REVIEW: Stockdales of Yorkshire – Leeds

To begin with, we are treated to a sample of three starters: fillet steak tartar with an umami yolk, potted chicken liver parfait with damson jam, and a king prawn cocktail with heirloom tomatoes and a shellfish mayonnaise. Yes, this is posh nosh and most of it is delicious. My personal favourite is the steak tartar, which is rich, moist, and bursting with savoury flavours. The damson jam is perhaps a little too sweet for the chicken liver parfait, but still goes down well with a slice of bread. My fellow foodies are big fans of the king prawn cocktail, and we all agree that the shellfish mayonnaise is particularly good. In fact, the sauces here seem to be exceptional, but more on that later. 

On to the main event. Although Sea Bass is available, we all plump for the rare roast Wagyu sirloin. Apparently, the literal translation of ‘Wagyu’ is ‘Japanese cow’ but we are assured that what we will be eating is 100% Yorkshire. 

The steak arrives with dripping chips, a tomato salad, and creamed spinach. There are also two sauces on offer: a truffle hollandaise and Stockdales house gravy. Following such delicately presented starters, it’s satisfying to see a bright red slab of meat on the plate propping up a big cob of lettuce. You can tell the journey from pasture to plate hasn’t been a long one, and I can’t wait to get stuck in. 

The Wagyu proves to be exactly what I expected: it’s rich, juicy, decadent and delicious. There’s also a lovely barbeque flavour going round the outside of the meat. I’m apprehensive at first about covering the remainder of my Wagyu in the house gravy, but I try a spoonful first and I’m sold. The truffle hollandaise joins a long line of other great sauces I’ve sampled so far, and it’s not long before I’m lashing it all over my beef dripping chips.