I have made it my mission in life to find the best Sunday roast in Leeds - and even though personally for me there have been a few close contenders, I have yet to find one that has blown me away. My favourite so far is one that I have yet to review, but I'm sure that I will get around to it someday! The story behind this blog post is that I was browsing Twitter one day, and saw an interesting looking tweet on my timeline; Nation of Shopkeepers were asking for food bloggers who dabble in photography to get in touch. Well, that describes me pretty much to a tee, so I duly did so (I have to admit that I was intrigued). The offer was pretty straight forward - a free Sunday lunch, in exchange for some photos and possibly a review if I wanted to. Well, I figured "why not?" and hey, I can never turn down the offer of free food! Also, good content for this blog is always a bonus. So, a couple of weeks ago, me and Martin headed down to Nation of Shopkeepers to try their Sunday roast.






Me and Martin have been to Nation of Shopkeepers before, on numerous occasions, and have even eaten there before. However, I was unaware of what the situation was with their Sunday roasts; it turns out that they did do them before, but they stopped doing them for a while. Now, they've brought them back, hence why I was asked to take some pictures, to help promote this. Nation of Shopkeepers is an interesting bar to say the least, with quirky decor but a warm and friendly atmosphere. When we arrived, we went straight to the bar and was soon greeted by a friendly female bartender, who got us sorted with our food and drink. The Sunday roast menu looked promising, and we had no trouble deciding what we wanted. We were a little disappointed, however, to learn that even though it was only 2pm, that they had run out of the pork and only had one portion of chicken left. So, Martin chose the beef with extra Cumberland & gingerbread stuffing and chipolatas, and I had the chicken - both of us opted to give the cauliflower cheese a go as well. To wash this down, we both went for the same beer, unusually; a pint of Drygate's Bearface Lager, which was a safe option to go with the food. We decided to take advantage of the mild weather and sit outside on the patio, but not before we were offered a shot of (alcohol free) Bloody Mary to keep us going! This was unexpected but a great touch from Nation of Shopkeepers, who actually seem to care if you have a raging hangover (we did not, but that didn't matter).





Before long our food had arrived, which was a good job because we were seriously hungry! The plates were certainly piled high, so the portions were hardly on the skimpy side - as such, this got a big thumbs up from both of us. However, me and Martin were not left overly impressed with their Sunday roast, and there were several reasons why. The meat was well flavoured, but I did find my chicken to be a bit dry in some places. This was nothing that adding gravy couldn't solve, but I've definitely had better elsewhere. Martin's beef was well done, and I think that he would have preferred it a little pinker in the middle, but this wasn't offered as an option to him. The vegetables were particularly disappointing - they were clearly not fresh, and looked to me as if they were a "steam in a bag" job that you can buy from supermarkets; therefore they were quite bland, and some were undercooked by quite some way. Perhaps I've gotten a bit snobbish with my Sunday roasts, but the least that I expect is fresh vegetables that have been prepared on site, and these weren't. The roast potatoes again were just fine, but they weren't as crispy on the edge as I would have liked. The homemade Yorkshire fell flat for me - not literally, as it was quite overdone and therefore as dry as a bone. Yorkshire puddings are meant to be light and fluffy, and these ones were tough and chewy, and I have to say not all that pleasant. The stuffing balls and chipolatas were tasty enough, but to me the stuffing balls didn't taste any different to what I would usually have at home - quite a disappointment, when I was expecting them to be really special! Lastly, the cauliflower cheese rounded off our disappointing meal by just being a bit too bland. This sounds like a harsh criticism as cauliflower is considered by most to be quite a bland vegetable, but Martin has been converted to this dish by excellent ones in the past - and this one from Nation of Shopkeepers didn't live up to what he imagined or had hoped for. Again, like the other vegetables, the cauliflower was undercooked and we didn't manage to eat it all.




My review of Nation of Shopkeepers' Sunday roast does seem quite harsh, but all in all it was just not what we expected it to be. We know that this place can do excellent food; their fried chicken is to die for, as well as their chorizo mac and cheese - which, looking at their current menu, they don't do anymore, which is a real shame. I hope that this is only teething problems for Nation of Shopkeepers, and given time and feedback they can work to improve on their Sunday roasts. It has the potential to be pretty damn good, if they improved on the quality of their ingredients and took a little more care when cooking. This was by no means the worst Sunday roast I've ever had, far from it - but both me and Martin expected a lot more based on our previous experiences, and as such we were disappointed. When you factor in the prices as well, we've definitely had better elsewhere for the same amount. What I would say to you, if you're looking to give Nation of Shopkeepers a go, is for now, skip the Sunday roast and go for some of their fried chicken instead - that, I can wholeheartedly recommend, but sadly, not the Sunday roasts just yet. Better still, go for the relaxed atmosphere, friendly staff and great beer!

Disclaimer: Our meal was complimentary, but this does not affect my opinion in any way.