Restaurant review: Six, Leeds

The mission statement for Six, a newly opened health cafe/restaurant in Leeds, might sound familiar. “We are committed to solely using locally sourced, organic, seasonal ingredients.” Oh, and they’re all about “passion”, too. And that vogue for “clean eating”.

Sure enough, glamorous young women in block heels and fake fur are brunching on vegan, gluten-free “Buddha bowls” and sipping turmeric “healing shots”.

The last time I was here it was a breezy Italian, latterly one of those eat-as-much-as-you-can Brazilians. The owner of Six, Fabio Lauro, has elegantly restyled it with dark grey walls, exposed brick, trailing greenery and olive green velvet chairs.

It’s his second branch of Six. The first is in Brighton with much the same menu bar the desserts which are mysteriously missing in Leeds. In fact, a worrying number of elements are missing. We order two glasses of Fiano but it’s off. The Pinot Grigio, then. No? We’ll have the house white, then. Sorry, that’s off too. Full of apologies, our waitress eventually brings a half empty bottle of Gewürztraminer. “It’s £35 a bottle but you can have it for £5 a glass.” Well, OK. Then she found some Pinot Grigio after all. We settle for a glass of each.

Was everyone else drinking “superfood smoothies”? Not quite. The fake furs were on “Bottomless Prosecco”: £15 and as much Prosecco as you can drink in two hours.

Forgive my passing sniffiness about clean eating. I’m not against organic, vegan or vegetarian. I’m just not convinced by the “free-from” tendency unless it’s for a genuine allergy or proven medical reasons.

We are here for lunch and except for a few tofu options the menu is pretty mainstream: courgette and basil soup; deep fried calamari and zucchini; duck confit with morello cherry sauce; burger with fries.

We order and, true to pattern, the squid and zucchini is off. The ‘organic bread selection’ of sourdough, rye, brown and focaccia produces only sourdough. The ‘French butter’ is not French but those foil-wrapped portions of Irish butter. Passionately local, not. Taken off the bill, yes.

Things finally look up with the crab and lobster ravioli, a proper gutsy portion, with tasty well-filled parcels, finished with garlic, basil and grilled cherry tomatoes.

Aubergine fritters with hummus and salad is also good – at least the aubergine is. There is no salad to speak of, just a few pea shoots. But dipped in flour (gluten free), deep fried then drizzled with maple syrup, it’s a happy marriage of sweet and savoury. The hummus is not hummus as we know it. This one is grainy and pink. It may be roughly mashed beans or chickpeas with beetroot, it’s hard to tell.

We order the wild sea bass for one of our mains. Wow, at £15 for two large fillets, that’s a bargain. The diced purple potato won’t win any beauty contest but with a white wine sauce and kale, there are some forthright flavours at work, adding up to another respectable dish.

Since Six’s USP is healthy eating, I am compelled to order its signature dish, the organic hot Buddha bowl. You’re up to speed on Buddha bowls right? A deep bowl of healthy ingredients, probably vegetarian, sometimes vegan usually with a base of rice or grain and with veg piled on top and given some sort of dressing.

I often put together something like this from whatever’s in the fridge. The black rice is mouth-searingly hot, it’s topped with pak choi, kale and crisp tofu and lifted into deliciousness by the spiced coconut and chilli sauce. The fried egg ordered to top it out, you guessed it, doesn’t arrive but it’s comforting, and tasty, if not £16 comforting and tasty.

At dessert we can choose from the brunch menu: banana bread, waffles, granola or an organic acai smoothie bowl. In the base is a puree of frozen acai berry, a purple “superfood” from Brazil, that tastes like frozen blueberry yoghurt. This is topped with granola, coconut and acai berries. It would make a substantial breakfast, but as a dessert, it’s a cop-out.

Sorry Six, good looking place, lovely staff and some decent food, but scattering all those fine words and promises doesn’t cut it if you can’t produce a glass of house wine, bread and butter as advertised, whizz up a decent hummus and offer a proper pudding.

This place needs to get its act together and fast.

Six, 66-68 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 2EE. 0113 246 0112, sixleeds.com. Price: Dinner for two including bottle wine and service £97.