Stuzzi: The Best Sunday Roast in Leeds?

One thing that there's no shortage of in Leeds, is great roast dinners. But last weekend, I visited Stuzzi and was absolutely blown away - in my opinion, it is definitely the best Sunday roast in Leeds.

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What is Stuzzi?

For those who don't know Stuzzi, it's an Italian small plates restaurant, and in my opinion one of the best restaurants in Leeds. The also have a branch in Harrogate, but I've only been to the Leeds one.

Stuzzi is short for Stuzzichini, which are bite-size dishes eaten by hand, between drinks, to 'keep oneself going'. They are served in small osterias and bars across Italy, and I lived for them when visiting Venice a few years ago.

Stuzzi takes inspiration from this style of food, combining it with modern cooking techniques, traditional techniques passed from Italian friends and colleagues, and the finest fresh produce (using local ingredients and ingredients imported from Italy).

Aside from the food, Stuzzi also nail the drinks! Their wine list is fantastic, and the staff are always happy to talk you through it and give recommendations. On Sunday, I was able to describe the kind of wine I wanted to the member of staff serving us, and he gave three recommendations. We went for the most unusual sounding one and it was perfect.

The cocktails are equally fabulous, particularly their Negroni made using their own Stuzzi gin, and I saw someone drinking and Espresso Martini which looks ever so smooth and creamy.

You can always expect amazing service at Stuzzi, and it's a beautiful setting too with arguably the best window in the city.

Why is Stuzzi the Best Sunday Roast in Leeds?

Let's start with the single most important part of a roast dinner: the gravy.

It was a red wine & Osso Bucco (veal shank) gravy and it was silky and so flavourful, but without stealing the show from anything else on the plate. Apparently a LOT of bones go into making it!

For the meat, I chose North Yorkshire Beef Sirloin. There is also Porchetta or celeraic on the menu. The beef was pink, so soft (I hate the cliche description of melt-in-the-mouth, but this is exactly what it did), and tasted, quite simply, very beefy. It couldn't have been any better.

The Yorkshire pudding was lovely, the potatoes had clearly been cooked in EXACTLY the right amount of fat, all of the veg (carrots, parsnips, greens) was delightful too.

One thing that should be mentioned, was the the quantity of each element was just right, it was all so well balanced.

The roast beef also came with a little crispy beef and horseradish tortellini.

We ordered two extra sides: Truffle Taleggio Cauliflower and Charred Hispi Cabbage. I would highly recommend both of these!

Child Friendly Stuzzi

My final thing to mention, is that's it's really child friendly at Stuzzi.

Lots of families there with young children, they do kids roasts and also pasta, which my daughter absolutely loved.

They have the white Ikea high chairs which every parent I know is a fan of, and it's the only high chair my little one will actually stay in!

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