Critic Giles Coren says food in Leeds is ‘rubbish’

HE’S A food critic known for his no-holds-barred style and writes for some of the most sophisticated magazines.

Now Giles Coren, 45, has sparked a Twitter storm after condemning food in Leeds as “rubbish” and “poor” and saying one noted eaterie in the city was a “charming spot but it serves very ordinary food. Clumsy bistro standards from the 1970s”.

When fellow Twitter users questioned him, he said: “Yorkshire is good in parts.”

Yorkshire FoodFinder responded with sarcasm: “Thanks for ‘Yorks is good in parts’ crumb – most honoured!” Coren, who writes for The Times, responded: “I don’t even mean it. I’m just being nice.”

The spat began after a BBC journalist in the Midlands wrote a piece headlined: “Is there culinary life outside London?” Coren said Leeds’s restaurant scene was also “rubbish”.