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Harvard Mills- ain’t nothin’ posh about this place, but we LOVE it!

After we stuffed our faces at Poco’s Sicilian Street food (see previous post) we visited a crazy place called ‘Harvard Mills’ in Kirkstall. It’s massively off the beaten track, it’s the most random shop I’ve ever stepped foot in, but when I mention it to other leeds bods, it’s got a bit of a name for itself as the most gloriously mental everything shop ever. It’s comes up on google maps as an unnamed location, I think that says it all. It’s bonkers.

Basically we’re talking about a MASSIVE and I mean MASSIVE warehouse with everything in it you’ve ever seen. From porcelain elephants to rugs, fabric, bed spreads, curtains, memory foam pillows (Adam said it was like sleeping on a ‘fucking phone book’ – maybe avoid them… This shop is insane. I love it. At my salon we spray paint everything. We love to upcycle crazy stuff and give it a new lease of life, and this is where we buy all our DIY essentials, they even have a massive section of mega expensive wallpaper that clearly says £25 a roll on the packaging, for £5. It’s all end of line stuff, there are some amazing bargains to be had if you can bothered to look.

Dani was hilarious, I was worried about bringing her here (she’s so much posher than Laura and I!) But she bloody loved it, and bought a Tee shirt with Starbucks written across it, the most random thing ever but it was fab. We couldn’t understand where they’d got all these branded Tees from, or snap backs, but we loved them and dived right in.

The fabric part is a particular favourite and I bought a few huge swathes at a later date to finish off my son’s grey and yellow themed room. The fabric is really expensive stuff originally, really gorgeous materials and designs and absolutely everything is £5 a metre.

I also bought a couple of cushion covers – where this place really shines, the cushion aisle. Some are plain bizarre, some are quite old school, but some should be about £20 each, not £3 each. The staff are absolutely lovely and embarrassingly know me and my kids very well, my son is always dying to go here. I tried to find them on social media but it’s hard work. There isn’t anything of there’s but a few pics people have taken in there, it’s got a bit of a cult following, I don’t think I’ve ever spent less than fifty quid in there, it’s amazing. What you can’t see they’ll find for you.

When you go in to the industrial estate it’s tucked away on you can be forgiven for wondering what the hell you are entering into, but it’s like a tardis. It never ends. On other occasions I’ve left with a pair of Pikachu slippers and a cheese grater. Their toy section is also incredible!

Go with an open mind, but just make sure you go.

See ya bye,

Alex, Laura and Dani

(Written by Alex)

X

http://harvardmills.co.uk

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Proper Sicilian Street Food

The choices are ridiculous in Leeds for food. I have been holding out for taking the girls to Poco, on Kirkstall road, as I didn’t want to start on a total high and then everything else be a bit, well… pants. Week three, we literally tossed a coin between this and another eatery, because I didn’t want to look bossy and demand this one, but it was one of those where you know exactly what result you want to see on the coin way before you lift your hand.

Many moons ago I went to Italy every fortnight for a few months when I was teaching Hairdressing, and I ate A LOT of Italian food. I’ve never come across anything in this country like the food that I used to pick up from funny little back-street cobbled roads. I’d never heard of Arancini or Cannoli. These days, Arancini have started appearing in Tescos in a vacuum packed box, upsettingly grey when you bite into them, like little rice bricks in the shape of teardrops, fittingly.

When Poco came to town like a lot of food places on Kirkstall road I had high hopes for something a bit different but essentially wondered if it would be a pizza joint. Another pizza joint, run by people that have never stepped foot in Italy, for people who are eleven pints in on a Friday night.

Nope.

This is SICILIAN street food. The difference being, there is nothing like it. Anywhere round here. And I eat out, A LOT.

The shop is teeny tiny, and I’ve read on the reviews that they ‘may need a bigger premises as there wasn’t anywhere to sit’ – that’s not a bad sign, my friend. That makes me want to queue out the door and eat it in the car. It’s literally like a little piece of Sicily in the most unlikely part of Leeds ever – it’s on the main road and easily missed if you’re driving at speed but opposite McDonalds and to the left, you need to have a look take your big mac fund elsewhere.

