Possibly the worst service I have ever received. Extremely long wait time, complete abandonment by staff. We waited an hour and 15 minutes for one course, with no drinks offered in between. I don't mean free drinks, I mean the waiter literally didn't come and take a drinks order in that time. Details below.Was initially greeted by a very worried and confused looking waiter. Three other tables were occupied, a total of four tables. We had a booking but he didn't seem happy to see us (not unhappy either, just anxious).I'll start with the waiter, though I really felt bad for him and I don't think any of this was his fault. His level of fear and confusion made it seem like he had literally never seen a restaurant before and didn't really get the concept. God knows how he ended up working in one.We were left alone for about 15 minutes, no drinks order taken in that time. When he came to take the food order, he was visibly confused by us ordering directly from the menu verbally, had to point to the items on the physical menu (there weren't many so don't know what was going on there). He then asked if we wanted drinks, one of our group asked for ginger beer but they didn't have any (no biggie) but he asked if she wanted Peroni instead? So I guess he'd never heard of ginger beer and didn't know it was usually not alcoholic. When we said we wanted a non-alcoholic drink, he tried to remember what they had then said "All of them" - but that wasn't true because we'd just established they didn't have ginger beer. He then tried to show us soft drinks on the menu but they weren't on the menu? So maybe he'd never seen the menu/ a menu before either.That was the last interaction we had with the waiter until the bill arrived about 90 minutes later, but I continued to watch his efforts to try to serve the other tables manfully, but as stated above he clearly was untrained and it seemed like it genuinely might be his first day.The food then took an hour to come, with no further interaction with any staff. No drinks orders were taken in that time. When the food came, the sides arrived literally after we'd finished, so were fairly worthless. Amusingly one of the sides was not even hot, so what had been going on in the meantime?Which brings me to the owner/manager who popped in to help occasionally. Unfortunately it is he who bears the blame here. I don't know what had gone on behind the scenes but this restaurant was not fit to open that day and he should have been able to realise that (our experience was not unique judging from the complaints and apologies given to other tables). He was giving direction to the waiter such as "now go and tidy that table" and "ask them if they want dessert", so he knew the capability of the waiter that he was leaving in sole charge of the restaurant floor for the majority of the time. Don't know what was going on in the kitchen but presumably similar (though I was shocked to see multiple chefs in there when I went to the loo - don't know how things could have taken so long).I genuinely felt bad for everyone involved and would not have written this review if it wasn't for the final nail in the coffin. The waiter did not know how to generate a bill so the owner oversaw that and, knowing at least some of what had gone on (and definitely the wait time), allowed an automatic service charge to be included in the bill. The sheer gall of this motivated the above extended writing exercise.To be totally fair, the food was quite nice but judging from the other reviews this restaurant is painfully inconsistent, and similar experiences to ours have been occurring for at least 3 years (and that's when the owner isn't threatening customers with violence???). I hope everyone comes out alright, but steer clear of this place.
Duncan Hindle
It's taken three attempts to have a meal at Black Market. The first one was cancelled due to Covid and the second due to them not having any staff.Was the wait worth it? Yes, it certainly was.It was very quiet when we arrived around 8.30 on a Saturday evening and, to be honest, it didn't get any busier - though I suspect that is down to people still staying away from venues due to pandemic worries rather than anything else.Lovely warm welcome, with menu's brought promptly to the table. The menu and style of eating was explained - it's a sort of British version of tapa's really - so we opted for the charcuterie plate and bread for starters and then six of the main plates to share between the four of us.The food arrived as it was cooked rather than all plonked on the table at the same time which is good.All the dishes were, to be totally honest, bloody marvellous; very tasty, some were slightly quirky (but in a good way) and all arrived piping hot.We managed a chat with John the chef (think he's the co-owner as well) who helped out the lovely waitress to bring out the food. He's a charming fellow who's obviously a keen cook, willing to try different food combination, which in our case, succeeded.Criticism? Perhaps the wine list is a bit short, I don't recollect there being any French wines on there. But in these straitened times, perhaps understandable.Clean bathrooms, which is always welcome too.Will definitely be visiting again.
Sally
Beware when booking! I made a reservation online and provided card details to do. On arrival restaurant was completely closed - looks like this has happened to many others too.We raised the issue with the restaurant but have been completely ignored!
bryans2015
We have visited Black market several times, living only a few minutes away. The food is excellent; the prices are on the high side, considering portion size, and service is excellent. Our last two visits have been marred by noisy women taking photos of everything that seems to take their fancy and screeching OMG! every few minutes. They were enjoying themselves - however, other diners were missing their desert and leaving (as we did). Sorry, control the noise if you want my £80! We have not been since.
jakebutcher97
Every dish we had (which made up 75% of the menu) was delicious - particularly the salt fish fritters and coffee sticky toffee pudding. Nice atmosphere for friends or couples to chat, which is important as the service is on the slow side. The food is definitely worth the wait!
