Fourth Floor

I love this place it’s my favourite restaurant in Leeds and had been for a few years. I visited last week and it was as excellent as ever, the menu is fantastic but you must really go a la carte.
The atmosphere is fantastic not too stuffy but no riff raff either. We spent three hours chatting enjoying the drinks then the food. £160 for two well spent

My present to my friend for her 30^th birthday was to take her for Afternoon Tea in Harvey Nics. I booked a table for 3:30 and in preparation decided not to eat lunch. Or breakfast. My friend did the same and, consequently, we arrived somewhat ravenous.
We’re shown to a table by the window and handed menus, and almost immediately opt for the Traditional Afternoon tea. I order a pot of afternoon Darjeeling (because I like the name) and my friend goes for a pot of green tea (because for some unfathomable reason she likes the taste).
Our teas arrive swiftly in trendy teapots. We’re informed that our scones have only just gone in the oven, and that they’ll take sixteen minutes to bake and that they’ll arrive shortly after the rest of the food. A few minutes later, a three tier stand is placed on the table.
I’ll be honest, it doesn’t look like much, and I suppose for £19.50 the amount of food is a tad disappointing. That said, it is Harvey Nichols and so a hefty price is to be expected.
The finger sandwiches (smoked salmon and cream cheese, egg and cress, and ham and mustard) are small but really tasty. Our scones arrive and they’re still warm from the oven. I load mine up with strawberry jam and clotted cream and try to eat it as daintily as possible (but fail, miserably). They are delicious, really delicious. My dream in life is to be someone who has the time and money to sit around and eat freshly baked scones with clotted cream and jam. And you know, not have a heart attack.
PLOT TWIST: After my scone, I feel full! I drink some tea to try and let the feeling pass and move onto one of the mini-​desserts: a shot glass filled with a creamy pineapple… thing. It was a little too sickly for me, so I’m glad it was only small. I realise I’m beginning to run low on tea. Perhaps the teapot was a little on the small side, or perhaps I just drink tea by the bucket load, but for me the tea to sweet treat ratio was a little off.
I move on to the chocolate dessert with a popping candy topping. It’s delicious, but it’s very, very rich. After a few mouthfuls I admit defeat and my friend does the same. There are still two pink macaroons and two slabs of carrot cake to go, but neither of us can eat another bite.
We decide to pay and head on home, but we have a bit of trouble getting the bill. It’s half an hour before we manage to get anyone’s attention. Maybe it’s because our table just happened to be behind a pillar, or maybe it’s because a woman was making the most long-​winded (and stupid) complaint of all time because there was too much ice in her drink and it distinctly wasn’t crushed (even though that’s what it said on the menu, apparently).
Eventually, we pay and ask for the left over macaroons and carrot cake to be wrapped up for my friend to take home. She reported back to me the following day to say that the carrot cake was nice but had too much icing and the macaroons were absolutely perfect.
HN Fourth Floor is by no means inexpensive, but as a posh treat for a present or a fancy splurge for yourself you can expect the food to be top quality. Sadly, the service wasn’t great which made me slightly more resentful of the premium cost. I still had a fabulous time (darling), but I’d like to see what else Leeds has to offer Afternoon Tea-​wise…

When in Leeds, do as the Leedsian’s do — drink wine!
When the mama and I found out about the wine tasting at Harvey Nichols we jumped at the chance to do something a little bit different; we spend a lot of our time during the day shopping but it’s nice to have something to do in the evening, especially when it’s something you can get dressed up for. Booking was simple, although the lady behind the counter obviously didn’t understand our Southern accents, but that’s all a bit of fun!
Advised to arrive early to be seated, we turned up at around 7.45 (for an 8 o’clock start) and it was fairly empty. However, it quickly filled up with happy wine drinkers, a lot of whom I’m sure actually know about wine rather than just taking the opportunity to try 6 wines at the £15 price tag! There was a slight delay on the start meaning one white wine was a touch too warm when it came round to drinking, but the atmosphere of the night made up for it, as did the selection of wines we were given. One taste of a pink bubbly, two whites, a rose, and two reds, all from the HN own label collection. The hostess obviously knew what she was talking about, though I stuck into the drinking before I was supposed to — wine is for drinking! HN also provided us with a lovely taster platter involving two rolls of smoked salmon, two balls of fried polenta, and two pieces of deep fried halloumi cheese. All delicious if a bit small for the alcohol consumption; crusty bread would have gone down a treat!
We were offered dinner but felt like we wanted to explore Leeds more on our last evening. Overall the wine tasting was a great way to treat ourselves and advance a mutual interest in a lovely building for a relatively small price tag. Bravo HN and wine tasting organisers, this is definitley something I will be looking into in Manchester!
(When we did find somewhere to eat we quickly ordered some bread — nothing quite works as well!)

Great place, spend much of my time between here and the espresso bar downstairs. I love the bar space its got a great atmosphere in the evenings and upbeat during the day. If you fancy so great food just bob next door — although not much catering for the simple foodies amongst us it does have some create dishes and cooked great, summer means there is a balcony for you to eat on but space is limited and smoking isn’t allowed (boo). Top notch place with some great wines to try!

