The Slug & Lettuce, Park Row, Leeds

We'd heard the bar did 'very well' due to its permanent "2 for 1" deal on cocktails - but nothing had prepared us for this!

3.15 pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon - it was busy enough to have been 10 o'clock at night! Slug & Lettuce was packed with huge gangs of 'quite mature' women clearly out for a BIG session (in fact it looked like 5 hen parties merged into one!)..... and groups of slightly uneasy, very drunk men taking in the proceedings...God knows what it actually DID look like at 10 o'clock at night!!!!!

The bar was thick with staff and customers alike - our poor bartender was clearly new, reading the cocktail ingredients from a card and using her hands to scoop the crushed ice onto my Raspberry Margarita..... The drinks themselves were fine - a bit on the small side and not very spectacular, but at 2 for £7.45 you can't really complain.

I COULD however complain that the floor and tables were absolutely awash, our bags and sleeves were sodden in minutes. The noise was almost unbearable - having a conversation of any kind was nigh on impossible, and as the bar got more and more crowded on both sides of us, it all felt a bit of a crush and quite intimidating. Getting out of the bar was a battle in itself, people spilling drinks and falling about, we were relieved to get outside into the fresh air and out of the tussle. It all felt like the tail end of a late night in a low rent city centre club, but it wasn't even 4 pm.

Not my kind of place I'm afraid - but VERY profitable I'm sure.

Browns, Leeds

I have a soft spot for Browns, its true. I love the building, the atmosphere, the staff uniform, the hustle and bustle - it really is one of my favourite spots. So on Saturday last, after an ill advised visit to Slug & Lettuce on Park Row (don't ask, see next blog...) we found ourselves in Browns at about 4 pm. It was HEAVING. The only spot we could find was tucked away in the furthest corner in the front window area, but with a bottle of House Red at only £14.95, and some very good company, we were happy enough. Because of our concealed seats, staff overlooked us for a couple of hours though, and the bottles and glasses around us on our table and others, started to look a bit untidy. A huge party group arrived later, and ended up clearing the space (and ours!) themselves.

We'd had the foresight to book a table to eat at 8, neither of us wanted to stay where we were seated for a meal, so we were shown to a table on the upper level, by the exit into The Light. We ordered the baked Camembert to share as a starter, which came with a lovely rich chutney and some delicious warm bread. It took all of 5 minutes for us to demolish it, and our burgers were with us very quickly. It was all about the meat - not many chips, a blob of coleslaw, but totally divine. Staff were attentive and friendly, and we left vowing to come back very soon.