Hattie's Kitchen — Restaurant in Leeds

Today my daughter took my mum (recently widowed) out for dinner, with our two year old granddaughter., to the restaurant. Mum's first visit without dad. The ladies chose their preferred food and beverages, and my daughter also bought chips (something the waitress questioned fit for her little), and drink for our grand daughter. Waiting for the food our granddaughter became fractious - so, my daughter took a packet of Skips from her bag, and gave her a couple. Within seconds the afore mentioned waitress marched over to demand the money for the packet of Skips that she said my daughter had not paid for, so my daughter explained. To which the waitress replied that food could not be brought onto the premises, and eaten in the restaurant. If my daughter had intended to bring her own food into the restaurant to eat she would hardly have paid for food and a drink! On putting the Skips away my grand daughter was then in tears... which in turn upset my mum, and the whole experience for mum who is finding issues with her confidence a complete disaster. The waitresses attitude was not only accusing but also hostile, belittling my daughter in front of other diners. We have frequently dined in the restaurant and have come across this particular waitress , and her judgemental attitude before - but, safe to say we will...

Breakfast only gets more average here... generic mass-market sausages, budget supermarket sliced bread, slivers of mushroom and curiously, if you want a protein-rich start to the day, even on the 'large' breakfast you only get one fried egg while the 'scrambled' version is clearly considerably more than that. Price-wise we're hovering in a bracket where, give or take a quid or two, you can reasonably expect a pretty excellent breakfast in a venue that doesn't make it's money on garden furniture and all things green and leafy. Hawthorne Farm, for example, offer the same level of 'generic' foodstuffs but at a lower price in 'buffet' quantities. Moss&Moor in Ilkley have a higher price point but some seriously tasty tucker. The Caring For Life Farm has a very worthwhile breakfast offering, as does the little roadside cafe just outside Pool in Wharfedale on the road to Harrogate. Lots of opportunity to really up the game a notch, but leaves the sense that as long as the regulars are satisfied, it's job done. And I could understand that... if the price was low enough to anticipate...

We visited today at 11.45am and had meat pie, chips and peas and jacket potato with salad.

The food would be absolutely reasonable for 60% of the price. £23 + for what we had was definitely overpriced, never mind the overheads etc.

The food was distinctly average: the pie crust was somewhat burned and generally the taste was unexceptional. The jacket potato was small and the cheese served in a dish was of the "bought already grated" type: come on, are you too lazy to grate the cheese?! Our feelings were shared by the couple next to us, who were both eating fish and chips.

I wouldn't recommend this place and it's unfortunate that some of the quality of the previous establishment has disappeared.

Next time, it's...