Charly M
Fantastic food, great atmosphere, lovely owner! The menu offered fabulous choice - baked celeriac, salt fish fritters, beetroot and jalopeños. The atmosphere and decor inside is really inviting. Both servers were great at explaining each dish as it was brought over to the table. We also really enjoyed the wine! Highly recommended!
Jonathan Westoby
What a find! Lamb chops were delicious but the steak with chimichurri was possibly the best steak I've ever tasted. Chatted to the owner who was euch a great host and incredibly passionate.
BLLLeeds
We sat outside under the pergola. Staff switched the heaters on and brought throws to ensure we were comfortable. We ordered baby squid and saltfish starters followed by truffle chicken. The food was hot and delicious. Excellent service. Lovely cocktails. Can’t wait to go back.
Pippa Crossley
Great little place! I used to live right behind here and what a shame this place wasn’t here when I did!We tried all 5 of the small plates to share between two as a light meal before going to a party elsewhere. All the plates were delicious and original. The crispy salt fish was a little salty for our taste (although I guess the clue is in the name…) and our favourites were the squid and the roasted cauliflower.Attentive but not over the top service and very accommodating regarding my nut allergy.The venue and decor is lovely - the only negative is it was very quiet when it deserves to be packed!
David Salisbury
Definitely the best roast in town. The food here was amazing. Everything was beautifully prepared and presented and there were some lovely creative twists on stuff too. I had the beef and my wife had the pork belly and they were both incredible.
BY FAR the best food we’ve had since moving to Leeds: Sunday roast at Michelin Guide recommended Black Market. Gorgeous mains and exciting starters and drinks. All of that at very good prices too.
Joshua Tempest
What a little treat! Outstanding food, Attentive, knowledgeable yet spacious service. Great recommendations on wine. And good value Sunday set menu. Couldn’t ask for, what a find!!
Purple. Bow
Absolutely gorgeous food, service spot on, the best espresso martinis, good quality wine....steak cooked to perfection! .I.had a lovely Saturday evening with my hubby, we will both definitely book again.
grickson
First visit last month for a Sunday lunch. Really good, and service was exemplary. Attractive location and nice interior. Num num...
726ceris
Popped in for Sunday lunch and it didn’t disappoint. Very busy, great atmosphere , friendly staff. We have beef (served very rare), vegetarian wellington and belly pork. Pork was particularly good. Malbec divine. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Couldn’t fault and with a back drop of 80’s music
Possibly the worst service I have ever received. Extremely long wait time, complete abandonment by staff. We waited an hour and 15 minutes for one course, with no drinks offered in between. I don't mean free drinks, I mean the waiter literally didn't come and take a drinks order in that time. Details below.Was initially greeted by a very worried and confused looking waiter. Three other tables were occupied, a total of four tables. We had a booking but he didn't seem happy to see us (not unhappy either, just anxious).I'll start with the waiter, though I really felt bad for him and I don't think any of this was his fault. His level of fear and confusion made it seem like he had literally never seen a restaurant before and didn't really get the concept. God knows how he ended up working in one.We were left alone for about 15 minutes, no drinks order taken in that time. When he came to take the food order, he was visibly confused by us ordering directly from the menu verbally, had to point to the items on the physical menu (there weren't many so don't know what was going on there). He then asked if we wanted drinks, one of our group asked for ginger beer but they didn't have any (no biggie) but he asked if she wanted Peroni instead? So I guess he'd never heard of ginger beer and didn't know it was usually not alcoholic. When we said we wanted a non-alcoholic drink, he tried to remember what they had then said "All of them" - but that wasn't true because we'd just established they didn't have ginger beer. He then tried to show us soft drinks on the menu but they weren't on the menu? So maybe he'd never seen the menu/ a menu before either.That was the last interaction we had with the waiter until the bill arrived about 90 minutes later, but I continued to watch his efforts to try to serve the other tables manfully, but as stated above he clearly was untrained and it seemed like it genuinely might be his first day.The food then took an hour to come, with no further interaction with any staff. No drinks orders were taken in that time. When the food came, the sides arrived literally after we'd finished, so were fairly worthless. Amusingly one of the sides was not even hot, so what had been going on in the meantime?Which brings me to the owner/manager who popped in to help occasionally. Unfortunately it is he who bears the blame here. I don't know what had gone on behind the scenes but this restaurant was not fit to open that day and he should have been able to realise that (our experience was not unique judging from the complaints and apologies given to other tables). He was giving direction to the waiter such as "now go and tidy that table" and "ask them if they want dessert", so he knew the capability of the waiter that he was leaving in sole charge of the restaurant floor for the majority of the time. Don't know what was going on in the kitchen but presumably similar (though I was shocked to see multiple chefs in there when I went to the loo - don't know how things could have taken so long).I genuinely felt bad for everyone involved and would not have written this review if it wasn't for the final nail in the coffin. The waiter did not know how to generate a bill so the owner oversaw that and, knowing at least some of what had gone on (and definitely the wait time), allowed an automatic service charge to be included in the bill. The sheer gall of this motivated the above extended writing exercise.To be totally fair, the food was quite nice but judging from the other reviews this restaurant is painfully inconsistent, and similar experiences to ours have been occurring for at least 3 years (and that's when the owner isn't threatening customers with violence???). I hope everyone comes out alright, but steer clear of this place.
