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Recommendations for Good places to eat in Sheffield

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DerbyTup,   were you around Sheffield in the early 90's?  In West street  Le Neptune opened, an it was a fantastic fish restaurant.  It was the first Richard Smith retaurant in Sheffield.   I went there twice  (paying myself only the second time) and we had great meals.  then it suddendly close, within 12 months of its start.     Richard Smith then came to Crosspool, where he opened Artisan  - and told me he had to shift down a gear because Sheffield could not take a top restaurant.    And then it changed Artisan to a more bistrot level (do not remeber the new name, I think Catch - but later sold to Aligargh), and  ended up opening Thyme in Glossop Rd, which still exist and is average.

 

Same story for the Fish Restaurant in front of the Hallamsire (Loch Fyne, now closed for a few years), which struggled to fill the rooms although when we went it was very nice indeed.

 

So, it is not easy to keep a top-level restaurant in Sheffield, both for the high costs of supplies, sometime because of bad marketing, sometime because the chef is not good enough to cook gorgeous food keeping the price down.  That is a skill that not many have.

Edited by MaxVinella

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Guest makapaka
3 hours ago, DerbyTup said:

I'm not disagreeing that there is a market for more upmarket places to eat, include me in that, but regrettably we are in the minority.

 

I'm basing my opinion on a few things, but not least a conversation I had with the owner of "Bar & Grill" a few  years ago.  Do you remember that place?  It was in Leopold Square.  It had a very nice cocktail bar, accessible from the West street side, and a restaurant upstairs.  I thought it was a really good addition to Sheffield.  I wouldn't call it "haute-cuisine" exactly, but it had nice "bistro" style food of a good standard.  I'm pretty sure it was on here that I read a comment about it, which went something like, 

 

'£18 for steak and chips!  I can get fish and chips for a fiver from our chip shop'.  

 

OK so this is a very stupid comment - but there were others that baulked at the idea of paying £18 for steak and chips.  I was talking to the owner one night and he was telling me he had two or three other restaurants in West Yorkshire, which were all doing very well, but he was struggling to make the Sheffield one pay.  One observation he made was that they sell a lot of champagne in the other restaurants, but in Sheffield it's non-existent, everyone wants Prosecco.  His comments were that, for whatever reason, people in Sheffield just didn't seem prepared to pay a bit more for quality food.  

 

There was another really good place, "Cafe Masala", on Westfield Terrace.  A small, boutique type Indian place, serving really different Indian food, with a quality wine list.  That place closed down.  I got to know the owner there too and he told me just before they closed that this was the plan.  He said he just couldn't make it pay, because people in Sheffield wanted their onion bhaji's and chicken tikka masala and chips - there was no call for upscale Indian food.  Such a shame.

 

You then look around the city and you struggle to find upmarket restaurants or shops.  There's no way that  Selfridges, or  Harvey Nicks would venture here.  Even a nice "chain" restaurant like "The Ivy", there isn't one here.  Why?  

 

I'm afraid the majority of people do not appreciate such things and aren't prepared to pay for it.  That's the very reason these places don't open up here in the first place, or don't last very long if they do.  Thank God we've still got a few good places, such as Marco @ Milano's, Vero Gusto, Joro, Rafters.  But the choice is very limited compared to other cities of similar or smaller size.

 

We tend to go to Leeds or Manchester if we want upmarket eating/shopping.  Although there are some very good places a little bit closer, around Huddersfield you've got places like the 3 Acres at Shelley, or the Dyeworks at Kirkburton.  Both these are very nice places to eat and worth a 40 minute drive.

 

 

 

Basically a few restaurants shut down and the moaning owners blamed the customers yeah?

 

 

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3 hours ago, makapaka said:

Basically a few restaurants shut down and the moaning owners blamed the customers yeah?

 

 

I think he is partly right.  A big issue is places losing too much money being open Monday - Thursday.  Being busy only on Friday and  Saturday isn't enough to sustain the business.  Not enough people go out during the week.

Liverpool and Manchester city centres are buzzing on a Wednesday and Thursday evening. Sheffield is either dead quiet, or most of the people out are students.

A big reason for this issue in Sheffield is tourism. There is virtually none. Manchester, Liverpool and to an extent Leeds are all tourist cities that people go to for a long weekend/4day break. Visitors from other countries as well as the rest of the UK. Sheffield is more reliant on its own citizens and students.  I don't think the issue is specifically Sheffield people. 

Edited by EFCMatt

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Can we stay on topic please (recommendations)?

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Away from posh nosh to budget food... I highly recommend to go and visit the Shawarma place opposite The Cremorne on London Road. You get a tremendous wrap for £2.50. Bread cooked to order in the tandoor in front of you and filled with either meat or falafel and lots of fresh salad.

 

They also do a fabulous plate of houmous and bread to go with it too for a couple of quid.

 

If you're around London Road either lunchtime or in the evening, I would definitely give this place a try. 

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12 hours ago, DerbyTup said:

I'm not disagreeing that there is a market for more upmarket places to eat, include me in that, but regrettably we are in the minority.

 

I'm basing my opinion on a few things, but not least a conversation I had with the owner of "Bar & Grill" a few  years ago.  Do you remember that place?  It was in Leopold Square.  It had a very nice cocktail bar, accessible from the West street side, and a restaurant upstairs.  I thought it was a really good addition to Sheffield.  I wouldn't call it "haute-cuisine" exactly, but it had nice "bistro" style food of a good standard.  I'm pretty sure it was on here that I read a comment about it, which went something like, 

 

'£18 for steak and chips!  I can get fish and chips for a fiver from our chip shop'.  