If you are feeling a little bit flush and fancy some top end dinning then Harvey Nichols isn’t a bad place to turn. Your first challenge if you choose to accept it, is to make your way up to the top floor without bankrupting yourself through the different levels of high end shopping floors. If part one is successfully achieved then you are away.
As to be expected, the service and eating areas are top class. You may have to queue to be seated but this usually moves down fairly sharpish and you can always reward yourself with a glass of the house Champagne. The A La Carte menu serves up seasonal delights such as organic lamb and red snapper. Some of the side dishes are to die for with the
green beans with chemoula spiced chickpeas always the one I go for. You can take advantage of the two or three course menus to keep the price down a tad or head there at lunchtime. Be warned though, these limited menus aren’t too veggi friendly.
If you get a window seat you can overlook the Leeds rooftops too or have a quiet noisy at the world passing by. Add into the mix some of the finest drinks and beautiful deserts and you’ll be in for for a luscious eating experience. Not one on a budget but if you feel like pushing the boat out it’s very much an occasion place to be.

My mum and I came here for an Earl Grey pick-​me-​up mid shop and yes… it is expensive but I really enjoyed it. It’s not something I’d do every day, or even every week. Or every month come to think of it. But every now and then a little luxury is well spent.
I can’t say it’s the best café ive ever been to as it isn’t, but the fact that it’s in Harvey Nics does add to the excitement factor. I wouldn’t recommend eating here if you want to afford to eat back home, but do pop in for a spot of tea…

Pleased to report we had a delicious lunch.
Service, meal and setting first class.
Open for breakfast through to a dinner date.
Now a menu prix fixe at lunchtime which is very good value.
It is an individual venue and you are given great food with refinement.
Harvey Nichols’ website tells the story.

I think that once one has entered Harvey Nichols, one has to be resigned to the fact that one will be splashing out a little more than one had expected. Enough of the ‘ones’
A pricier version of the ‘already-​above-​average-​that-​most-​would-​spend-​for-​a-​snack-​on-​a-​shopping-​trip’ Café Zest at House of Fraser, I would not, as some do, visit Fourth Floor if I were peckish whilst (and I really am not convinced the day will ever come) shopping in Harvey Nic’s.
However, I have been lucky enough to have been taken to Harvey Nic’s Fourth Floor for dinner once. It is a rather unusual affair, having to come up to the restaurant through the store’s booze and condiment section at night. It’s different, to say the least, and does touch upon my childhood fears of being locked alone overnight in a massive shop during a killing spree.
However, once in, though I would argue that the lighting could have been dimmer, it is a lovely dining experience. With views pointing out over Leeds (something that you don’t see very often at all), the food is what you’d expect for a) the price, and b) Harvey Nichol’s. Though far too expensive for my measely budget, I was still suprised by the friendly staff and brilliant service that accompanied my meal. That’s when I re-​realised, Harvey Nic’s– just a brand, the staff are still just Leedsites, making a bob of two.

During the day, this stylish café is nothing out of the ordinary and while the pricey food makes for a delicious lunch the setting feels like a slightly upmarket version of the cafes found in Debenhams or BHS. At night, however, the surreal experience of walking through the hushed, darkened shop floor to reach your table, combined with a magical view of the city lights make Fourth Floor at Harvey Nichols a dramatic, if unusual dinner destination. When I visited, taking advantage of a special offer, I must confess I expected the staff to display at least an air of snobbery; however the man who took my booking couldn’t have been more helpful, happy to accommodate my request for a choice of two vegetarian mains so my partner and I wouldn’t have to eat the same dishes, despite there only being one choice on the menu. The staff were equally courteous when we arrived, dividing their attention equally between us and the other diners despite it being painfully obvious we would not be able to afford as big a tip. The broccoli soup with crème fraiche and pine nuts was a particular hit, as was a deliciously light and frothy chocolate and ginger mousse, and the atmosphere was lively despite the overwhelmingly suits-​and-​briefcases nature of the clientele. While certainly not the cheapest place to eat in Leeds it is definitely one of the best, and if you take advantage of the ‘prix fixe’ dinner menu you can get three courses for less than £20 a head — better value than many establishments where the food isn’t half as good.

We booked in for dinner here at 8.30pm and pleased that we did. This modern café bar type restaurant is as the name suggests located on the top floor of Harvey Nic’s. I had Scallops and my partner opted for the Pigeon both were excellent, as was the Rib Eye steak with parsnip and garlic purée mash.
The Pheasant was also excellent however, I personally preferred the steak which was cooked exactly as requested, along with a couple of bottles of Red wine the total cost was around £100 which I didn’t think was too bad considering the quality of the food, and bearing in mind it was also Harvey Nick’s which after all is not considered a budget location.

Me and my 2 friends came here for lunch one time and spent a mighty 80 pounds in one sitting, ordering just a dish each. This is very over-​priced and there are limited choices on the menu. The portions are very small, aside from that, I cannot fault the taste!