Ambiente Tapas Leeds — Restaurant in Leeds

This is the first Spanish restaurant I've ever visited. I went here yesterday (13/8/24) with my mum and her friends and it was such a satisfying and wonderful experience.

All the food was excellent and beautifully presented and we weren't made to wait for long until we were served. The restaurant itself was super cosy and fantastically decorated with an amazing view of the river Aire out in the back. Unfortunately, we didn't dine by it as one waiter said that he'd like to keep all the diners in one part of the restaurant (I suppose to make things easier while serving the dishes) but this is only the pettiest nit-pick and it really didn't affect our visit at all.

The waiters were all lovely and really friendly and they even agreed to take a group photo of us! The names of the dishes were in Spanish, so I was slightly nervous while I was ordering (I've seen skits on social media about waiters getting frustrated when customers mispronounce the names of the dishes 😭) but the waiter who served us was super nice, saying that learning to pronounce them is all part of the experience. (He was super cute too. 🤭) What's more, there was one waiter who was Spanish himself which I find absolutely intriguing as it really adds to the culture and feeling of authenticity we experienced while here.

I even recommended this restaurant to a friend who is super keen on the Spanish language and Spain's culture (pretty sure he's taking it for A-level) and he said he really wants to visit, especially after hearing there was a Spanish waiter!

I found that I took a liking to the Patatas Bravas. Although they may seem simple, they are just so comforting (and who says you can't enjoy simple things as much as exquisite things?) and I would really recommend them if you're not bothered by a dish that appears to be on the more "simple" side. What surprised me was the Cabeza de Bacalao Asada (a whole cod’s head finished with fermented hot sauce butter) - it was massive! And for the price (£6.95) we were really expecting a much smaller dish. Although I personally didn't have much (I was getting very full at this point), my mum and one friend did say it was incredibly delicious and tender.

All in all, this visit to Ambiente Tapas has been one of the most memorable visits to any restaurant I have ever experienced. I would highly recommend bringing your friends along, especially if they are interested in...

Food was ok. Service was friendly when available which was rare. Definitely not worth an obligatory 10%! I have never seen empanadas shaped as spring rolls, served with sweet chilli sauce - thought we were in a Chinese for a sec. Ironic since the overall aim is Spanish authenticity. Most dishes were deep fried and very greasy, off putting. However the croquetas + chutney were delicious and the meat was cooked well. Very stingy on the 'truffle' oiled potatoes. We were seated at a booth with no ambience or view. Back to back with another booth - felt like I was on an aeroplane I could feel the person on the other side of the booth moving throughout my meal. We had 3 flights, 7 tapas dishes & a dessert between 2. Our bill was 100 - pretty shocking prices for average food and poor service. Tattu is a similar price! The menus don't have prices, the drinks don't have alcohol percentages and our table was covered in uncleared, empty glasses and plates. The amount of times we had to try and get someone's attention was ridiculous. At one point I asked for more water and was told 'right away'. Never got the water. 4 other couples came and went in the time it took us to have our meal. We felt very forgotten about and mostly ignored. Upon leaving I went to the loo and on coming out, a server blocked my way up the stairs so that other guests could leave the restaurant. She chatted away and thanked them, ignoring me. Really sad. We would have returned for the sherry but not with the service we received. Really cheeky to add the 10% charge and not warn customers beforehand. Wish I'd asked for it to be removed in hindsight, considering I cleared and stacked our plates and glasses, and was parched for water repeatedly. Prices need lowering, forced service charge needs removing, spring rolls need shaping into samosas, and aioli needs to taste like aioli, not peppery mayo. A bit of variety in the food wouldn't harm - sauces are mostly the same, dressing is the same leaves every time, all battered, greasy. The dessert was delicious but rock solid (almond tart.) At minimum they should have acknowledged that they'd let us down and not added the 10% service but instead we were told we can ask for it to be removed. Keep the tenner, it's evident this place thinks they're worth it, even though we were made to...

Would not recommend. Avoid.

We had a group of 8 and decided to go for the Fiesta deal at £21.95 per person, which was supposed to include tapas and paella. We made sure to call the restaurant beforehand to double-check if this would be enough for our group. We specifically asked about the paella, and they assured us it would be sufficient.

The food and the service from the waitstaff were great, can't complain about that. But when the paella was served, the portion served was for 2 people, not 8. We barely got a small scoop of rice each.

When we asked to speak to a manager, things got weird. The first person who claimed to be the manager gave us a confusing explanation about the tapas being for eight people, which didn't match what we were told on the phone. They also served us only 6 croquettes for a group of 8, which literally contradicted what he just said.

When we asked for the bill, the person at the till said he was the manager. This made us doubt the authenticity of the manager. This guy, Javier, seemed clueless about how to manage a restaurant. Instead of helping, he argued with us in the middle of the restaurant. He even had the audacity to ask what they could do better next time, really?

Clearly, Javier needs some serious training in hospitality management, specially being a “Store” Manager. This whole mess could've been avoided with a competent manager, instead they’ve needed up with a negative review. We won't be coming back, and we're spreading the word to avoid this place.

We came to celebrate a birthday, but thanks to Javier and pretend managers? that didn't happen as planned. We strongly advise you to steer clear of this restaurant. It seems like they're more interested in making money than taking care of...