House of Koko - Chapel Allerton — Restaurant in Leeds

Service - Staff were lovely, attentive and helpful as always.

Atmosphere - As typical for brunch locations on the outskirts of town, it's gentrification nation.

Food - When comparing the food offering at House of Koko pre-Covid and post-covid it is night and day. Expecting all restaurants and eateries to overcome financial hardships and not to scrimp on quality ingredients is unrealistic so I will not and neither should you.

Soup of the day, roasted fennel - This was the star of the order. So tasty and so fresh, no complaints.

Hash browns - Freshly fried and satisfying, perfectly reminiscent of McDonald's hash browns. To me this is good.

Salmon and eggs benedict - Arguably the trademark of House of Koko and the emblem of brunch itself and it fell flat. Perhaps this had been sitting waiting to be brought to the table, the hollandaise was bland and thin, the bread underneath had started to turn cold and soggy. Not great.

Bacon and eggs benedict - All the preamble as above, somehow the sauce portion had been halved and the bacon was thin and dried. There's a thin line between crispy bacon and dry bacon.

Dirty chai - Cold and a little bland

Latte - Fine

Rhubarb tea - nice, fresh and refreshing!

Total - £50

Worth it? - As an admitted harsh critic not for me. However I know many people that return to House of Koko time upon time and have a fantastic experience, perhaps I received the short straw on the day, admittedly the place was totally packed and all staff were rushed off their feet working at peak brunch time on a Sunday it doesn't get much...

Went here the other week, was left feeling really deflated and disappointed. Arrived at about 3.30pm and the place looked closed, as chairs were stacked up apart from one table with a parent and child. I knocked and entered and asked if it was still open, and I have never felt more unwelcome in an establishment in my life. The owner was there and looked us up and down, stating “I’m just cleaning up” and looked away from us almost disgustedly as though they were put out by our custom. I asked if we were okay to take a seat And they stated “well you do know kitchen closed at 3?”. I looked at my friend and told them we should leave and to forget it. I was only looking to go for a coffee somewhere but the horrendous attitude of the owner left me feeling massively unwelcome and as though we were a burden to them, despite them not officially closing until an hour and a half’s time. Ended up going to the riverside cafe at roundhay instead and luckily had much nicer service and staff who welcomed us. It’s a real shame as I have been here before and enjoyed the food, but after being made to feel so unwelcome, I’m dubious to return. If you were closing early or weren’t taking any more customers that’s absolutely fine, but there is certainly a better way to go about things rather than making people feel so unwelcome. please be kinder to customers...

Lovely staff, good coffee and food, but not great at all for working. Taking into account the current times and that it is a coffee shop that offers WiFi and plugs, the fact that, even if you had eaten and are still consuming beverages, you can't carry on using a table with your friend to work and are asked to move to the window where the music is loud is actually awful. Will avoid from now on. Thank you for the good coffee and being lovely, shame that you cant respect professionals that support your business though.

Edit: not harsh at all, since we were still consuming drinks and might still have eaten further, friend was pregnant and I had only had a soup. I recommend stating clearer the no laptop rule and popping into the city centre more often to see what the reality is like, especially with people still working from home. If you prefer quantity rather than quality you receive reviews as such. (Not going to comment on social distancing or ventilation re COVID and your expected...