Sous Le Nez En Ville

I’ve never had such an experience in a restaurant, as the appallingly disgusting attitudes of this place.
Having coordinates events in Leeds for the last 4 years, and specifically a dining group for the last 2 — which I unfortunately took here, I’m still in shock at the treatment myself & my guests received from this place.
Despite having arranged & paid everything in advance, and TWICE confirming before the meal that any extras ordered by members of the dining group would need to be settled direct with them, they attempted to present me with an £80 bill after the meal — the majority of which being a surplus charge, despite full payment already being agreed & paid in advance.
The manager of this place got so over excited that I even had to deal with the embarrassment of him shouting (yes, really shouting) over the bar at me over a short payment of £8 (despite my group bringing him nearly £800 in payment for the evening).
They’re a small fish in a big pond, and with attitudes towards their customers such as this I hope that pond swallows them up.
Avoid at all costs. Leeds has some fantastic dining establishments. This isn’t one of them.

Finally a place with good food and excellent service (although a little difficult to find). We went early for the early bird menu (£25 each for three courses and half a bottle of wine — bargain). The food was delicious and the abundant staff never left us wanting for anything. I will definitely be back…

Having heard a bit of a buzz about this place I decided it warranted a visit. In spite of making it my mission to try and test out all the fine dining I can find (and afford) in Leeds, I’d only ever driven past Sous Le Nez En Ville in a taxi home late at night, and the curious foot-​level windows have always left me wondering. With a colleague in town this was the perfect opportunity to discover what it was really like, and so in the mini-​flash-​flood weather, we quick-​marched over from The Calls to grab some dinner.
Mistakenly, we tried to enter via the hotel next door at first, which itself is a gorgeous building. I couldn’t see a sign for it, so I’ve no idea what it’s called, but the stair case and stained glass window alone suggests that it’s a bit flash. But I digress. Sous Le Nez. So, we continued down the street to find the corner entrance down the steps, indeed sous le nez, as it is both under pavement and was under our noses. The smell wafting up also matches the name well, as we descended down upon both scent and setting. Trés poétique.
The vibe is immediately rustic, with gorgeous brickwork, displays of empty divine wine bottles and lovely low-​lit lighting. The mood was certainly set on arrival. It’s a shame that sense doesn’t really carry on through into the dining area; although the tables are pleasant and there are wee nooks and crannys in which to dine (perfect for a romancing couple) the space is somewhat packed in and there is much less to look at than in the bar area. Even so, the food was the main event!
The menu is sprawling, with a dedicated fish-​starter menu, and a number of specials which change (daily?) for one to opt from. I had expected to find that the prices would be extortionate but in fact were medium to high end. The most expensive main coming in at around £30 and the majority were at the £17ish mark. Not bad. I chose the French Onion Soup to start, having fell in love with it recently, and my companion the Trio of Salmon. Despite not being a salmon fan, it looked incredibly tempting, and my soup was delightful. Although I’d have liked a little more melted cheese, the flavour was incredible.
For my main I had the venison. Oh my yum. It came with a delicious gravy, which had hints of anise, although I forget the other flavours. It was rich but not overpowering and was the perfect accompaniment to the wonderfully cooked venison, which practically melted in my mouth. Very kindly they allowed me to swap the sweet potato mash for normal mashed potato, as I couldn’t decide if I wanted mash as an extra or not. We had some fine green beans with a bit of butter and chilli as a side and everything was cooked to perfection.
To finish I had the Crème Brûlée which, although it was lovely, it was not as excellent as the other courses. The burnt sugar was a touch too bitter and the pudding wasn’t as sweet as I like, but perhaps that’s a personal preference. I suppose my only other small gripe was that the service was incredibly relaxed — it took rather a long time to order and whilst waiting for food indicates it’s all being cooked nicely from scratch, waiting to order desserts and for the bill to arrive is another matter. It certainly does add to the ambiance of the French restaurant, though! And every staff encounter was very friendly and warm, so over all I was very pleased.
The perfect restaurant for a relaxed, romantic and divine eating experience in Leeds and I highly recommend a visit. Bring your appetite though — three courses is more than enough gluttony for one month!

Having heard great things about this restaurant from a variety of sources I eventually decided to pay a visit to celebrate the start of the Easter Holidays!
We arrived at 7:15pm and were told that we had 15 minutes to order from the cheaper set menu. Neither of us fancied anything from the set menu so we took our time and chose from the a la carte instead. For starters, my partner ordered deep fried brie with warm pepper and mango chutney while I ordered braised pig cheeks with a thyme cream sauce and haricot beans. For the main course it was seared monk fish with tomato and garlic on a filo mushroom tart, while I was tempted by the venison haunch with sweet potato and coriander purée and parsnip crisps.
I am in total agreeance with the previous reviewer who said that he was blown away by the quality of the food. In addition I would add that the portions were larger than I would have expected and was appreciative of the waiter’s advice that any accompaniments and side dishes were unnecessary if we were to have three courses! However, unlike the previous reviewer, we were really pleased with the quality of the wine that we ordered. I went for my favourite, NZ Pinot Noir, for which there was only the one choice but it was truly delicious though I suspect the mark up was a little steeper than necessary?!
The waiter did not ask me how I would like my venison cooked but it arrived rare — just how I like it. It was very tender and I savoured every mouthful. My partner could not eat all of her fish course so I felt obliged to help her out! Now, I would never order fish at a restaurant as I much prefer meat but this dish was truly amazing! The variety of textures and flavours has caused me to reappraise my view that a meat dish is always best and I would be seriously tempted to order the monkfish if I came here again.
The service was impeccable, with all the food and drinks arriving quickly. Not once did anyone ask if everything was to our satisfaction but that is how I like it, we were left alone to enjoy our food but whenever we wanted anything such as water or the bill then they saw to it immediately.
A great place if you want that special meal in wonderful surroundings and I will hopefully come back soon to try the much cheaper set menu to see if the quality is the same.

Sous le Nez is not the kind of place that you pop into for a quick bite to eat; it’s a little pricier than average but well worth it thanks to the fantastic food, lovely atmosphere and staff who are friendly, helpful and unpretentious. The dishes are french and complex, beautifuly presented and served with rich, meaty sauces. The star dishes are meat and fish based– as a veggie you might feel a bit like you are missing out here, although to be fair I did’nt sample any of the veggie options so can’t comment on how good they were. They also have a amazing wine selection, with house wines at around £15 going up to the ridiculously expensive, and whole sections of the menu dedicated to whiskey and cigars. I didn’t partake but enjoyed reading the menu nonetheless!

£22.95 for a 3 course meal and a half carafe of red. Very VERY good food. I had tempra Haddock with spicy noodles as a starter, goats cheese and spinach parcel with watercress for mains and white chocolate mousse with rhubarb for dessert. Beautiful.
They offered a dessert wine which I took them up on which perfectly complemented the rhubarb and chocolate. Mmmm…

The name describes the physical location of this beautiful restaurant. It is easily missed as you walk by with small arch way windows providing a minute of light into the cellar converted to a restaurant.
It is a lovely environment for a restaurant although sometime (particularly during the early bird offer times) the restaurant can get very raucous and the noise reverberates around the restaurant.
Most of the times I have been here I was very happy with both the service and food. If you take the early-​bird offer vegetarian dishes are very limited with little more on offer on the main menu. If you have no preference then this is a good place to dine on lovely French food in a relaxed and friendly place