It's taken three attempts to have a meal at Black Market. The first one was cancelled due to Covid and the second due to them not having any staff.Was the wait worth it? Yes, it certainly was.It was very quiet when we arrived around 8.30 on a Saturday evening and, to be honest, it didn't get any busier - though I suspect that is down to people still staying away from venues due to pandemic worries rather than anything else.Lovely warm welcome, with menu's brought promptly to the table. The menu and style of eating was explained - it's a sort of British version of tapa's really - so we opted for the charcuterie plate and bread for starters and then six of the main plates to share between the four of us.The food arrived as it was cooked rather than all plonked on the table at the same time which is good.All the dishes were, to be totally honest, bloody marvellous; very tasty, some were slightly quirky (but in a good way) and all arrived piping hot.We managed a chat with John the chef (think he's the co-owner as well) who helped out the lovely waitress to bring out the food. He's a charming fellow who's obviously a keen cook, willing to try different food combination, which in our case, succeeded.Criticism? Perhaps the wine list is a bit short, I don't recollect there being any French wines on there. But in these straitened times, perhaps understandable.Clean bathrooms, which is always welcome too.Will definitely be visiting again.
Beware when booking! I made a reservation online and provided card details to do. On arrival restaurant was completely closed - looks like this has happened to many others too.We raised the issue with the restaurant but have been completely ignored!
We have visited Black market several times, living only a few minutes away. The food is excellent; the prices are on the high side, considering portion size, and service is excellent. Our last two visits have been marred by noisy women taking photos of everything that seems to take their fancy and screeching OMG! every few minutes. They were enjoying themselves - however, other diners were missing their desert and leaving (as we did). Sorry, control the noise if you want my £80! We have not been since.
Every dish we had (which made up 75% of the menu) was delicious - particularly the salt fish fritters and coffee sticky toffee pudding. Nice atmosphere for friends or couples to chat, which is important as the service is on the slow side. The food is definitely worth the wait!
Fantastic food, great atmosphere, lovely owner! The menu offered fabulous choice - baked celeriac, salt fish fritters, beetroot and jalopeños. The atmosphere and decor inside is really inviting. Both servers were great at explaining each dish as it was brought over to the table. We also really enjoyed the wine! Highly recommended!
What a find! Lamb chops were delicious but the steak with chimichurri was possibly the best steak I've ever tasted. Chatted to the owner who was euch a great host and incredibly passionate.
We sat outside under the pergola. Staff switched the heaters on and brought throws to ensure we were comfortable. We ordered baby squid and saltfish starters followed by truffle chicken. The food was hot and delicious. Excellent service. Lovely cocktails. Can’t wait to go back.
Great little place! I used to live right behind here and what a shame this place wasn’t here when I did!We tried all 5 of the small plates to share between two as a light meal before going to a party elsewhere. All the plates were delicious and original. The crispy salt fish was a little salty for our taste (although I guess the clue is in the name…) and our favourites were the squid and the roasted cauliflower.Attentive but not over the top service and very accommodating regarding my nut allergy.The venue and decor is lovely - the only negative is it was very quiet when it deserves to be packed!
Definitely the best roast in town. The food here was amazing. Everything was beautifully prepared and presented and there were some lovely creative twists on stuff too. I had the beef and my wife had the pork belly and they were both incredible.
Restaurantji Recommends
BY FAR the best food we’ve had since moving to Leeds: Sunday roast at Michelin Guide recommended Black Market. Gorgeous mains and exciting starters and drinks. All of that at very good prices too.
What a little treat! Outstanding food, Attentive, knowledgeable yet spacious service. Great recommendations on wine. And good value Sunday set menu. Couldn’t ask for, what a find!!
Absolutely gorgeous food, service spot on, the best espresso martinis, good quality wine....steak cooked to perfection! .I.had a lovely Saturday evening with my hubby, we will both definitely book again.
First visit last month for a Sunday lunch. Really good, and service was exemplary. Attractive location and nice interior. Num num...
Popped in for Sunday lunch and it didn’t disappoint. Very busy, great atmosphere , friendly staff. We have beef (served very rare), vegetarian wellington and belly pork. Pork was particularly good. Malbec divine. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Couldn’t fault and with a back drop of 80’s music