My favourite places to eat in Leeds

Hello, I’m Anna and I study Public Relations and Strategic Communications. Everyone who comes to Leeds cares about the food, especially International Students. I think which restaurant is delicious and cheap is the question they most care about. I’m hoping this blog can give the new starters a fresh place to go.

Do you like delicious food? Do you like to visit good restaurants with your friends? If your answer is yes, I recommend you try these restaurants with your friends. I’ve chosen totally different kinds of restaurants, but the food is all delicious! In some of them, the ingredients are the same, but with different cooking ways and recipes, they can have different tastes. Come and enjoy the beauty of food options in Leeds.

Chez-Joel - 36-38 Commercial St, Leeds LS1 6EX

When you go shopping for the whole day in the City Centre, you can feel so tired and hungry, try to hold on for a few more minutes. Opposite itsu, there is a black street food cart at the crossroad. You can order three kinds of French Tacos. The first one is marinated BBQ Chicken with handmade French Fries, carrots, red cabbage, and garlic mayo. All wrapped up in a big taco, which is only £6.00. The second one is marinated beef steak with handmade French Fries, carrots, red cabbage, and Garlic Mayo, which is also £6.00. The last one is to put the beef and chicken together to make one taco, but although you get twice the meat it only costs £8.00. The price is good value for money for students and because of its big size, you can eat it in two meals. The shape of the taco is square, and the fragrant aroma fills the nose when open the foil is. When you bite it, you can taste the tender meat with the soft fries. But it doesn’t taste greasy because of the vegetables and garlic mayo. The mouth is full of meat, fries, and vegs, a little bit sour of garlic mayo, the sweet taste of vegs, and the BBQ taste of meat, forms a sense of satisfaction. 

Hunan - 69/69a Raglan Rd, Leeds, LS2 9DZ

Do you want to try Chinese food? There is a restaurant you must come to! It’s opposite the library pub just north of the city centre. With their brand colour being red, you can feel that the special of this restaurant is spicy. It is typically the taste of Hunan, which is south of China and is famous for its spicy food. The decoration of this restaurant is like a traditional Chinese restaurant, being from China myself, when I walk into this restaurant, it feels like going back to China. And for anyone from elsewhere in the world, it can give you chance to try to use chopsticks to seize Chinese food. There is one cuisine that I especially recommend called spicy chicken. It is diced chicken fried with a lot of red pepper. It’s spicy, and has a little taste of garlic. Because the chicken is diced in small parts, so every part of the chicken has the flavour. They may have 50 kinds of cuisines, not all the dishes are spicy. So do come to try some authentic Chinese food. It is open from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. every day!

MahMoods - 194-196 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9DX

Do you like fried Chicken, hamburgers, and pizza? Don’t miss this restaurant! It’s not far from Hunan in the north of city campus. They have Happy Wednesday activities, and the whole meal includes two pieces of chicken, a load of fries, and a bottle of drink total spend of £3.49. The chicken is marinated in advance. After frying, the outside of the Chicken is wrapped in golden crispy batter. When you bite the chicken, the inner is tender, soft, and juicy with salty batter, which makes a fabulous taste. The fries’ size is small but you can taste the homemade potato flavour. They also have cheap burgers day on Tuesday, and cheap pizza day on Friday. Choose one day to try the food that you want! It opens from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m.! If you feel so hungry at night and can’t find a place to eat, do come to Mahmoods, and you can have a full meal to satisfy your stomach!

Bakery 164 - 164 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9HB

Do you want to get your food quickly but still want something delicious? Then you’ll want to try this restaurant! They mainly sell different sandwiches, with the option to have it as a sandwich, or you can ask them to toast it. The price is around £4.50. It is a convenient option when you need to get to a lecture as the food is ready very quickly. You also can buy hot drinks here. Sandwiches with hot drinks for me is the best lunch when I’m trying to study. It opens from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the week.

These restaurants are some of my favourites in Leeds. They are cheap and delicious, a great choice for a student on a budget. I hope you find this guide a great place to start and make sure you share your favourite restaurants once you’ve moved here.