a quite nice review of our little café from Leeds Guide
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Stroll up and down the main high streets and you’d be forgiven for thinking the big coffee chains dominate our city centre. But head just a few paces off the beaten track and there’s something exciting going on in Leeds, with a number of enterprising locals setting up some interesting cafes.
The newly opened Café 164is one of them, and it’s found its home in an interesting part of town. A fair way out of the main throng of the city centre, down opposite the bus station and across the big loop road, it might at first seem a strange location. This part of the city is evolving into a creative hub, though, with big players and quirky independents sprouting up around St Peter’s Square as well as just a few minutes’ walk away in the Kirkgate area.
The BBC, Yorkshire Dance, Leeds College of Music and the West Yorkshire Playhouse have based themselves in this neck of the woods, and not far away you have the likes of Birds Yard, Rebel Pin Up and various vintage shops adding to the bohemian feel that’s a world away from the sanitised high street. Brand-new independent art space the Leeds Gallery has also opened up inside the very same building as Café 164, so there’s plenty of interesting things going on around here.
And given that it’s still early days, the cafe is impressively busy when we call in. There’s a small choice of sandwiches left to choose from in the fridge along with various soft drinks, while at the counter there are some proper cakes and biscuits, the ubiquitous Tea Pigs and, of course, the coffee menu.
A ciabatta filled with grilled chicken and chilli mayonnaise (£2.70) does what it says on the packet, the soft meat, creamy mayo and super-fresh crisp salad teaming up with a nice piquant touch of chilli spice. The large cappuccino (£1.90) is even better: a truly delicious, earthy brew perfect alongside a bit of cake. With an inviting selection of cakes and biscuits it’s tricky to choose, but a lovely moist slice of stem ginger cake (£2) goes down a treat; this is posh malt loaf, its warm, gingery spice a perfect tonic for the ominously blustery autumn weather outside. Just right, washed down with a steaming, creamy cup of coffee.
There’s a lot to like about this understated, laidback café, with its eclectic décor of red chesterfield sofas and bunting, its low-key music and its small but well-chosen menu. And although the Leeds loop road might not seem like a conventionally scenic view, there’s something strangely soothing about gazing out of the window, coffee cup in hand, as the traffic passes silently by.
(via Food Review: Café 164 | What’s On in Leeds | Eating Out in Leeds | Listings | Leeds Guide Magazine)