LAB - Leeds

Sundays are no longer a day filled with luxuriously long lie ins for me.

* s i g h *

It is neither a day where I am allowed to enjoy slob-out fests, relaxing on the sofa, until it is time to stuff my face with massive amounts of Yorkshire Puds, mash and gravy.

(Yum)

Nope, none of that for me these days - unfortunately.

My Sundays now consist of very early starts, dashing out of the door like a mad woman to make sure I arrive at our muddy pitch of choice, where I will stand - in all weathers - cheering on the kiddies as they give a brilliant rugby performance.

Naturally then, after all of that early morning excitement, spending ages preparing and then waiting for a huge Sunday lunch to cook is a whole lot of effort I just can't be doing with.

And this was my exact predicament last weekend.

I really couldn't face all of that cooking and cleaning up at all...and, luckily for me, I didn't even have to consider it.

Yay!

And that is because those fab people at LAB Restaurant invited the three of us to pop down and sample some of their lovely dishes.

I couldn't wait

LAB is situated, very conveniently, inside of the Merrion Centre in Leeds.

It is very close to Leeds Arena too, so would be the perfect place to go for some grub before you enjoy a show.

As it was a fairly quite Sunday afternoon when we visited, we pritty much had the place to ourselves - which suited me just fine.

I was able to take some un-interrupted photos of the fab, relaxed, modern decor.

It certainly does have "a lab" look about it doesn't it - I love it.

We were seated upstairs and had a great view of the open-plan kitchen area as well as the terrace outside - which would be the perfect place to sit and relax with friends on a lovely warm afternoon.

We chose to sit inside and were immediately brought drinks by our very lovely waitress, who knew everything on the cocktail menu - she just reeled them off.

Impressive

I chose to try an Opulent Cuban which was a mix of champagne, rum, lime, blueberries and mint...

...it was lovely...and I certainly felt the kick of all of that rum...!

I really liked the "scientific jars" all of the drinks were served in too - attention to detail is oh-so-important don't ya know.

Food wise - well - we were very much spoilt for choice, and with a very-hungry-just-played-rugby eight year old and my always-hungry-Hubby to please I was very happy with the fast, pleasant service we received.

No complaints at all

Now on to the food.

For starters we ordered...

~ Garlic Dough Balls

~ Duck Liver Pate

...and...

~ Half a Rack Of Ribs

Whilst the pate was mine - amazing might I stress - I (naturally) had to try everything else on offer too and it all tasted so beautiful.

My eight year old even enjoyed the pate - and that's a first for him.

Then after a very quick rest, it was time for our mains.

Me and the child immediately wanted to try one of the fab-sounding hanging chicken kebabs - and so we did just that.

I enjoyed mine with some extremely hot peri-peri sauce dripping down everything, landing in my accompanying rice dish, whilst my son chose his favourite - and lot less spicy - BBQ sauce - which he loved dunking his cracked pepper chips into.

Are you ready for the amazingness that is the kebab...

Nom, Nom, Nom

The whole lot - from the chips, to the rice and the chicken, to the peppers and tomatoes -  was just perfect.

The Hubby - being the foodie that he is - opted for the Beast Burger - the biggest to exit the kitchen yet according to our lovely waitress

Layers of pulled pork, cheese, chicken, beef...the list was just endless.

And yes, it was as tasty as it looks.

(obviously I tried a little bit!)

And yes, he did finish the lot...!

Oh - we had onion rings too

And yes - we all did need a nap when we arrived back home, slowly slipping into mini food-comas...

Look at those plates - didn't we do well.

Obviously very stuffed on savoury food we had no room at all for a pudding...until that is, my son heard the words

"Chocolate Fudge Cake"...

Oh go on then - just the one slice please...

...which arrived with cookie ice-cream on the side, three spoons (our waitress knew us well!) and a scientific measuring beaker full of luxurious cream.

It was gorgeous.

All three of those spoons definitely had a sample of it let me assure you.

I really can't wait to visit LAB again - my son has done nothing but talk about it since we left.

Thanks LOTS for having us LAB - see you VERY soon

*meal provided free of charge - pictures, words and opinions are all my own