If you're looking for something a bit different for breakfast, then Leeds is the place. You'll find greasy spoons in every city, as you can in Leeds too, but Leeds also offers much more. Something a little bit daring. Something a little more delicious. Here's a round-up of some of the places you can enjoy breakfast, brunch or, in some cases, brinner.
The Grub and Grog Shop, Northern Monk Refectory, Holbeck Urban Village
Situated in a disused mill in Holbeck is the Northern Monk Refectory, the brewery's in-house bar, inside which you'll find resident foodies The Grub and Grog Shop. There you can enjoy a fairly basic breakfast menu serving home-made crumpets, toast, breakfast rolls and hash. Not a fry up in sight. Vegetarians and vegans are catered for, too.
You won't find many places around Leeds that serve Oxtail Hash, with home-made brown sauce, crispy kale and a perfectly cooked egg. You could spend all day in their dining room reading through the books on the bookshelf, following brekkie with lunch, dinner, then a few pints in the evening. It's dog friendly, too.
Breakfast is served 10am-12noon Monday to Friday and until a leisurely 3pm at weekends.
Moo'd Cereal House, 59 Otley Road
Head to the land of students to grab a bowl of cereal at any time of the day. If you think that's not the most imaginative breakfast, then you haven't been there. Moo'd source their cereals from all over the world and if you want calorific, e-number loaded cereal to make your eyeballs spin, Moo'd have it. If they don't, they'll go on a personal mission to find it.
If slurping cereal from a bowl isn't enough, you can turn your cereal of choice into a milkshake or top a crumpet or waffle with cereal. The most 'cereal experience' you'll have, though, is creating a cereal cocktail. Pick a cereal, then choose the most ridiculous mix of toppings you can imagine. It's like someone made your childhood dreams a reality.
Livin' Italy, Granary Wharf
If you're looking for something a little more sophisticated, why not try Italian? Livin' Italy bring us the Italo-English breakfast, in which they take the ingredients of an all-English fry up and transform it into something romantic. Laid before you are Tuscan sausages, crispy pancetta, roasted vine tomatoes, potato croquettes, wild garlic mushrooms and a fried egg.
If you're really hungry, there's an option to super-size your breakfast.
If none of that takes your fancy, then you'll find yourself drooling over their freshly baked pastries with chocolate and fruit.
Red's True BBQ, 1 Cloth Hall Street
Enter Leeds' BBQ and oversized-portion heavyweights. Reds are slowly taking over the city with two establishments, as well as one in Manchester and another due to open in Nottingham. So it was about time they started feeding breakfast to the hungry mouths of Leeds.
In line with the rest of the menu the food is served in epic portions with as much stuffed in as possible. This is the place to go after a heavy night. Examples of gluttony on the menu include pulled-pork pancakes; waffles topped with bacon, jalapeño sausage, butter, maple syrup and eggs; a breakfast burger that consists of – wait for it – a steak pattie, grilled cheese, smoked bacon, black pudding, egg, brioche bun and a side of chips.
Brunch is served from 9am to 12pm at the weekends.
Le Chalet, 31-31 Park Road
When it's pouring down and the wind is howling, we all like to imagine we're somewhere else. When Leeds blesses us with this sort of weather, as it so often does, why not step into its own little corner of France.
Le Chalet offers Leeds a taste of France, serving croissants, pain au chocolate, French toast, omelette, crepes and eggs. With its cute crockery and Parisian atmosphere, this is definitely a place to take mother dearest if she pays you a visit and you've only got beer and white wine in the fridge.
Napa, 62 Street Lane
Opening late into the evening, Napa also serve breakfast in the morning, so you can face the scene of the crime and indulge in their alternative breakfasts until midday.
Their best offering is the Spanish breakfast, which features sautéed bacon, chorizo, onion, diced potatoes, all topped with eggs and all baked in the oven. If that doesn't cure your post-Napa hangover, you'll find no remedy.
If after a night of debauchery you feel like you need to redeem yourself with something a little more nutritious, choose healthy option The Energiser: a mix of sweet potato hash browns coated in oats and mixed seeds and topped with spinach, crispy bacon, poached eggs, fresh avocado and salsa. Enough feel-good grub to get you sprinting across Roundhay Park.
More food on Time Out Leeds.