SAPORI Italian restaurant — Restaurant in Kirklees

Sapori is a family run Italian restaurant in the heart of Lindley Huddersfield that opened last year to rave reviews. Both of the owners have Italian heritage so we knew we were in for some proper authentic Italian food. The menu has lots of twists on Italian classic dishes but the main focus is on their homemade pasta dishes. Huge shout out to our fabulous waitress, who chatted with us for ages and gave us some great recommendations from the menu- there is nothing better than people who are passionate about the food and drink that they are serving. Speaking of the food, we expected it to be great but it completely surpassed all of our expectations. Everything was beautifully presented and absolutely packed with bold flavours. We devoured every last bite of all of our dishes and we truly felt like we were back in Italy

Highlights included

Parpadelle al Ragu di Anatra (Parpadelle with Duck and Olive Ragu). Hands down one of the best pasta dishes we have ever had the pleasure of trying. The sauce was gorgeous- rich, meaty, bold with that sharp salty bite from the olives. The duck was a fantastic addition with its deep gamey and slightly smoky flavour. The pasta was absolutely stunning- thick ribbons cooked perfectly al dente and just tasted super fresh- it reminded us of ravioli style pasta and we loved it.

Carbonara- With all of the different choices of pasta on the menu, you may wonder why i picked a classic. When we make pasta at home we often stick to the tomato based sauces so i wanted to try something creamy- also the simplest of dishes really show how good a restaurant is as there is nowhere to hide. What can i say, it was absolutely gorgeous, like seriously moreish where you just cant stop eating. I dont know exactly what was in the sauce but it packed a real flavour punch- rich and buttery with a lovely kick of pepper running through. The panchetta was cooked to perfection adding that crispy crunchy salty bite to the sea of creamy goodness. The fresh pasta buried under a generous helping of parmesan was simply delicious. A classic dish taken to the next level

Creme Brulee- This is one of my favourite desserts of all time, if not my number one. This started with that thick layer of caramelisation that has the perfect crack when you tap your spoon. Buried inside was a gorgeous rich vanilla heavy buttery creamy brulee custard. Heavenly, decadent and indulgent- i absolutely loved this version

To drink we enjoyed Limoncello Spritz, Espresso Martini and Old Fashioned, which were all well balanced and tasted delicious

Highly recommend a visit here if you live in the West Yorkshire area, so great to have another fantastic local independent...

Visited Sapori 2 weeks ago Friday 4.0pm 2 people, got there on time nobody else in smart young waitress showed us to table 10 mins later came to ask if we wanted a drink !!, ordered Negroni & Aperol , my partner who is a regular Aperol drinker said the was a over kill on soda , ordered starters Arancini & Calamari, both o.k but Arancini tasted good on a bed of truffle sauce, proble.was cold plate so had to eat quick as sauce was concealing on cold plate, mains were Tagliatelle all'Amatriciana (pasta ,tomatoes cured diced pork cheek, & Risotto with leek Asparagus & King prawn, the Risotto was fine but the Tagliatelle the diced pork was hard and inedible plus the dish was totally over salted to the point my partner was still complaining about a sore mouth 2 days later, we ordered a dessert to share Tiramasu which was on chocolate powder & a thick layer of cho olate powder on top making it "claggy" also completely devoid of the taste of Mars alas wine, we had white wine to start which was only slightly chilled,all in all not a great meal ,and the worst part if you are going ,in very small print on the very bottom of the menu ,the dreaded 10% discretionary service charge !!!, how can any resteraunt have a service charge on alcohol ???, worse I have spoken to two different people who dined there didn't see the service charge wer,nt informed & gave a tip ?? which was...

A gorgeous restaurant and a lovely place to be. However the food quality is not great. Basic recipes like bruschetta need top quality tomatoes bursting with flavour. It was very bland. Presentation was poor. I had the catch of the day - seabass - which was £24. I could see that it was originally a beautiful piece of fish but it was so over-cooked and literally plonked on top of a pile of roasted new potatoes (I was expecting buttered new potatoes) and no veg. A bland seafood sauce - the same one on the lobster ravioli (which was also disappointing and for the 22 pound price tag, small as well as lacking I'm the rich flavour you'd expect from this dish) which was very odd as it doesn't go with seabass at all. Just an underwhelming experience as far as the food was concerned. At 140 pounds a couple including drinks, it was a steep night out for poor quality food. However, I can't fault the staff who were excellent and charming, not the restaurant itself which is beautifully appointed. We arrived at 8pm and the restaurant was almost full on arrival but within less than an hour it was largely empty which doesn't bode well on a Saturday night. This review is not meant to slate this lovely place at all; merely to provide some feedback as the food was really below expectations and could easily be improved to make this restaurant...