Laura and I shared a Bolognese arancini, the deep fried rice balls filled with beef Bolognese and coated in breadcrumbs. It fell apart and was still warm from the over tray it was sat on. It was absolutely insane. Laura did her lady eating and I tried to reign in the desire to ask her ‘are you going to finish that?!’

Dani had the Parmigiane Melanzane – layered aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella and béchamel all oven baked. Similar looking to a lasagne. She’s such a lady, with her big knife and fork. Laura even eats pizza with a knife and fork. It’s like going out for lunch with Victoria Beckham and Geri Horner since she married into money. I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that I’m Mel B, with rice around my face and no decorum.

How many adjectives can I put? The Melanzane thing was absolutely ridiculously good. It wasn’t a total ball ache to eat, showing it’s been cooked right. You don’t miss the meat, as it’s so stacked with flavour and so substantial. The carb fest would not have been complete without the rosemary and garlic roast potatoes on the side, which were perfect.

There was a deep fried calzone and a slice of roasted vegetable pizza shared between laura and I and Dani also tried the mushroom ricotta and truffle arancini which was just exactly what you’d expect by this point of this read. Part of me wonders maybe I’m just really easily pleased, as everything was absolutely stunning. Should I try balancing out all the positives with a bit of a constructive feedback? What’s the point? It was all, absolutely kick ass. I’m not going to pretend I’m a food critic, this is the third blog I’ve ever written on food and I’m struggling sounding like a tit as it is, perhaps I should be telling you about the ricotta that oozed out of the deep fried calzone, and the salami that completely made it, and JESUS the CANNOLI!

I’m off sweet stuff at the moment, but that was straight down the hatch. I’m a savoury girl, through and through, but I made an exception for nutella filled Cannoli. Good god.

A sign it’s not just me is clearly that Laura and Dani were floored by this little nugget of Sicily in my hood. I seemed to remember it being more expensive in the past, I’m not sure. It worked out roughly £9 a head for everything – under a tenner for enough food to sink a small, pizza shaped ship (which is exactly what I resembled, after) and the best bit? Parker slept the entire time so I wasn’t frantically searching for ricecakes in a handbag that deserves a government health warning during my favourite meal of the week. Ohhhhhhh no, girl. Not this week. Mama was knee deep in Sicily, even down to what I assume to be family friends coming in and speaking Italian and greeting the staff, who hung out the kitchen while the visitors sipped espresso on the counter. Yep, it took me back. Big time. The noise, the smell, the talking at the speed of light to the point where you can’t imagine that sentence meant anything at all…. It’s completely sicily in four walls. They have done such a good job of this place. Everything is exactly how it should be and it’s got better and better, even adding nutella and white chocolate arancini to their menu.

Go. Thank me later.

PS. Even vegan pizza. WTF?

Written by Alex

With love from the So Have You Been To team, Alex, Laura and Dani x

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Jerk Chicken and Holiday Pants

This week we decided to turn our attention to Caribbean food, an old favourite of mine after discovering it while living in south east London, and spending my ‘lunch break’ wondering round smoky barbecues in busy markets, near my old workplace.

When I moved back to Leeds after nearly a decade of eating everything Caribbean that came my way, I was disappointed with what slim pickings we have up here. There’s a few absolute belters, in fairness, though. One of which is Jenny’s Jerk Chicken, in Kirkgate Market.

Considering how quintessentially northern Leeds market is, one of the biggest indoor markets in the region, it really took me by surprise when I found their ‘Indie food hall’.

The Indie food hall is basically a collection of permanent Street food residents, littered around the far end of the indoor market, heading towards the outdoor section. It’s as diverse as it gets in there, and the eateries (and there are MANY) aren’t just restricted to this Indie food hall area, in their cute little booths. There are what looks like even more permanent fixtures dotted around the permineter as you enter, from traditional Baklava and Turkish delight to old style sweet shops. There are Morrocans, an open Thai kitchen where you struggle to get a stool and eat at the kitchen window, a chinese restaurant that literally couldn’t get any more plain – more like a tile shop than a restaurant but packed with locals, none the less. It’s a complete treasure trove is Leeds (Kirkgate) Market, and I’m thoroughly enjoying working my way through it.

Jenny’s Jerk first came to my attention as a trailer type situation on lower briggate. I’d not long since returned from London, saw Jerk and grabbed it. With both hands, literally.

