Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Otley
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Otley restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 62 restaurants in Otley and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Otley restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Otley Restaurants
1. The Tannin Level
British, Traditional restaurant in Harrogate
5 Raglan St - HG1
“Very enjoyable tasty food and friendly service” underpin a formula that’s won enduring success for this stalwart cellar in the lower ground floor of a solid Victorian mansion which celebrates its 40th year in 2025. The traditional-ish cuisine aims for ‘Yorkshire on a plate’ and the sensibly priced and focused menu covers all bases, including a selection of steaks.
2. Fleur Restaurant and bar
restaurant in Leeds city centre
Inside the lights - LS1
Award-winning Master Chef Finalist, Great British Menu-famed chef Bobby Geetha and Team provides a stunning contemporary British cuisine inspired by world flavours.Fléur Restaurant was the finalist for best Brunch in Leeds. Reviewed as Top 3 best Bottomless...
4. General Tarleton
British, Modern restaurant in Ferrensby
Boroughbridge Rd - HG5
This comfortable gastropub with rooms is well-known to some who travel the northerly reaches of the A1 (off which it is to be found) and was in days long gone by a sibling to the Angel at Hetton. After an up-and-down performance in recent years, it’s now been relaunched since August 2025 as part of Tommy Banks’s expanding northern empire and provides superior pub classics and more ambitious fare at restaurant-level prices. Reports please!
5. Sukhothai
Thai restaurant in Leeds
8 Regent St - LS7
2022 Review: Feedback remains limited but remains very positive for this Chapel Allerton Thai (part of a local group), which hits twenty years old in 2022.
6. Tharavadu
Indian restaurant in Leeds
7- 8 Mill Hill - LS1
“You are transported straight to Kerala with the depth of flavors, impeccable service, and warm, welcoming atmosphere” at this eleven-year-old Leeds favourite, which is in the top-20 most commented on destinations in our annual diners’ poll outside London (although “as your last edition said, you’d walk past it if you did not know about it”). “With South Indian cuisine still under-represented in many UK cities, Tharavadu not only fills this gap but sets a gold standard for authenticity and execution, so it’s no surprise that it’s frequently hailed as one of the best Indian restaurants in the North”. “Service is polished yet personal” and “the team seem to take genuine pride in explaining the dishes, and recommending pairings”. It’s a “comfortable” place too with a “great atmosphere, as it’s packed out”. This year, they opened a sibling called Uyare – see also. Top Menu Tip – “The dosas are among the best you’ll find outside of India – crispy, golden, and generously filled, whether you opt for the classic Masala Dosa or the indulgent Cheese & Chilli Uthappam. The Meen Pollichathu, a Kerala-style fish dish wrapped in banana leaves, is an absolute must-try, showcasing the kitchen’s ability to balance bold spices with subtle, aromatic undertones. Vegetarians are spoilt for choice too, with standout dishes like the Kadala Curry (black chickpea in a rich, coconutty sauce) and the Avial, a delicately spiced mixed-vegetable curry that feels both wholesome and indulgent”.
7. Sukhothai
Thai restaurant in Harrogate
17-19 Cheltenham Pde - HG1
“Thai cooking of the same standard as the country’s best”, all served in a “busy and friendly” environment wins consistently all-round praise for this popular outpost of Ben Kaewkraikhot’s small Yorkshire group (which started in Chapel Allerton in 2002).
8. Prashad
Indian restaurant in Leeds
137 Whitehall Rd - BD11
“Legend!” – “Flavours you just don’t get anywhere else” help inspire fans of Bobby & Minai Patel’s extremely popular converted pub, which remains one of the most commented-on Yorkshire destinations in our annual diners’ poll thanks to its “amazing veggie curries and beautifully presented side orders”. The meat-free dishes are derived from North West Indian recipes and primarily of Gujarati inspiration.
9. The Fell Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Skipton
Burnsall Village - BD23
2024 Review: Leafy views over glorious Dales countryside and the river Wharfe add to the occasion at this attractive hotel, convenient for Bolton Abbey. The cooking – Hardwick lamb, market fish, steaks – is not particularly ‘gastro’ in style but contributes to a comfortable and affordable experience, and one that comes at a reasonable price.
10. Tattu
Chinese restaurant in Leeds
29 East Parade, Minerva House - LS1
With its dramatic, Insta-friendly looks, it would be easy to dismiss this supremely glossy venue – part of a group originating in Manchester – as ‘just another pretty face’. Its mashup of Chinese and Japanese cuisine is respectably rated, however, and it’s also highlighted as “a great place for brunch”.
