Four breakfasts and it’s not even noon yet… Leeds feeds my soul.
They say, of course, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
But isn’t it always the case that we skip it and only really fill up when we’re away?
And so over these two days in Yorkshire’s jewel I’ve been making the most of The Queens Hotel buffet.
To kick me off for the days spent talking to exhibitors at Travel Connection Group’s Media Getaway
The big brekkie
It’s been one of the better breakfast spreads, no skin on scrambled eggs or fatty bacon.
And a refreshing alternative to OJ in rhubarb juice and not at all tart.
And a welcoming local greeting Ey-up when you arrive in the Basement breakfast room.
That playful dialect is in evidence again when we hit the bijou Owt eaterie in the Corn Exchange.
Grub crawl
As part of our Leeds Food Tours brunch grub crawl.
Where Esther dishes out the tasting plates shakshuka which had a surprising and clearing pesto overlay…
OK, no foodie me, I nicked those tasting notes from a culinary expert in the party.
Now for someone who just slaps a bagel into the toaster for brekkie I’m making the most of this.
And turning this pit-stop into a two-course first meal of the day.
Enjoying Esther’s French bread with orange zest with strawberries and a jus… get me, real Hairy Bikers.
The new Empire
Talking of which the two whiskered biker boys popped into our earlier establishment, the recently-opened The Empire Cafe.
Where we sampled the chick pea-infused desi breakfast, well when in Asian-inspired Leeds/Bradford.
Of course, owner Sam doesn’t forget the traditional food of his Geordie gran and we pack away the fired mini-bacon rolls.
Now Leeds is a melting pot of a Northern English city, fed by the peoples of the old British Empire who came to live and work here.
In with the brics
Others from others’ empires too with our last stop, a Tunisian local favourite Sweet Saeeda in the Kirkgate Market.
Where we are offered a chicken, tuna or veggie bric.
No chewing a bric gags please, this is a filo pastry with chicken, protein and egg.
And it is for the spicy, with the bric clearing out my blocked nose in double quick time.
In a right old Flix
All of which set me up for my five-hour FlixBus journey back to Edinburgh.
That the bus blew a gasket and we were held up in Sunderland, roughly halfway, gave us the chance to sample a Tyneside/Wearside staple.
Greggs, all courtesy of the German coach company, as recompense for our delay.
I just wish I’d taken some of Sam’s bacon rolls with me in a doggie back because for sure Leeds feeds my soul.
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