Now I’ve broadened my horizons, I get the curry goat more often than not and stray away from the chicken, although I still got some extra jerk chicken skewers just so I wasn’t missing out. Laura Got the classic Chicken rice and peas, with jerk gravy ladelled onto the rice – So. Bloody. Good.

Dani opted for a jerk burger and sweet potato fries and as it was her first time at Jenny’s we made sure she had a dumpling. Traditionally Caribbean dumplings are steamed or deep fried, and often chewy and bready and a bit… much. Jenny’s dumplings are absolutely in a league of their own to be fair – they’re actually crumbly – no sogginess and just perfect to mop up the curry goat gravy. I felt bad for the girls having to watch me in their horror – the curry goat was massive chunks of slow (REALLY slow) cooked goat and there were massive pieces of bone in there, but if there wasn’t it wouldn’t be a real Caribbean, to be honest. The bone releases the flavour as it’s cooked, and makes it even nicer. They were preoccupied with their own offerings, and the chicken patty broke it all up with yet more chicken, but quite spicy inside with a yellow puff pastry case. That’s the turmeric, apparently Cornish tin miners went to the Caribbean and introduced them to the concept of pasties, and they added their own spices to the recipe. Hence, the patty was born. How true this is, I’m not sure. Barbara who works in Asda in Holt Park told me when I went through a checkout with one hanging out my mouth, mumbling about the bar code being intact on the wrapper. Every day’s a school day.

Dani’s jerk burger was on a brioche bun, and we all had a pretty impressive salad with mango mayonnaise, and I must admit, when the guy made our lunch I was surprised at the attention to detail he was taking. He seemed like a really young guy, just on his own cutting up sweet potatoes when we arrived. We got there just before the rush kicked off at 12. He seemed to be running the whole operation, really. He took so much care in all of it, the little box was a work of art really. Gravy here, sauce there, dumplings in the fryer… so much to remember. He had a colleague turn up halfway through but by this point the queue was down the road. It was the busiest eatery there, for sure. At £9 a head with a drink (just a can, keep it simple and all that), you can’t move after it, it’s an awesome feed. Highly recommended.

Afterwards, we went for a mooch around the market and had a look at some of the offerings in the homeware section…. This is where leeds market really comes in to it’s own. I mean, some of it really is naff old tat, and a lot of the fabrics have a bit of a reoccurring theme of diamantes and crap slogans, Adibab trainers and Reedod hats spring to mind. But then dotted around the nonsense and awful quality interior décor are a few genuine gems.

I treated myself to a few pairs of knob head trousers – you know the ones. The gap yaaaar trousers covered in elephants that are drawstring and always a really garish print. Yeah, I bought three pairs. £5 each, why wouldn’t you!! They’re good for the beach, and I’m going this weekend. She says. Pulling her apron down at work, over said trousers…. Alright, they’re cotton and breathable and they minimise chub rub. Leave me be.

I bought a few necklaces from another tat stall outside that claimed it was ex ‘high street stock’ and to be fair they are really cool. I think on a hot day a green neck will be imminent but it was a nice idea at the time. Once again I had Parker in tow and he was starting to kick off at this point, we decided it was time to head back anyway and called it a day.

All in all, Leeds Market (or Kirkgate Market) is an absolute diamond. It’s just a complete winner really, there’s some amazing little plant shops as well as food shops, masses of bakeries, cafes and food joints of course, but some unexpected little nik nak shops that are definitely worth a look. Nik Naks as in strange things to wear or put around your house. Not the crispy maize snack that was most popular in the 90’s (nice and spicy all the way). Although, that too, would be cool.

Laters taters,

Alex, Laura and Dani

X

Jenny’s Jerk Chicken https://www.instagram.com/jennysjerkchicken

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V is for Vietnamese & Vintage

Us three ladies had always played it pretty safe by way of our lunch dates. Not to say the local deli isn't absolutely kick ass - it's very tasty and very enjoyable every time we go, but in much the same way as I struggle to go to the same country more than once on my holidays (excluding India, you can never have enough India) I couldn't help but think that life's a bit too short to sit in the same eatery every time we meet for lunch, given that the whole day is ours, and within reason, travel is no issue.