 

OK so this is a very stupid comment - but there were others that baulked at the idea of paying £18 for steak and chips.  I was talking to the owner one night and he was telling me he had two or three other restaurants in West Yorkshire, which were all doing very well, but he was struggling to make the Sheffield one pay.  One observation he made was that they sell a lot of champagne in the other restaurants, but in Sheffield it's non-existent, everyone wants Prosecco.  His comments were that, for whatever reason, people in Sheffield just didn't seem prepared to pay a bit more for quality food.  

 

There was another really good place, "Cafe Masala", on Westfield Terrace.  A small, boutique type Indian place, serving really different Indian food, with a quality wine list.  That place closed down.  I got to know the owner there too and he told me just before they closed that this was the plan.  He said he just couldn't make it pay, because people in Sheffield wanted their onion bhaji's and chicken tikka masala and chips - there was no call for upscale Indian food.  Such a shame.

 

You then look around the city and you struggle to find upmarket restaurants or shops.  There's no way that  Selfridges, or  Harvey Nicks would venture here.  Even a nice "chain" restaurant like "The Ivy", there isn't one here.  Why?  

 

I'm afraid the majority of people do not appreciate such things and aren't prepared to pay for it.  That's the very reason these places don't open up here in the first place, or don't last very long if they do.  Thank God we've still got a few good places, such as Marco @ Milano's, Vero Gusto, Joro, Rafters.  But the choice is very limited compared to other cities of similar or smaller size.

 

We tend to go to Leeds or Manchester if we want upmarket eating/shopping.  Although there are some very good places a little bit closer, around Huddersfield you've got places like the 3 Acres at Shelley, or the Dyeworks at Kirkburton.  Both these are very nice places to eat and worth a 40 minute drive.

 

 

 

I used to like Bar & Grill and thought it was a shame when it closed.

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Guest makapaka
6 hours ago, EFCMatt said:

I think he is partly right.  A big issue is places losing too much money being open Monday - Thursday.  Being busy only on Friday and  Saturday isn't enough to sustain the business.  Not enough people go out during the week.

Liverpool and Manchester city centres are buzzing on a Wednesday and Thursday evening. Sheffield is either dead quiet, or most of the people out are students.

A big reason for this issue in Sheffield is tourism. There is virtually none. Manchester, Liverpool and to an extent Leeds are all tourist cities that people go to for a long weekend/4day break. Visitors from other countries as well as the rest of the UK. Sheffield is more reliant on its own citizens and students.  I don't think the issue is specifically Sheffield people. 

I wouldn’t disagree with much of that.

 

i just don’t like the elitist, snobby view portrayed that there is a certain group of people crying out for these places - held back by a majority of unwilling people.

 

its not the case - we all know we’ve not got a city centre like Leeds or Manchester - that doesn’t make the people in Sheffield a load of doner kebab eating, tight fisted, know nowts.

 

Back on topic - echo bungleboy - been there - it was great - is there one in Leeds or Manchester?

Edited by makapaka

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9 hours ago, bungleboy69 said:

Away from posh nosh to budget food... I highly recommend to go and visit the Shawarma place opposite The Cremorne on London Road. You get a tremendous wrap for £2.50. Bread cooked to order in the tandoor in front of you and filled with either meat or falafel and lots of fresh salad.

 

They also do a fabulous plate of houmous and bread to go with it too for a couple of quid.

 

If you're around London Road either lunchtime or in the evening, I would definitely give this place a try. 

Worth knowing - thanks.  I like a good Shawarma.  

 

Another "cheap-eat" that's worth a try is "Street Food Chef".  There's 2 in Sheffield - one on Sharrow Vale Road and one on Arundel Street. It's Mexican and they do excellent burrito's.

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Went to Tsuki on Saturday, the new Japanese place on West Street. We went for a fixed price of £30 per person where you can order whatever you want off the menu over 2 hours. The food and service were all really good.

The menu had a good selection of sushi, hot and cold appetisers , tempura dishes, and Teppanyaki type dishes.  Highly recommended if you like Japanese food and enjoy trying lots of different things. All the food seemed cooked fresh to order.

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On 03/10/2019 at 07:36, DerbyTup said:

Worth knowing - thanks.  I like a good Shawarma.  

 

Another "cheap-eat" that's worth a try is "Street Food Chef".  There's 2 in Sheffield - one on Sharrow Vale Road and one on Arundel Street. It's Mexican and they do excellent burrito's.

They have a pop up place in Orchard Square currently, in addition to those you mentioned. 

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On 02/10/2019 at 22:32, bungleboy69 said:

Away from posh nosh to budget food... I highly recommend to go and visit the Shawarma place opposite The Cremorne on London Road. You get a tremendous wrap for £2.50. Bread cooked to order in the tandoor in front of you and filled with either meat or falafel and lots of fresh salad.

 

They also do a fabulous plate of houmous and bread to go with it too for a couple of quid.

 

If you're around London Road either lunchtime or in the evening, I would definitely give this place a try. 

Yes this place is great. The lentil soup is delish too! For a quid!

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On 02/10/2019 at 23:00, makapaka said:

I wouldn’t disagree with much of that.

 

i just don’t like the elitist, snobby view portrayed that there is a certain group of people crying out for these places - held back by a majority of unwilling people.

 

its not the case - we all know we’ve not got a city centre like Leeds or Manchester - that doesn’t make the people in Sheffield a load of doner kebab eating, tight fisted, know nowts.

 

Back on topic - echo bungleboy - been there - it was great - is there one in Leeds or Manchester?

But both Leeds and Manchester have higher average weekly earnings than Sheffield and Sheffield has a higher unemployment rate than Leeds. Unemployment rate is only very slightly lower fo Sheffield than Manchester. 

 

I don't perceive cost of living in Leeds to be much different to Sheffield, apart from house value / rental costs in like-for-like neighbourhoods. 

Edited by saywhatnow

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