Review: Three's a Crowd is a fitting replacement for Leeds institution The Reliance

With its scuffed wooden floors and mismatched tables and chairs it was what you might call ‘shabby chic’, or ‘scruffy’ if you were feeling less generous. But this was all part of its charm.

Having a convivial atmosphere is one thing, but you don’t last more than 20 years unless your food and drink is up to scratch and as one of the first gastropubs in Leeds (some say it was the first) the Reli was something of a trailblazer. Its beer list ranged from the local to the exotic long before craft ale houses became a thing. The food, too, was nearly always on the money with tempting chalkboard ‘specials’ and regular favourites like fish and chips and sausages and mash vying for your attention, not forgetting their game-changing banoffee pie (I once bought a whole one for a birthday party).

So the news earlier this year that owners Joss and Becs were selling up (they still run an excellent wine bar and shop in Chapel Allerton) was greeted with dismay by many, me included. The blow was softened when it emerged it was being taken over by the team behind Harrogate-based Three’s A Crowd, a gastropub whose emphasis on fresh, seasonal menus felt like a good match.

Even so, the Reli is a hard act to follow and I couldn’t help thinking ‘please don’t mess it up’. However, first impressions were good. The name might be different and the former red façade now a dark teal, but elsewhere the changes are subtle rather than wholesale. The wonky furniture may have gone, replaced by matching and, dare I say, more comfortable chairs, but the new owners have kept the laid-back vibe adopting the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach, which is a smart move.

Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the eating at Three’s A Crowd is very good. The menu is concise, with five starters and five mains plus a short but appealing specials board. Some people get their knickers in a twist unless they’re presented with the culinary equivalent of War and Peace, but in my experience a smaller menu is usually the sign of a confident kitchen. Less is more. It certainly is here. I could have happily gone for any of the starters and mains, but in the end we opted for the lamb shoulder croquettes along with pan seared octopus, braised white beans and chorizo butter from the specials board.

Any dish with the words ‘lamb shoulder’ and ‘croquettes’ in the same sentence gets my vote and these tender parcels coated in crispy breadcrumbs accompanied by matbucha, a kind of North African salsa, were as delicious as I hoped they would be. In fact had someone continued bringing these out at say 25 minute intervals for the remainder of the evening I would have been more than happy. Admittedly that would have been more fun for me than you, so in the name of research I ploughed on.

The octopus starter was almost on par with the croquettes and a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The mains continued in a similarly impressive vein with a perfectly cooked stone bass fillet sitting on top of a smooth cauliflower puree and spring vegetables that were the right side of al dente.

If the croquettes were a highlight then so, too, was the confit pork belly with pomme de terre (posh mash) and burnt apple ketchup. Normally pork belly comes with crispy skin and I was momentarily disappointed until I remembered it had been confited. As it turned out this was one of the best pork belly dishes I’ve had in a long time, with meltingly soft fat and unctuous meat combining to create a glorious piggy delight. The hand cut chips we ordered were probably unnecessary but they’re a handy barometer of a kitchen’s prowess and these more than passed muster.

We finished with a vanilla cheesecake espuma (foam) that came with a golden oat crumble and summer strawberries. Normally any kind of ‘deconstructed’ pudding sets alarm bells ringing but this got the balance of textures and sweetness just about right.

As with its predecessor there’s a good range of beers though strangely enough, given the brevity of the food menu, the wine list is a bit of a beast with over a hundred to choose from catering for all budgets.

The dining area was almost full when we went, as you’d expect on a Friday night, but the bar was surprisingly quiet, which I hope was due to it being in the middle of the summer holidays rather than the norm. The bill came in at £114.95, including a bottle of wine and service. This isn’t cheap but for cooking of this quality I’d say it’s very good value.

There’s plenty to admire about Three’s A Crowd, including its friendly staff, but perhaps what pleases me most is that the spirit of the Reli lives on, and I can’t proffer higher praise than this.

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Three’s A Crowd, North Street, Leeds. LS2 7PN. Tel 0113 295 6060. www.threes-a-crowd.co.uk. Open Sunday-Thursday 12-11pm and Friday-Saturday 12pm-12 midnight. Dinner for two, including a bottle of wine and service, cost £114.95.