Shears Yard, Leeds: The 'forgotten' gem restaurant which has a touch of TV's First Dates

First to arrive was restaurateur Michael Gill with Brasserie 44 in a grain mill conversion on the banks of the river Aire. Brasserie 44 shared a kitchen with Pool Court, Gill’s swanky Michelin starred restaurant that he transferred from sedate Pool in Wharfedale.

Where Gill led, others followed: Leodis, Sparrow’s Wharf, and Brigg Shots. Hereford Beastouw was a gimmicky steak restaurant and Livebait a seafood chain. There can hardly have been a better time to eat out in Leeds.

But in 2018, after 27 years at the forefront, Brasserie 44 and Pool Court closed, blaming competition from mid-level chains. The rest are gone too. But there is one plucky survivor. When Livebait fell into administration in 2014 the lovely old brick building known as Shear’s Yard, was snapped up by Nicholas Routh, Steve Allison and chef Jamie Clinton, the trio that at the time were running the Arts Café round the corner.

Shear’s Yard has been way off my radar for years. I’ve been seduced by the new kids on the block, like the Swine that Dines, the Owl and Owt. It’s been more than a decade since I ate there. Time to revisit.

The former ships chandler and sail maker was much as I remembered it; walls of mellow red brick, exposed steel beams, rooflights and countless filament light bulbs hanging over the tables. The lighting and the brickwork make a bold statement, but the interior has held up well. If it was uber cool a decade ago, it still looks good now.

It’s 7pm on a Friday evening there is just one couple eating. I fear that, like me, everyone else has forgotten Shear’s Yard too. The menu looks modern and appealing. Marinated lamb rump, twice cooked pork belly, celeriac glazed in black treacle, sea trout with caviar. Three courses and plenty of choice.

I love the ajo blanco, a traditional cold Spanish soup of bread, almonds and garlic, it’s served just warm and taken to another level with new season asparagus. Little knoblets of fresh and vibrant green asparagus have been briefly blanched then alongside are thinly sliced strips of raw asparagus to give the dish some texture.

Raw asparagus might not be my first go-to, but this is young and tender, bang in season and it’s grassy, raw flavour works well. The dish is finished with nibs of crushed smoked almonds, wild garlic oil and burnt grapefruit, which it was explained, is a grapefruit that has been roasted and the flesh pureed to give a subtle note of smoke and bitterness. In all it’s a dish perfect for spring.

I follow this up with sea trout and caviar in what chef Jamie Clinton calls a dashi butter sauce, a fusion of dashi and beurre blanc which creates a subtle, rounded buttery broth. There’s a salsa too that I’m not entirely convinced about.

A mix of finely diced apple, cucumber, cockles, bonito flakes and nori. Add to that dehydrated puffed up crispy potato and two types of caviar. Not the vastly expensive and endangered Beluga, but a milder and more sustainable mix of trout and herring roe, but it all feels like an ingredient too far. The trout though is accurately cooked, perfectly en pointe, with crisp skin and translucent flesh.

If these accompaniments are a misstep, the rest of the menu is lovely. A terrine of chicken, duck leg and pigeon bound together with a chicken liver parfait. The soft, meaty disc served with a ‘cherry and port reduction’, more of a jam, bringing the sweet and savoury artfully together.

My friend Jane’s lamb rump looks gorgeous. Simply served with grilled lettuce and wild garlic and a potato croquette draped with anchovy and served with anchovy jus. Nick’s pork belly too, has a sweet tonkatsu and honey glaze, sour plum jam and slices of fresh plum.

It comes with grilled broccoli and a scattering of furikake seasoning (sesame, seaweed flakes, salt and sugar). We add a side of salty, crisp and piping hot fries, a little pot of kimchi mayonnaise, and manage to hoover up the lot.

Do we have room for dessert? Of course we do. A lovely posset flavoured with coconut and the slightly medicinal flavours of cardamom, served with rhubarb that had been cooked down almost to jam but still with some texture and then given toffee brittle incorporating black sesame.

A flourless chocolate sponge, is so solidly chocolatey it feels more brownie than cake, sitting on a rum and raisin puree and topped with a velvety white chocolate and rum cremaux, so deliciously silky and curiously like an ice cream that has never been near a freezer.

Apologies then to Shear’s Yard for neglecting you all these years. Top marks for food and service. Turns out that it was only me that had been neglecting it. With my back to the room, I hadn’t noticed it filling up.

By the time we left almost every table had been taken. ‘It looks like First Dates’ said Jane – and sure enough they are all couples. Friday night must be date night at Shear’s Yard.

All we needed was Fred Sirieix to come out asking ‘Ow are you getting on’. It’s been far too long since my last date with Shear’s Yard, but we’re a good match so I’m up for second.

Shear’s Yard, 11-15 Wharf Street, The Calls, Leeds LS1 7EQ. T: 0113 244 144. www.shearsyard.com Open: Thu & Fri 5.30-9.30; Sat Lunch 1200-2.45 & Dinner 5.30-9.30; Sun 1200-3.45. Price: Tasting menu £55pp. Dinner for two inc. a bottle wine and service £135