Celebrating its 20 year anniversary, Sukhothai has re-launched its long-archived menu from their first opening in 2002.
Opening two Sukhothai restaurants (one in Leeds city centre and another in Chapel Allerton), six Zaap Thais across the North, winning countless awards and surviving a global pandemic that saw the even the best restaurants fall prey to the cruel financial reality of lockdowns- owner Ban Kaewkraikhot really has had a whirlwind twenty years.
Celebrating all that her team has accomplished, as well as their 20th birthday of their original Chapel Allerton restaurant, an incredible menu from 2002 is offering Leeds a taste of traditional Thai cuisine from time gone by.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
The absense of the ever-trendy Pad Thai is replaced with a short, but well considered menu with favourites from the motherland and the UK that were served back when the restaurant first opened.
Seafood and spice are the main ingredients on this menu- and the combinations allows any visitor to consume a rainbow of colour and wealth of flavours without venturing too far from their long-time favourites- an ideal combination for any Thai food enthusiast.
Read More: This Thai restaurant in Leeds is bringing back its 2002 menu for its 20th anniversary
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Bringing a refreshing alternative to the usual satay stick starters, the Sukhothai Seafood Platter for two (or more) offers a generous selection of crispy satay fish, satay prawns and crispy squid in batter between well-dressed mussels and satay and sweet chilli dipping sauce, all placed a bed of salad shoots and leaves.
This stand-out sharer has had two decades of careful preparation to perfect the crispy, sweet and spicy fusion of flavour- and highly-requested reputation of Sukhothai seafood shows.
Those dubious to try seafood will fall for the classic starter alternatives of duck spring rolls with mixed veggies and the Mee Krob: a sweet, crispy noodle dish with beansprouts, spring onion and coriander.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
On the Mains menu, the seafood theme continues to outshine the other meaty offerings.
The Som Tum Supparod Pla Tod is a light dish, recommended by the servers for its spicy papaya salad. Served as a plate of crispy haddock fillet with papaya salad with nuts and pineapple, this refreshing main sits alongside longtime favorites like the Pad Nam Mun Hoi Gung, a stir-fried prawn fish with carrot, mushroom, onion and oyster sauce.
Meat-eaters don't need to opt for a pesci dish just to experience the flavours available from the 2002 menu: expect tender beef curry with aromatic Thai herbs or succulent stir-fried lamb with green curry paste served on a sizzling hot plate.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Alternatively, the Nua Luk Tao comes as a Sukhothai-own recommendation: a generous serving of grilled sirloin steak in a sticky, sweet and spicy sauce that marries stir-fried veggies with traditional flavours that melt in your mouth.
Served with a selection of aromatic coconut and Thai sticky rice, as well as noodles and other side plates, the considered 20th birthday specials act as a testament to the restaurant's long-standing history in Chapel Allerton.
Regulars come back week-after-week, month-after-month for birthdays, anniversaries and Friday night dinners here, and as parents pass on their favourite restaurant dishes to younger generations, it's obvious that Sukhothai is going to continue to be that family restaurant you just keep returning to.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Sophie Smith -
29th April 2022 
