Brew+Bao: Chapel Allerton — Restaurant in Leeds

Alright food, OTT covid-style ordering system and feels staff-less and place feels unloved. When we arrived had high hopes considering a new place and I am a particular fan of Asian streetfood - it was relatively quiet, a few mums with children sitting about and chatting. First noticed many of the tables didn't look particularly clean, some were simply disgusting. Choosing a table to sit on was more like avoiding the many unclean ones. Ordering a bit finicky would honestly just be better if they had waiting staff come and ask you, instead of having to put your name, details email etc in. Food upon arrival was alright - not much more to say on that. By the time we left tables around us still unclean, the time we had been there two staff must've come out only to serve food but don't seem to want to acknowledge there is basic cleaning to do in the outdoor bit. To add - ordering process a bit finnicky, you have to order your food via the QR code yet have to go to the bar for drinks- also if ordering two baos for two people they give you it in one basket without a plate meaning you have to share baos in one basket which can get quiet messy without separate plates. Don't want to be negative but as somebody who lives in Chapel Allerton and has been eating here years this place really isn't cutting it and unfortunately won't be...

Visited Brew + Bao with friends for a drink & to try out the food. Drinks are reasonably priced and there’s a good selection of beers. The food… You have to order at the terminals by the kitchen or you can, apparently, do it on your phone. We opted for the former and found it a bit fiddly - but it was our 1st time using the system - it seems a bit tacky to me, a bit like a tatty McDonalds. But hey ho, go with the flow. All four of us opted for the meal deal; 3 dishes for £15. My choices were: The pulled pork bao, which was fine. Duck fries were essentially mediocre frozen chips with a bit of dressing & some duck bits thrown on top & nothing to write home about. My disdain is reserved for the salt + pepper squid (which you pay extra for). Half a dozen overcooked very small balls of something that tasted of nothing and had the texture of chewing gum that had been chewed to death by a bulldog before being spat out and served up as a ‘dish’. All of this delivered to your table in a plastic basket with a sheet of grease proof paper under the food. My three dining companions had different food options but came away with a similar reaction to their offerings as me. Okay, the foods not that expensive, but it’s not that good either. I’ll return for the beer, but not...

The food was good as was the service. However, we had to pay for the four meals and a bottle of wine before we received the food since the alternative was to leave a credit/debit card behind the bar. I know of no bank which would find this acceptable and some, if not all, banks may refuse to compensate you if your card was cloned whilst it was out of your possession. I infer from this Kith and Kin policy that the company gives priority to protecting against the risk of customers doing"a runner" over the customer's risk of having his/her card cloned. Is there any bank which thinks that it's ok to hand over a credit/debit card to a stranger for a couple of hours? As we had already paid for the food before it was served, it was more difficult to negotiate a reduction when one significant ingredient was missing from two of the ordered dishes. We were informed that the kitchen had run out of the crackling that should have accompanied the pork and the message from the manager, who didn't deign to come and speak to us directly, seemed to be that it was just hard lines. In the end we were able to negotiate complimentary coffees as recompense for the...