All Bar One shakes up a Christmas treat with its festive cocktails and food

It’s been a while since I had ventured into an All Bar One, especially the Leopold Street venue in Sheffield’s city centre, so after making my way through the Christmas markets and definitely in need of some sustenance and ample hydration we pushed open the doors of the city-centre bar and found ourselves a suitably festive table to be seated – right by the wonderful Christmas tree no less.

After deliberating the menu for a little while, we decided to approach the menu in the way that All Bar One showcases its dining finesse with some small plates to get us underway.

We ordered the Karaage sticky chicken and salt & pepper calamari (a favourite of mine), as well as the Winter Mallow Margarita and the Snowdrift Mallow Latte.

Before we tucked into the first dish(es), we tried out the festive cocktails.

The Snowdrift Mallow Latte was an interesting combination of Havana Club 7YO rum, Kahlúa coffee liqueur, oat milk, and cold brew coffee presented with gold skewered milk chocolate covered Vanilla Mallows. It was creamy, rich and the coffee a welcome punch after the commute into the city centre. For rum and Kahlúa fans I’d recommend it, with the coffee complementing rather than overpowering each sip. Make sure you drink it quickly so the oat milk doesn’t separate in the glass. Refreshing and with a touch more rum comes with a big thumbs up.

This was served up alongside the Winter Mallow Margarita, a stunning blend of Olmeca Altos Plata tequila, winterberry syrup and Maraschino cherries with a chocolatey mallow finish. This was the best of the initial two, I didn’t get too much of the winterberry syrup from my taste of this but it was there lingering in the background. Anything with Maraschino cherries is a win in my book though. As my better half would say, fruity, refreshing and crispy. The chocolate covered mallow was nice, if rather chewy.

Back to the food though, the sesame seed dappled karaage sticky chicken was delicious, very flavourful, slightly crispy on the outside but still juicy and tender. The chillies on the side were a lovely addition, especially if you enjoy a kick of heat with your food (I do). The fresh spring onions plus the spring onion and chipotle jam complemented the chicken rather nicely.

Next up, the salt & pepper calamari was on first impressions a very generous portion, with a lovely sweet chilli dip and lime slice on the side. Lovely crispy batter without being too oily, tender calamari pieces that weren’t too chewy or rubbery. The only criticism is that there should be more of the sweet chilli dip as standard. But that’s me just nit picking.

Moving onto the main portion of the meal, we opted to try out both of the festive burgers. First up was the Camembert & Chorizo Festive Burger, comprising a beef burger topped with melted camembert and chorizo and cranberry jam – served with sage & sea salt skin-on fries and a pig in blanket. We also went for the Chicken and Hot Honey Festive Burger, which features crispy buttermilk chicken topped with hot honey – again served with the same fries… and we also went for the trio of fries, because you can never have enough fries (or chips), right? Or so we thought… more on that to come.

Providing deliciously indulgent news and features from the world of gastronomy, the free Foodies’ Paradise newsletter keeps you in the know about the latest restaurant openings, trending dishes, and Michelin star winners. Delivered to your inbox every week, sign up here.

The festive beef burger was really lovely, fruity, sweet, savoury, juicy and beefy. The toppings were fresh and the salad on the burger was crisp. The melted camembert complemented the beef and jam with ease. I didn’t notice the chorizo elements as much as I’d have hoped but overall it was a really lovely burger and the sage & sea salt skin-on fries were lovely. The pig in blanket though wasn’t for me, I didn’t finish that. However, I’d absolutely recommend the burger though.

The Chicken and Hot Honey Festive Burger was undoubtedly the favourite of the two burgers. A lovely toasted brioche bun packed with fresh crispy salad, with crispy buttermilk chicken topped off with grilled halloumi, bacon and hot honey. It was an undeniably delicious burger and it’s definitely on my list for my next visit, so tender and I’m getting hungry again while I write this.

Our mains were served up with a trio of fries, three pots of fries in different types to enjoy, Truffle & Gran Moravia Fries (V), Chipotle Sweet Potato, plus a portion drizzled with chorizo and cranberry jam.

The Truffle Oil and Gran Moravia Fries with rosemary were my favourite of the bunch, nice and crispy and the truffle oil taste was present but not overpowering. Special mention goes to the sweet potato fries with the chipotle mayo and pico de gallo as well. But, I was all fried out after those.

We needed assistance in devouring that smorgasbord of food with the help of two more cocktails, and this time we went for the Berry Mallow Sour, a zingy mix of Absolut Citron vodka, Absolut Raspberri vodka, sour mix, and raspberry syrup, which was topped off with Dark Chocolate over Raspberry Mallows. The Berry Mallow Sour was a really refreshing cocktail and if I wasn’t so full from the previously referred to fries overload I would have eaten all of the Dark choc covered raspberry mallows.

All in all it was a very delicious, filling and refreshing selection to enjoy on what was a pleasantly festive Sunday afternoon. The Mallow & Marsh and Absolut collaboration for the festive cocktails definitely sprinkled a dose of the good vibes as we head into the Christmas season.

Our personal favourite when it came to the cocktails was the Winter Mallow Margarita, we would definitely drink a few of those on evening (or even another afternoon) out, while enjoying the burgeoning festive atmosphere. We just didn’t need the trio of fries, as lovely as they were, it was a little too much and left no room for dessert.

If you’re not in the mood for a burger or main meal, I’d recommend going for a selection of the small plates as that keeps things light and means more room for cocktails or sweet treats.

Each of the festive cocktails are available at not just the Leopold Street venue but in every All Bar One nationwide, with prices starting from £12.50, and if you’re in town for a Christmas party or you choose to make this your Christmas do destination you’ll be impressed with the Mallow & Marsh infused festive tipples.

But there’s more on offer that we didn’t get to try, so I suppose that means we will have to come back and give it another go… especially because we really wanted to try out the churros.

Check out the festive offerings and if you’re looking to live it up over Christmas, you can check out the festive menu and festive buffet offerings here.