11. Sukhothai
Thai restaurant in Leeds
15 South Parade - LS1
“For a consistently great night out” fans still tip the flagship city-centre branch of Ban Kaewkraikhot’s local Thai group, which started in Chapel Allerton and which also has a branch in Harrogate. It’s a lavishly furnished two-floor venue with a huge, 200+ item menu.
12. Aagrah
Indian restaurant in Leeds
St Peter’s Sq - LS9
2024 Review: “They always go the extra mile” according to fans of this city-centre outpost of Yorkshire’s nine-strong chain of well-regarded curry houses – a family-run business established in 1977.
13. Buon Apps
Italian restaurant in Otley
Hartley House, 50 Mill Way - LS21
2024 Review: A “fantastic setting beside the River Wharfe” provides the perfect backdrop for “good Italian food and friendly service” from Alessandro & Sofia Elena Tocca, who have established a strong local following over more than 20 years. Their Italian take on the classic Sunday roast is a highlight of the menu.
14. Bettys
Sandwiches, cakes, etc restaurant in Ilkley
32 The Grove - LS29
2023 Review: “Afternoon tea IS Bettys!". This old-fashioned tearoom is “always worth the queue” for its epic teas and fine spreads of pastries and sarnies. It’s also “a great place to meet over a very good breakfast. Coffee, understandably, is excellent!”
15. Host
British, Modern restaurant in Ilkley
58-60 The Grove - LS29
2022 Review: A “very good value, high-quality place in Ilkley” where Joel Monkman’s large and small plates of British seasonal fare continue to win plaudits three years after its founding; also on the menu, lunchtime BBQ Buns and hearty Sunday roasts.
16. Aagrah
Indian restaurant in Shipley
4 Saltaire Rd - BD18
2023 Review: Mohammed Sabir was still working as a bus driver in Shipley when he launched his Kashmiri curry business as a mobile takeaway from his Commer van, the ‘Spice Box’ in 1976. The next year he opened his first bricks-and-mortar restaurant Aagrah, which still wins consistently solid marks for its food and has nine branches across Yorkshire.
17. Salvo’s
Italian restaurant in Leeds
115 & 107 Otley Road - LS6
“Always great”, this stalwart Italian has been delivering pizza, pasta and Sicilian specials since the 1970s, when the former cost just 70p, and was seen as an exotic treat. In 2023, John & Gip Dammone, who’d long since taken over the reins from their father Salvatore, finally sold up, going on to receive MBEs for their services – and happily the new owners – also brothers, symmetrically – haven’t messed with the formula at what is a deserved Leeds legend.
18. Akbar’s
Indian restaurant in Bradford
1276 Leeds Rd - BD3
“If you want to know how the best Pakistani curries taste, come to Akbar’s” – a “fun and buzzy” spot that, according to one local reporter, is “the curry house I always tip to visitors” (“the authentic section of the menu is full of the most incredible flavours”). Charismatic founder Shabir Hussain (known to friends and admirers as ‘Bash’, ‘the King of Curry’) sadly died in 2024; his funeral attracted 5,000 mourners. He started out with a 28-seat canteen, which he expanded over three decades into a group of 10 venues from Birmingham to Glasgow.
19. The Box Tree
French restaurant in Ilkley
35-37 Church St - LS29
Adam Frontal and Aussie chef Brayden Davies nowadays own and run this famous Northern establishment, which is located in one of the town’s oldest buildings, has been a restaurant since 1962 and which has cultivated a reputation over the decades as the ‘Gavroche of the North’, having been the launchpad, back in the day, for the stellar rise of Marco Pierre White. The main five-course menu is £115 per person and offers quite a mashup of tastes and culinary inspirations (a recent version includes Tartare of Westholme Wagyu Bavette and Tortellini of English Corn, while revolving around a relatively conventional Yorkshire wood pigeon dish). Some positive feedback this year, but too limited for a full rating: reports please!
20. Zucco
Italian restaurant in Leeds
603 Meanwood Road - LS6
This “relentlessly excellent” family-run spot on “an anonymous corner in Meanwood” is “starting to get the attention it deserves” as “a place where a kind of magic can be experienced in plates of delightful Italian food”. “Russell Norman lives on in north Leeds!” – a reference to the late founder of Brutto and before that Polpo in London, where Rosario Leggiero worked before opening Zucco with his chef brother Michael over a decade ago. Michael’s wife Clare is also part of the team, and their sons Matteo & Joe are being groomed to take the reins.
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