The three of us decided that we would try different cuisines every week, and with the girls (Laura and Dani) living in the quieter, leafier suburbs of Otley and Burley in Wharfedale, with me (Alex) living in what I frequently describe as the bronx, 5 minutes from central Leeds but gloriously populated by some of the best food joints in the country (confirmed) they usually end up meeting at mine and then we go into town to try somewhere a bit off the beaten track. Invariably, being three mums of young children, we eat at the speed of rabid dogs and end up having a bit of time to go explore some local weird shop or two, never anything mainstream like a department store. Oh no. We like vintage shops. You know the type, they smell like damp and the inside of your nan's wardrobe, and we prance around pretending to overlook the fact that we are just in a well laid out, slightly more selective charity shop without the undertone of giving. Usually there's some blue haired student with a headscarf and a faint stench of Bobby Orange pawing through piles of shirts and jumpers that are deemed as retro, when they've actually some of them originated in C&A - we remember that place the first time round,depressingly. The whole vintage scene is a bit ironic and try hard and a bit sad at times, but the one thing that it does offer is the piece you are often looking at, generally is one of one only in the store. The same goes for charity shops, generally. We like stuff that can't be bought in bulk.

Dani owns Deluxe Blooms, and is a luxury faux florist, and very good at it too. Laura is a nail technician and spray tanning afficionado, and the owner of Maibella Nails and Tanning. I own a salon called Lexa Hair, and the three of us work together frequently. The ridiculous thing is though, that work is going really well for us, and while in the past we may have dug around in charity shops for a bargain simply to be economical, now it has begun more of a habit. And you know what they say, old habits die hard. We don't have to eat streetfood on picnic tables anymore, and we can shop anywhere we want, but at least just for me, I don't like extravagance and I'm not impressed by labels or price tags. I like pieces that are unique,with a story behind them. My two accomplices sort of get dragged in to it I think, but they seem on board with most of it. I hope.

And street food is the best food on earth, everyone knows that.

We kicked things off with a visit to a fairly new (maybe a year old I think) Vietnamese place on North Lane in Headingley named VietBaker. Inside it's very wooden looking, quite industrial and urban, stained wood everywhere and dark red leather chairs. It smells like the rice cooker that's chugging away in the corner, mixed with plenty of garlic and of course, the fresh baguettes that are stacked up in a glass cabinet above the front desk.

We opted for a sharing platter for £9, and from the menu us Yorkshire ruffians requested spring rolls (the deep fried ones, not the fresh, healthy ones obviously), prawn toast, and 'rustic chips'.

This was skin on chips with salt and pepper (well cooked and so tasty) and the prawn toast was understandably made of baguette slices. It made for a much heavier slab of prawn toast and therefore an even more unhealthy treat but man alive, was it good. The spring rolls were pork, prawn and the usual crispy vegetables inside. Not floppy or soggy, totally crispy and served with a really light and watery sweet chilli dip that's more sweet than chilli. It was all very lovely.

I've personally eaten from here a number of times and I think the Vietnamese have got it absolutely nailed when they make sandwich. Or a Ban Mih. Laura and I opted for one each, chicken for her and pork for me. Dani went for something off the new part of the menu, the fusion section, which even featured a take on beef bourgignon, Vietnamese style. She tried the Shanghai pork belly, served with rice. Her whole bowl was piled high, and we're not talking a polite, peanuts size bowl. More like a ‘free ceramic crunchy nut cereal box’ bowl, with the with tokens on the back of the pack, that you’d send off as a kid. It was huge. The second bowl was just plain rice, which worked really well as the pork alone was…. alot. It was sticky and tangy and rich and all those other wanky words that just mean amazing. I'm trying so hard to limit the wankiness. I like writing and eating, combining the two is hard work though. Bear with me. The slow cooked pork made me feel a bit gutted I went for a sandwich until I got stuck in.

Vietnam was a former French colony, and much like their neighbour Cambodia, found their local best offerings being bastardised to accomodate the 'local palate'. The nice version is that the baguette was the French's gift to the Vietnamese, although I imagine it was more a case of 'put your lovely meal in my baguette for me or you're in deep shit.'

I've never been to Vietnam but having visited Cambodge a few summers back, I remember being astounded at the gorgeous, light, dairy free Asian cuisine that had been shoved in a crusty, warm baguette. Whoever's story was true, it's the absolute bollocks.

