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Cafe Guru, Brewery Wharfe, Leeds
THE last time Oliver visited the space age confines of Cafe Guru – back in March 2007 – we gave it a sparkling review. Nearly two years on and Cafe Guru is very much leading the way with its nouvelle curry cuisine.
This is no small achievement, given its location in the mirror-glassed wasteland that is Brewery Wharf. Other restaurants which have tried to put a cosmopolitan twist on classic cuisine, notably Battered, have disappeared beneath the waters but Cafe Guru appears more buoyant than ever.
My dining partner and I had originally booked our table for Saturday evening, but were forced to change the booking to Sunday at the last minute – not a problem.
When we arrived at ten minutes to seven, the restaurant was almost empty, with just one other couple seated, which was a slightly unnerving start. But soft music took the edge off the silence and gave the place a relaxed vibe.
The restaurant, despite its stark white decor, is oddly soothing – 'like being inside an egg', as my partner wryly observed.
The owners have paid a lot of attention to the detail of Cafe Guru – the chairs are minimalist yet mould to your body and, even more of a bonus, they swivel. The lighting is atmospheric and the tables are not too close together.
In any case, our worries about lack of atmosphere were soon dispelled as a large party of people arrived, followed thereafter by a steady stream of dining couples. At one point, Lenny Henry, the actor-comedian who is appearing in Othello at West Yorkshire Playhouse, sauntered in, plonked himself down and started rehearsing his lines.
By 8pm – and remember this was a Sunday – the restaurant and bar were buzzing with conversation.
The menu at Cafe Guru has not altered too much since our last review – and neither have the prices, which is something to shout about.
In March 2007, a Pistachio Masaala cost 8.50 – and it costs the same today.
We started with poppadoms and dips of spiced onion, mint sauce and mango chutney, which were lovely. For starters, I plumped for a fresh fruit charte: lightly spiced fruit pieces drizzled with plum chutney (4.60) and my partner ordered Alloo Tikki potato cakes seasoned with coriander, mint and shallots (3.90). Both dishes were scintillating, and beautifully presented.
For our main courses, we ordered chicken jalfrezi (8.90) and a chicken balti (8.90) and shared the two, along with side dishes of Bombay Alloo (spiced sauteed potatoes) at 4.90, mushroom pillau rice (3.90) and a peshwari naan (3.50).
The curry was well presented, although it could have been a little warmer in terms of temperature.
Delicious
The food was delicious and we managed to devour most of it, in spite of us both feeling we had eaten our fill.
We finished our mains but the restaurant was still filling up and some 15 minutes pased without us being asked if we would like dessert . Finally, bored of waiting, I collared a waiter, who was apologetic and polite.
My partner ordered raspberry cheesecake at 3.50, while I went for Indian carrot cake with cream (4.50), which was truly scrumptious and had a treacly quality to it, which made it very moreish.
We finished off our dinner date with two black decaf coffees at 1.90 each. The final bill came to 65.10 and was worth every penny. Although we didn't sample the wine list, it was presented to us at the very beginning and offered a good choice of medium-priced wines, with something to suit most palates.
Cafe Guru opened in July 2006 and in 2007 was voted overall winner of the Yorkshire Evening Post's Oliver awards.
It remains one of the jewels in the crown of Leeds's dining scene and judging by the foot traffic on a Sunday night , it is doing something right.
The thing that strikes you about Cafe Guru is not just the attention to detail but that the owners have managed to add the frills without taking their eye off the ball in terms of the basics: the food, the polite service, a knowledgeable staff, clean toilets.
It's the kind of place you would want to go back to, the kind of place you would like to take friends, the kind of place Lenny Henry would choose to idle away an evening whilst practising his lines. In short, it's still one of the best restaurants in Leeds and the feather in its cap is that it makes it look so effortless.
Cafe Guru, 6 Brewery Place, Brewery Wharf, Leeds,
Tel. 0113 2442255
Opening hours: daily from 6pm till late
www.cafeguru.co.uk
FOOD 4/5
VALUE 4/5
ATMOSPHERE 5/5
SERVICE 4/5
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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