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The best places to celebrate the Lunar New Year with food in Leeds

The Year of the Tiger is going to be a tasty one.

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith - 27th January 2022

The Lunar New Year is just a few short days away- how are you planning to celebrate the Year of the Tiger?

Tuesday 1 February is a date you'll want to have marked in your calendar, regardless of whether you're celebraing the Lunar New Year or not. Also know as the Chinese New Year, the date marks the first day of the the year in the lunar calendar, and as such is a time to celebrate.

Typically, there's a full 16 days of activities to get involved in to 'attract fortune and happiness' for the new year. Leeds, as always, is bringing the best of the new year in with hearty menus, killer cocktails and a whole range of dining options made especially to help you celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Here's our top picks for foodie nights out to enjoy during the Lunar New Year.

Năm Sông Cà Phê

Image: Nam Song Caphe

Nam Song is bringing in the Lunar New Year with a celebration that puts their customers at the heart of it all. Tết is the Vietnamese Celebration of the New Lunar Year and at this time red envelopes filled with money are given to children to bring good luck, health and prosperity, so Nam Song is giving away over 1,000 red envelopes with prizes inside like free bánh mì and coffee for a whole year, your entire bill for free, money off your next visit or even a free drink. If you ever needed a reason to visit, this is certainly a compelling one.

Monday 31 January - Saturday 6 January. Find out more here.

North Brew Co

Image: The Hoot Leeds

There's events aplenty brewing over at both North Brew venues this year and their Chinese New Year menu is just one of the innovative one-off menus we're excited for. Keeping everything under wraps until the event itself, North Brew Co will be providing Chinese-inspired cocktails, whilst Little Bao Boys will be serving up some specials for the occasion too. To get your hands on the menu, along with a fortune cookie or two, you can visit either their North Brew Taps or Springwell venues.

Friday 4 February - Saturday 5 February. Find out more here.

Read More: All the best Chinese restaurants in and around Leeds

Mans Market

Image: Mans Market

Celebrating Chinese New Year with traditional cuisine is our favourite hidden Chinese restaurant, Mans Market. Tucked away in the city centre, their authentic menu has always got us wanting more and no doubt their new year menu will be just the same. Expect Cantonese-style spring rolls, citrus sweet and sticky chicken, hot bean tofu, traditional Chinese curry Can Be Ve and a sweet dessert for vanilla nian gao pot. Need any more of a reason to visit? You can get a starter and main course for £22, with a dessert for just an extra fiver.

Friday 4 February - Sunday 6 February. Find out more here.

Eat Your Greens

Image: Eat Your Greens Leeds

The Little Yellow Rice Co. will be taking over the Eat Your Greens kitchen to bring a Lunar New Year feast. Served across four courses, the set menu has been curated around classic Nyonya cuisine and bringing Penang flavours to Leeds. Expect Peranakan favourites like Jiu hu Char, stir-fried yam bean with cuttlefish and dried fish; Assam Prawn, Tamarind prawns cooked in a sweet and sour caramelised sauce; Curry Kapitan, a chicken curry with lemongrass, lime leaf, galangal, coconut milk and shrimp paste, as well as vegan specials like Pengat Pisang, banana and kueh in sweet creamy coconut and pandan sauce.

Wednesday 9 February. Find out more here.

Tattu

Tattu have ten days of new year celebrations waiting for you, with the inclusion of a unique Year of the Tiger dessert and Red Envelope Gift Cocktail on offer. The sparkling orange-red concoction is topped with a creamy foam, a macaroon with a tiger stamped on top, representing the new year that we will fall into, the Year of the Tiger and a Hong Bao envelope. Guests are invited to open the envelopes in search of a golden ticket with vouchers inside.

Tuesday 1 February - Thursday 10 February. Find out more here.

Feature Image- Eat Your Greens

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Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky

Danny Jones Danny Jones

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:

@the.manc @GET BAKED® are giving away 1000 slices of Bertha right now at their new store in Northern Quarter and Manchester, you turned up 👏 #themanc #manchester #getbaked #giveaway #newopening #bakery #queue #manchesterfood #manchestereats #cake ♬ original sound - The Manc

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.”

Read more: The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant

Featured image - Get Baked

News

Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.

If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.

Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.

And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.

The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.

Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo

There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.

Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.

The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!

To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.

You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.

Read more:

Featured image - Leeds Tattoo Expo

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