They cut this freshly baked baguette open and spread it with patè on one side and on the other mayonnaise (already weird but hang in there) - add a ton of crispy green leaves, cucumber, pickles, coriander and fresh chilies, and add some meat into what little room is left. Enough meat to give you meat sweats. It. Is. Superb.

The pork was very finely sliced, dark and sticky again (here she goes) and you can bang on a fried egg, too, if you're an absolute wrong un. No thanks.

Laura had the chicken which was a milder flavour but none the less tasty and flavoursome. I noticed Laura pulling bits off her sandwich and delicately chewing away at them, while I picked it up and ate it like I'd been sleeping in the dark arches for the last month. I even had to be asked to wipe my face. Sorry, not sorry. No messing with a Ban Mih. Especially not this one.

The bill was a very respectable £11 a head, and they threw in a free set of spring rolls for us, which was a nice unexpected surprise. The place had a steady flow of traffic, and although wasn't packed, I've been on an evening and I think it's safe to assume that's the bulk of their trade. It was fantastic food, very reasonable and highly recommended. Great staff and great location. We'll be back!

Afterwards we drove for about 3 days to find a parking spot anywhere near Hyde Park, so we could check out the newly (ish) renovated (OK sign replaced and possibly ownership changed) Vintage something or other in Hyde Park.

I forget the name, and if I'm brutally honest I can see why. It's alright, but it used to be alot better. The last time I went in there was alot of very old apothecary style wooden drawer units, some weird taxidermy, and unusual pictures in frames that would look incredible in the lounge. This time there was quite a bit of formica, and some hideously orange stained TV units that I guess in some context would be deemed as cool again.

The music collection seemed to be where the most effort had been made. The clothing was actually quite 'quirky' in the sense that you wouldn't actually wear alot of it, there was a whole department that seemed to have been handed over by the owner of the late knob head Jimmy Saville, shell suit after shell suit in every colour of the rainbow, in that non breathable fabric you'd get a two man tent in. Hideous. Still, there are some absolute finds in there. I would encourage people to bear in mind that these shops have a high stock turnaround and in their uniqueness, and ability to replace items based on sales, any vintage shop can be a complete bag of shite one week and a total gold mine the next. Its the luck of the drawer, I love that about them. That and the fact that we call them vintage shops. The three of us refer to them as shit shops, but potato patato.

I find it depressing that as I mentioned before, alot of the 'retro' stuff is just normal stuff we, in our 30s, encountered in our youth. There was a 'vintage phone' that was £15 and I'm pretty sure my gran has it now. It's literally a BT £10 phone still in argos, but clearly it had lived with a heavy smoker, adding to the aged facade.

Some of it was very authentic, some of it was broken crap, but the general feel of the place is a good one. There is more 70s stuff than anything else which is quite cool, but like I say, stock changes very frequently. Dani bought an oversized T shirt with a University football team logo emblazoned across it, and to be honest I would have too. There was a vast array of university related large varsity based sweaters, some unnecessarily cut in half width ways (why?!!!! Serves no purpose now, you fools) and that's the kind of thing I would have liked to look at. But as I was in charge of a one year old who was bombing around the floor, doubling as a human sweeping brush and coming back with more dust on him than the inside of the V6 after the attic stairs have been tackled, I gave it up as a bad job and put my bank card back away. No spending for mum today. Gutted.

The shop is pretty fabulous, on the whole. They do know how to charge when it comes to furniture, but the clothing is far more reasonable. It's not all one off pieces, a couple of items make an appearance a few times and that kind of ruins it for me, I start picturing some huge factory in China making hideously outdated clothing and leaving them in a damp garage for a few years, chucking a bit of tea down them and wearing the cuffs and collars down, before exporting the newly knackered pieces to us dumbasses in our 'quirky vintage shops'. Who knows. It's well laid out, and pretty cool, and although not my favourite, I imagine the next time I go it'll be a whole different experience. Swings and roundabouts with these places. It was an interesting look, and if Parker hadn't been doing his best ferret impression I would have definitely bought a jumper. Well worth a look.

Until next week!

Laura, Dani and Alex X

VietBaker, Headingley

https://www.thevietbaker.co.uk

Vintage Boutique, Hyde Park

https://vintageboutique.com