In the centre of Leeds, there is a gorgeous little award-winning tapas bar that is giving every other bottomless brunch in the city a very good run for its money.
El Gato Negro, the AA-Rosette award-winning restaurant group by Simon Shaw, hosts its 'tipsy tapas' every Saturday where you can get ninety minutes of bottomless drinks and three tapas dishes of your choice for £35 a head.
Not only is there an extensive list of drinks options, the tapas selection is more than generous too - spanning some premium options like jamon iberico croquettas, crispy fried baby squid and mini Catalan chorizo with aspall cider. Just looking at the menu has us drooling, honestly.
Served every Saturday, the tipsy tapas offer at El Gato Negro is one of the best bottomless brunches in Leeds / Image: El Gato Negro Leeds
As for drinks choices, whether you're into beers, wines or cocktails there's plenty to get stuck into. Options include glasses of house wine, lager and prosecco, plus cocktails like bellinis and sangria - the ultimate Spanish brunch beverage.
In total, on the food front, there's a whopping fourteen dishes to choose from with plenty of options for veggies as well as meat-eaters.
Enjoy unlimited sangria, wine, beer or bellinis at El Gato Negro every Saturday as part of their 'tipsy tapas' deal / Image: El Gato Negro Leeds
Non-carnivores will enjoy getting stuck into the charred and salty padron peppers, a house must, alongside the likes of chargrilled sweet potato with mango, chilli and yoghurt, patatas bravas and navarrico chickpeas in harissa tomato sauce with caramelised cauliflower florets.
Other dishes we've got our eyes on, meanwhile, include the house meatballs in a red wine fritada sauce, salt cod croquettas and harissa spiced chicken wings.
There's seating to be found outside on Park Row for al fresco dining, as well as inside the sumptuously-decorated restaurant / Image: El Gato Negro Leeds
Available every Saturday between 12 and 3 pm, you'll need to book in advance to secure your spot - but trust us, it's completely worth it. To make your booking, head over to the El Gato website and make sure to select 'tipsy tapas' when checking out.
The restaurant also does an amazing three for £15 deal that it runs all through the day on Thursdays and Sundays, as well as until 5 pm on Fridays - so if you can't manage to squeeze in for brunch, that's another way to get your chops around some of the best tapas in the city at a very decent price.
Find El Gato Negro at 35 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JL.
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Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
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.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
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.
Georgina Pellant -
24th August 2021 
