Trinity Kitchen Leeds review: I try Mexican vendor Tortilla in the shopping centre food court

There was a time when the most exotic thing you could get was a jacket potato with creamed mushrooms, served in a tiny plastic container with zero room for manoeuvre as you hacked away at the leather-like skin with your plazzy knife and fork.

Those days are happily far behind us – as anyone who has stopped for a bite to eat at Trinity Leeds will tell you.

Gone are the days of wandering around with your little tray of nuked jacket spud, trying to find a table that’s not covered in half a ton of fast food debris.

Trinity has an array of vendors from around the world. The exposed brickwork and neon signs make you feel as though you’re in a trendy restaurant that’s all over some teenager’s Instagram rather than a busy shopping centre in the middle of Leeds.

We could have had a pizza, a kebab, Thai food or Indian street food – but we plumped for Mexican, in the shape of Tortilla.

To be precise, it’s Mexican food California style; light and fresh tacos and burritos rather than gallons of heavy chilli con carne and rice. Meat is freshly grilled and the guacamole made fresh daily.

Ordering could have been a complicated business and I’m grateful there was a queue to give me chance to figure out how it works. In a nutshell you choose what you want – burrito, naked burrito, taco, nachos or quesadilla – then style it out with an array of combinations. 

I like the idea of a naked burrito – all the fillings but without the boring wrap bit. Into a tray go a generous helping of coriander rice, chilli no carne, black beans and hand-smashed guacamole, along with some salsa roja and a drizzle of cheese sauce.

A side order of tortilla chips is a perfectly acceptable alternative to a knife and fork, making it a lot less messy to eat than my guest’s chicken burrito. (It’s not a criticism of the food, he just needs more practice.)

The chicken is plentiful and is perfectly complemented by the Mexican rice that provides spice but doesn’t overwhelm the flavours.

I like the concept of building your own combination and the staff are efficient and obviously well used to dealing with novices like us. 

Just as we’re finishing, the queue builds up again – there’s some kind of offer on involving quesadillas. I have to be restrained from heading straight back to the queue to give them a whirl.

What’s equally tempting is the happy hour offer, where you can pair your street food with a frozen margarita, an IPA, Hawkes ciders or a Mexican beer for a paltry £2.50 if you have a loyalty card.

At £27 for our two lunches, it’s about right for fresh, zingy food delivered in a novel way and in attractive surroundings. What's more, you could cheerfully eat here every day for a month and not get bored, such are the endless possibilities of combinations. 

Factfile

Address: Trinity Kitchen, Albion Street, Leeds

Tel: 0113 234 6518

Website: tortilla.co.uk

Scores

Food: 8

Service: 8

Atmosphere: 8

Value: 7