Wen’s Chinese: I visited the Leeds restaurant stacked with glowing reviews and found authentic home cooking
You know you’re in a decent restaurant when its own branded tote bags on sale behind the bar.
Another even bigger clue would be a glowing review from The Guardian, framed and hung on the wall.
Wen’s, on North Street, is something of a Leeds dining out icon. It’s an independent, family-owned restaurant offering authentic, home-cooked Chinese cuisine and with an enviable reputation that meant even on a drizzly Wednesday evening, the place was buzzing.
Not quite every table was taken but there was a lovely mix of clientele, from a young family to couples to a group of older friends out celebrating a birthday.
It’s stylish without being stand-offish; wooden tables and a few trinkets but not so many you wonder if you’ve accidentally turned up at Christmas.
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The service is friendly and efficient, the menu extensive and the prices wallet friendly. Glancing enviously at the party of four getting stuck into a bottle of red wine, as designated driver I opted for a pot of jasmine tea, which arrived quickly and was delicately refreshing.
My guest chose the hot and sour seafood soup to start; prawns and mussels were plentiful and the chilli generous but not overwhelming. As an example of authentic home cooking, it was a fine one – a satisfyingly plentiful portion served in a homely bowl.
My salt and pepper tofu was similarly generous and was golden and crisp with a good chilli kick. So far, so good.
The mains, though, these were something else. My guest, swayed by the promise of authentic flavours, had chosen the chicken kung po. This was despite previous disappointments where it’s been more like a sweet and sour but with a spoonful of chilli sauce, the sauce a disturbingly unnatural shade of scarlet.
This, however, was utterly delightful – a perfectly balanced dish with chilli, garlic and ginger all singing in perfect harmony. Toasted cashews lent a pleasing crunch while the chicken breast was plentiful.
Meanwhile, my braised tofu dish was equally superb. The sauce was glossy, the tofu silky while the black fungus (not what you might find in the bathroom, it’s a Chinese mushroom) brought wonderfully earthy tones.
The accompanying boiled rice was fluffy and the salt and pepper chips (I know, but they were just too difficult to resist, I have no willpower) were punchy.
The whole thing came to just over £50 for both of us – not bad at all for a central location and a meal of this quality. We’ll be back – if only to see if this review also makes it onto the wall.
FACT FILE
Address: Wen’s Restaurant, 72-74 North Street, LS2 7PN
Tel: 0113 244 4408
Open: Tues-Friday 4 pm-9.30pm; Sat noon – 9.30pm