The Owl: Leeds city centre restaurant launch new menus with brunch and 'affordable dining options'

The Owl, who launched its innovative fine dining concept in Kirkgate Market back in 2019, will now be offering brunch as well as a range of “more affordable dining options”.

Specialising in modern British cuisine crafted using “the finest Yorkshire sourced ingredients”, the Michelin guide listed gastropub has received high praise from critics, and moved from Kirkgate Market to Lockside at Mustard Wharf last summer.

With its latest evolution, the restaurant has worked to bring back the accessibility of its Kirkstall incarnation, whilst ensuring the new menu is creative enough to satisfy the most discerning of palates - as well as appeal to a greater audience.

According to the gastropub, the new plates will feature “surprising ingredients and flavour combination as well as contemporary twists on classic dishes, resulting in an offering that’s both comforting and creative”.

For the first time, The Owl will serve brunch on weekends from 11am, where customers can enjoy a “more refined approach” to classic breakfast items.

The Owl Full English includes home cured treacle bacon, rare breed pork sausages, herbie mushrooms, scrambled eggs, butter fried scrambled eggs, homemade brown sauce and potato terrine.

Also on the menu, the Duck Waffle channels an “American-style pig-out” and serves up crispy confit duck leg from Levin Farm with a malt waffle, maple and chilli sauce and fried duck egg, while the Brunch O’ Muffin comes with rare breed pork pattie, Cheddar cheese, crispy onion and fried egg.

The new lunch and dinner menu includes small plates such as baked native oyster with seasonal garnish, buttered sourdough crumpet with Whitby crab and apple and beef and oyster sausage with onion marmalade and turnip puree.

Large plate menu items include pan roasted stone bass with chip shop style curry sauce, mussels, sea vegetable and crispy potato terrine, and braised blade of salt-aged Yorkshire beef, pickles, English mustard mayo and toasted rye.

The Owl kitchen continues to be led by Chef and Co-Founder Mark Owens, who has worked in a number of Michelin starred restaurants including Lavroche, The Star and The Box Tree. 

Award winning chef and founder Elizabeth Cottam said: “We're reclaiming our Kirkgate Market vibes with a brand-new menu that is both creative to keep our loyal customers entertained and accessible to allow everyone to spend more time with us enjoying our food. 

“Our opening times are changing too to allow people to enjoy our brightly lit Canalside gastrobar for brunch as well as lunch and dinner. 

Also, due to demand, we’re opening brunches and lunches to small children too, a first for us, which offers families that are either out for an autumnal walk down by the canal, for gorgeous sunday lunch, we're the perfect place to start or finish a big day out.”