Dirty Martini Leeds review: Here’s what I thought of one of the city’s most popular bottomless brunches
Dirty Martini is a long-standing member of the bottomless brunch scene.
The King Street bar’s martini brunch is served Tuesday-Sunday at selected 90 minute sittings. Priced at £37.50 on Friday-Sunday, or £30 on Monday-Thursday, it’s on the pricier end of the Leeds’ bottomless brunch spectrum.
We booked the 2pm Saturday sitting well in advance, as it often sells out, with two vegan brunches. We were welcomed at the door and snaked our way through a hen party and up a spiral staircase to our table, where two cold glasses of prosecco were waiting for us.
Dirty Martini has left no expense spared with its decor. There’s extravagant Art Deco features - teal blue booths, gold tables, patterned tiles and feature lighting. There’s clearly a target market, we spotted two men in a room full of lively ladies and the noise dialled up as the sitting went on, with a soundtrack of cheesy anthems from Ariana Grande to Rita Ora. We loved it.
Our server was quick to take our order and stayed on the ball for the next 90 minutes. There’s a choice of four martinis and three G&Ts, as well as prosecco and Pravha. The prosecco which was crisp and dry, not bottom-of-the-barrel stuff you often get with bottomless brunches, and the blood orange G&Ts were refreshing, not too sweet, and served with a nice sprig of rosemary.
Our brunch was served on a beautiful golden birdcage and filled with small bites from around the world. There was a mini vegan cheeseburger with chilli mayo, nice and juicy and without the aftertaste you sometimes get with meat alternatives. The four generosity-sized spring rolls were a little greasy on the outside but lip-smackingly delicious, filled with sweet roast pepper.
The spinach and cheese croquettes were buttery soft and the vegetable samosas were our stand-out dish - perfectly flaky pastry and bursting with flavour. The toasted pitta was a little overdone but tasted amazing nonetheless, topped with herbs and lashings of salt and dunked into Moroccan-spiced hummus.
My friend described it as a ‘posh picky tea’ - it was the perfect accompaniment to a strong drinks offering. The food can sometimes be an afterthought with a bottomless brunch, but at Dirty Martini it’s the star of the show.
Factfile
Address: 31 King Street, Leeds, LS1 2HL
Telephone: 0113 468 9488
Opening hours: Mon, closed; Tue-Weds, 4pm-11pm; Thur, 4pm-12am; Fri, 2pm-2am; Sat, 12pm-2am; Sun, 2pm;11pm.
Scores
Food: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 7/10