Frankster's White Rose review, Leeds: Here's why you should order the chicken

It began as Frankie's in Batley in 2016 and has now expanded to five sites across the North of England.

Its 155-seater restaurant in the White Rose shopping centre opened this summer, serving a Halal menu that includes burgers, peri-peri chicken and milkshakes.

The business is expanding fast – its website hints at plenty more locations on their way from Newcastle to London.

First impressions?

The restaurant is decked out like a cross between an American diner and a Tokyo arcade, with bright red banquette seating, neon signs, a dollop of emoji-style imagery on the walls and a Street Fighter arcade game in the corner.

Ordering is fast-food style and the menu is displayed on a row of screens above the counter.

What’s the menu like?

There's an array of burger meals to choose from – one named after the White Rose, which is cute. On the other side of the menu is a peri-peri section where you can choose how much chicken you want and how hot you like your sauce.

My companion, who doesn't eat meat, was a bit disappointed that there only seemed to be one veggie main meal on offer.

Once you order, you get a pager so you can sit down while you wait for your food and go back to the counter when it's ready.

Staff are milling around asking people how their food is, which is a friendly touch for what is essentially a fancy fast-food place.

Now onto the food

Here's where things get confusing. My companion's veggie burger and fries arrives on a piece of greaseproof paper in an unassuming plastic basket.

Her side order of halloumi comes as a few strips rattling around at the bottom of a white card tray.

So far, exactly what we were expecting, given the burger-joint style of the place.

My peri-peri half chicken, however, is presented beautifully in a grand oval dish with heaps of rice, a Greek salad, chips and not one but two sauces. This restaurant doesn't know if it's trying to be Five Guys or Nando's.

My chicken is fantastic – charred nicely on the outside to give it a wonderful smoky taste and then cooked to juicy perfection on the inside.

The veggie burger is, apparently, a bit of a let-down. It's the bean-burger type and a bit mushy, I'm told.

But the halloumi is better and we both agree that the skin-on skinny fries are really quite good.

I can't help but think there is a fantastic Portuguese chicken restaurant hiding inside an adequate burger bar.

Room for dessert?

Not this time, though the milkshakes on offer look like meals all on their own.

And the drinks?

We just had bottled water - that way the meal is healthy, right? There are fancy glass bottles of pop on offer. Being Halal, there's no booze.

How much was the bill? Was it value for money?

Our meal was incredible value, at less than £20 for the both of us. The veggie burger meal was £5.99 and the halloumi was £3.95. The grilled half-chicken meal was £9.99 and our drinks came with the food.

Factfile:

Address: Frankster's, White Rose Shopping Centre, Dewsbury Road, Leeds LS11 8LU

Telephone: 01132 775 451

Opening hours: Sun to Thurs: 11am to 9pm; Fri to Sat: 11am to 10pm

Website: www.franksters.com

Scores:

Food 7/10

Value 8/10

Atmosphere 7/10

Service 9/10