceiling and pillars of the old G.P.O., Gran, forgive me for using your words again, are still as magnificent as ever.

It’s a light and airy place with lots of glass, a marble floor, art deco light fittings and olive leather banquette seating with a new, well-designed and stunning bar area. Just sitting inside is an experience in itself.

We settled down as I explained the history of the building to my colleague – someone who spends most of the year in a warmer climate – and she was fascinated.

It took time for us to peruse the menu filled with so many tantalising dishes, but finally we were ready to order.

My colleague chose the Dirty Martini Prawn Cocktail. The dish was so well presented she really didn’t want to start to eat it. The wild red prawns languished over the glass in a spiced tomato and horseradish sauce, white vermouth with a touch of lemon and spring onion.

The prawns were very large, and the strong taste of horseradish gave them an out-of-the-ordinary but delicious kick that ordinary prawn cocktail sauces do not have. The sauce was very spicy, but she confessed you could really taste the vermouth.

I chose the tempura king prawns, which came with a chilli jam and lime. It was quite a large portion, and the batter that encased the large succulent prawns was crispy. The chilli jam and lime was the perfect accompaniment and not too spicy.

The Crispy Duck Salad was my colleague's choice for her main course. Described as a ‘Thai herb salad', it was infused with oriental flavours. There was a plethora of ingredients in the salad, including beansprouts, spring onion, sugar snap peas, red chilli, mint, and pink grapefruit, all infused with a soy and Asian dressing.

The salad complemented the generous helping of duck, which was very crispy and was an excellent contrast to the salad. My colleague described it as a “very refreshing salad”.

The dry-aged rump steak was my choice for the main, but I must admit I was rather disappointed. The steak was cooked exactly as I requested, and the meat was tender and flavoursome.

It came with half a cold tomato, which had been put under the grill to brown the top, and three-quarters of a mushroom. Steak-wise, it was a very meagre offering.

We decided to share a side dish and ordered a portion of beef dripping chips, which were not too warm when brought to the table but, nevertheless, very tasty.

For dessert my colleague decided to indulge herself in the dark chocolate soufflé, for which customers need to allow 15 minutes for it to be prepared. The verdict when it arrived – “it was worth every second of the wait. ”.

The soufflé was served piping hot and was as light as a feather. It was served with a hot chocolate sauce and ice cream. She found the contrast between the hot and cold of the sweet “made for perfection on a plate.”

I tried one of the new-to-the-menu desserts in the form of the passion fruit crème brûlée. A passion fruit and vanilla set custard lies beneath a very crispy caramel top, which gives a sweet and sour flavour to the dish.

As darkness fell over the square, we made our way to the station. I couldn’t help but cast my mind back in time to when a curly-haired toddler was lifted by her mum to post those all-important letters through that big brass letterbox.

The Restaurant Bar and Grill, The Old Post Office, 3 City Square, Leeds LS1 2ES
Open Mon, Tues,Wed,Thurs,Fri 12 noon to 10.00pm; Sat 12 noon – 11.00pm; Sunday 12 noon – 8pm
Tel: 0113 244 9625
https://therestaurantbarandgrill.com/our-restaurants/leeds/