Bibi’s Criterion

Category: £20 - £50

We recently had the pleasure of reviewing Bibi’s Criterion restaurant situated off Sovereign Street in Leeds city centre.  On entering you cannot fail to be impressed by the decadence – it has a fantastic Art Deco interior and it’s huge, boasting over 270 covers, it is very imposing but at the same time, welcoming.

To me Bibi’s had a lot to live up to as everyone and everybody in Leeds has heard of Bibi’s – its name is simply legendary.

We decided to have a pre-dinner drink at the bar and then after ten minutes got taken through to the restaurant.  I was delighted as we were sat in a fantastic position being able to watch the whole restaurant (I love people watching – so for me this was perfect).

You would expect in such a huge restaurant that you wouldn’t get an intimate feel but no, somehow, Bibi’s has got it just right.  It has a great mix of people from your young trendies through to sophisticated olders.  I adored the place and I hadn’t eaten or ordered yet!  The menu didn’t disappoint either, its huge – you cannot fail to fancy something from this menu.

We began with Pizza with tomato and roast garlic, Spiedino Di Gambei E Calamari (grilled Calamari and baby tiger prawns on a skewer served with black tagliolini and lemon oil) and Culatello Di Zibello Con Reggiano (the finest and sweetest Pama ham, wafer thin sliced and served with Reggiano cheese shavings).  They all tasted absolutely great – my favourite was the Pizza with tomato and garlic – it was just baked to perfection.  In fact, I don’t think Richard had any as I claimed it for myself!

For our mains we had Florentina Di Manzo Alla Griglia (chargrilled prime Angus T bone steak with herbs de Provence and sea salt, drizzled with the finest Tuscan extra virgin olive oil) and Ravioli “Villa Rose” (scampi ravioli with baby tiger prawns prosecco wine and creamy lobster sauce).  To accompany Richard’s T bone he had Porzioni Di Verdure Individuali (individual portion of seasoned vegetables) and Spinaci E Pancetta (baby spinach leaves with walnuts, crispy pancetta and walnut oil dressing). 

My main was great and apparently, Richard’s T bone was perfect.  I would have been totally over-faced by it, but not Richard, he polished off the lot.

We were offered the sweet menu, I was full but I love sweets, so I had a look at the menu knowing I would be having one, even though I was just being greedy (“A few extra sessions at David Lloyd’s will soon get rid of a pudding”, I was thinking to myself).  We eventually came to a decision; the waiters were very patient as we took ages to decide what we wanted.  We chose a melted chocolate dish with marshmallow.  Oh my, it was divine, this dish was actually Richard’s, but again I had most of it, much to his disappointment.  The marshmallow just melted into the warm chocolate, Divine!

After this we finished our meal with coffee.  I have to give Bibi’s a lot of respect, the restaurant was busy all night and we had perfect service, attentive, polite staff, the food was great and the ambience was fabulous, so all in all we had a great night.

Reviewed by Nicola Severn

Review Summary

Atmosphere ♦♦♦♦♦
Food ♦♦♦♦
Service ♦♦♦♦
Value ♦♦♦

Contact Details

Bibi’s Criterion
Off Sovereign Street
Leeds
LS1 4AG

Tel: 0113 243 0905
www.bibisrestaurant.com