AM Kitchen and Bar VIP Launch- Bollywood Glamour comes to Leeds

Leeds is a city famous for its wide range of decent Indian restaurants. So when a new one opens up, it needs to be pretty special to make its mark on the dining scene in the city. AM Kitchen and Bar, which has recently taken over the old Georgetown Restaurant in the stunning Dyson Clock building on Briggate, realised this and invited 150 guests to an exclusive VIP launch event last Thursday evening, managed by Leeds PR company, Chocolate PR, and showcasing the restaurant’s menu as well as providing an evening of “glitz and glamour.”

This glitz and glamour was evident before we’d even entered; as promised on the invitation, the restaurant had indeed rolled out the red carpet. We were greeted with a glass of one of  the restaurant’s cocktails- it was pink and fruity and didn’t taste at all alcoholic; delicious. The event was extremely well organised- all guests had a table number and place setting and the PR people checking our names off the list were wonderfully friendly, greeting us all like long lost friends. I could get used to this VIP treatment; I’m obviously meant to be a star!

The interior of the building was stunning- chandeliers won in Monte Carlo, wallpaper which someone informed me had cost £2000 a roll, bottles of spirits in cabinets along the wall, mirrors, a grand staircase and “the best sinks in Leeds, definitely!” (the boy’s excited exclamation after visiting the toilets) I was pleased to see they had kept the layout and original features of the old Georgetown restaurant- clocks were in abundance and it was very much a “traditional old decor meets glitzy Bollywood” theme- I liked it. One complaint- if you’re going to have a beautiful chandelier as the centrepiece, at least make sure all the lightbulbs work!

So- the food (what I was there for!) With 150 guests, the emphasis was definitely on catering for the masses quickly and smoothly, and this showed with the rather unimaginative menu. The plate of appetizers was perfectly executed, if a little cold (instantly thought of Gregg from Masterchef bellowing “WARM THE PLATES!”) and we tried onion bhaji, chicken tikka, seekh kebabs (very spicy!) and masala fish, served with chutney, salsa and yoghurt. Each component was well cooked, and presentation was immaculate, but there was a distinct lack of flavour throughout- apart from the spicy kebabs.

For the main, we were given three curries-chicken karahi, saag gosht (lamb and spinach), tarka daal (curried lentils)-to try, accompanied by rice and naan. Again, presentation was lovely- all dishes were served in traditional balti dishes, but there was a lack of depth of flavour- I hate the adjective “nice” (Food Technology teacher used to shout at us if we used it to describe food!) but it fits wonderfully here- there was nothing at all wrong with the food; the meat was tender, the lentils were cooked perfectly, the rice was fluffy but it just needed an injection of bold flavour and something a little special to set it apart from your generic curry house.

The dessert was the highlight of the meal definitely- the smooth, creamy kulfi flavoured with saffron, pistachio nuts and almonds served in a ceramic bowl was absolutely delicious; rich, delicately flavoured, deliciously sweet and incredibly moreish! Highly recommended.

We were treated to Bollywood dancers during the meal, and upon leaving were presented with a real celebrity-style goodie bag- unfortunately it didn’t contain designer jewellery and bottles of champagne, but I thought it was a nice touch and a fitting goodbye before walking back down the red carpet into the freezing November air. Incidentally, the bag contained about 20 vouchers for a free bottle of wine when you dine there- they expire on December 21st. Does anyone want one?! Even I can’t drink a bottle of wine a night until Christmas!

I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening- the restaurant and the PR people obviously worked tirelessly hard to ensure the event ran smoothly and all guests were able to enjoy a glamorous evening in decadent and glitzy surroundings, with effective and friendly service. (There were actually real life celebrities there as well- but all Emmerdale stars and I don’t know what they look like, sorry!) The food was nothing special, but at the end of the day, the chefs were catering for 150 people all with different tastes and all the food was perfectly cooked, so I would definitely go back to try the menu on a normal evening and see if I can be as impressed by the food as I was by the atmosphere and setting.

Steph writes a food blog Cake, Cats and Cocktails and can be found on twitter @davaikoshka