Hare & Hounds, Hopton

Ribeye steak, Twice roasted Duck, Cannelloni and Guinness and Beef Pie. All rather good. Cheesecake and chocolate brownies rather tasty. Apple juice, red and white wine all satisfactory.

The big problem was the starter. For £10-95 we opted for a Messe starter. Baby camembert, smoked salmon, King Prawns, Chorizo and chicken liver pate to share. We were told there was no camembert but they would compensate by increasing the other parts but. ..

There was no salmon; the King prawns were 15 small shrimps, Chorizo was 7 thin slices; Chicken liver pate was a teaspoonsworth. All served on a bed of lettuce with a few slices of toast. To charge £10-95 for this was criminal. If they had indeed increased the volume of other parts of the starter then they must serve very small starters. I did mention this at the till while paying but apart from apologies nothing was done.

Another restaurant taking it easy. Before this visit I had used this place many times and it was always good. This was very poor. Doubt if I'll go again.

Temujin, Sowerby Bridge

Mongolian. Web site looked very impressive with lots of references to the warrior race and promises of exotic food barbecued in front of your eyes. Reality was less impressive. To start with a couple of white wines and mongolian beers - Baadog by name and expensive. Between 5 diners we ordered two mixed starters and they were quite good - a range of spring rolls, corn fritters, fish, chicken kebabs with two dips. Not too bad.

Next stage was to collect the raw ingredients for your main course and take it to one of the chefs who would stir fry it before your very eyes. This always involves serious tossing of woks so that the flames shot a yard into the air, which created a real spectacle. The exotic meat available today was kangaroo whereas the website had suggested venison, ostrich and others.

Once you had given your plate of raw food to the chef you had to choose which oil you wanted in your wok, which sauce and finally which of 2 garnishes. Five minutes later your stir fry was ready. It was as much as you could eat so I went back 3 times. First beef in chili oil with sweet & sour sauce and cashew garnish, secondly pork with herb oil, char sui sauce and no garnish and finally just for the hell of it I had lamb in chili oil, chili sauce and chili garnish (and it was hot).

Desserts were a hefty £4-99 each and the most significant part of the evening (the bill) was nearly £150 for 5.

Overall verdict was a) expensive and b) not really very mongolian. Sure there was a brooding picture of Genghis Khan on the wall but it was just a big stir fry for £15. Experienced regulars would cut out the starter and desserts and eat well for much less but there was nothing unique about it in fact we could probably have made the stir fry ourselves quite easily from produce available in Tesco. We wouldn't have had the huge flames however.

Spin off issues. I have since read Conn Iggulden's trilogy about Genghis Khan and found it rather good. Try your local library.

Piazza by Anthony, Leeds Corn Exchange 27th July 2009

In his Guardian article, Jay Rayner rightly said that Piazza by Anthony (or, at least its owner, “the Flinns”) is doing Leeds a social service. That may well be right, but I’m looking for a good meal, not Joseph Rowntree.

I guess Jay meant that by moving into this magnificent building and taking the chance other retailers will follow, the Flinns are providing the good folk of Leeds with an absolute gem of a setting, restored to its original glory – well, beyond original and towards cosmic really.

But I wanted a good meal and I was mildly disappointed. In the best spirit of this column I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad at £9.45. I eschewed the small size and asked for the large but, unlike Jay, I found a portion I could only describe as “meagre”. Two types of lettuce – one cress style and one robust Cos. Some anchovies certainly. A few other bits and pieces with a reasonable dressing and most important of all the chicken. But anodine chicken. Tender, but possibly poached. Certainly not inspired in the flavour department. Although this was merely a late afternoon snack, we were hungry and the dishes were obviously not going to fill us so one of my guests ordered a basket of bread. Anywhere else in Europe you would get a basket of bread as standard. Anywhere else in England you would get a basket of bread. But here? We got a plated starter portion of bread. A grudging, small plate of admittedly good breads served with a ramekin of oil and balsamic vinegar. Charged at £2.50.

One of my guests asked the waiter why his black spaghetti was broken into small pieces, difficult to handle with a fork and spoon. The correct answer to this question is “Because that was what was left at the bottom of the packet” but he received the “I’ll go and ask” answer. The waiter never returned of course.

In summary, I am reluctant to dissuade you from trying this restaurant but I am reluctant to encourage you to use it. They are trying – polite young staff – but I think they may be struggling with the footfall.

3 people. 1 large asparagus salad; 1 large Caesar salad; 1 large spaghetti squid; 1 bread; 2 Espresso; 1 filter coffee; 1 carafe tapwater;1 Petit Chablis; service charge; £65.51.