It was a warm, inviting buzz rather than a rowdy din though, and I felt at ease as soon as I sat down. The service at this place is just one of the things that sets it apart, we took a seat in the dining section and within a few minutes a friendly member of staff was over to take our drinks order. They understand the importance of that first drink, put me at ease with a pint and I’ll happily muse over the menu for a bit without any trouble.

The waitress also new her beers, which is massively important when offering table service - just a few quick questions about what I fancied (dark, strong flavour) and she was recommending an excellent Saltaire Cascadian Black. Fast, friendly, flawless service from staff that were obviously rushed off their feet.

But we were there for the food, and on that front things definitely weren’t let down. We started with some obviously very fresh scallops with chilli, garlic and dressed rocket. Simple, well cooked, delicious.

For the main course I was seduced by the pork, black pudding and apple “Pie of the Day”, whereas Colette went for the deep fried Pollock with Tiger Prawns and Whitebait. The pie was good; nicely slow cooked and full of flavour but the gravy let the side down a bit and was slightly lacking oomph. The accompanying chips were great.

Colette’s seafood dish was the star of the show though. The battered fish and prawns were moist and tender on the inside but crispy on the outside, and the Whitebait was (rightly) unbattered and completely delicious. Salty and full of flavour these things would make the perfect bar snack alongside a pint.

Cheese board for me and some rich and sweet chocolate thing for the missus finished things up nicely. Perfect!

There are far too few places like Veritas. Where you can have a few pints of great beer, delivered by table service alongside a selection of great modern British food. Plus they have a deli inside the pub in case you just want some cheese or snacks to nibble on.

If you haven’t been then there’s never been a better time to give it a try – it’s a perfect place to drink, eat and relax when the weather turns cold.

I've written about Veritas, and a few other beer and food places in Leeds, before here.

I think about food a lot. If I’m not doing something that requires my full attention, then you can pretty much guarantee I’ll be formulating a recipe in my head or thinking about that Thai place I can’t wait to try.

This afternoon I was mostly thinking about burgers. I knew I had some really good butcher's mince in the fridge, some onions and a few of the other bits and pieces needed, but what about the all important toppings? I couldn’t decide.

The combination of my indecisiveness, Colette’s penchant for mini stuff, and spotting a perfect 9 pack of mixed mini bread buns in M&S sealed the deal. I wouldn’t decide, I’d make three different kinds.

The three flavours I decided on were: Fresh Coriander and Jalapeño salsa, Mango Chutney and Blue Cheese, and Classic Cheddar.

All the burgers had a bed of lettuce and just a smidge of mayo: The “Classic Cheddar” also had tomato, sliced red onion, ketchup and mustard.; the “Fresh Coriander and Jalapeño salsa” contained diced tomato, red onion, Jalapeño, garlic, fresh coriander, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar; the “Mango Chutney and Blue Cheese” was simply a generous slab of Stilton with a mango chutney coated top bun.

These three seemed like a good balance as you get one pretty classic burger, one spicy burger, and one rich and weird burger. Lovely stuff.

I wanted a big fruity IPA to go with these burgers. Something that was sweet and fruity enough to handle the mango chutney but also had some bitterness and depth to go with that charred meat - Plus blue cheese and American IPA’s is a match made in heaven - so Caldera IPA from Oregon was the ideal candidate.

It worked a treat. Particularly with the Blue Cheese and Mango Chutney which was far and away the best of the three. It’s just a perfect combination; salty, funky cheese and sweet, fruity chutney atop charred, well seasoned beef. It ticks all the boxes and with the Caldera was probably the best Beer and Food Match I’ve had all year.

Burger tips and other info:

• I used 700g of mince (mixed with 1 grated red onion, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1 beaten egg and plenty of salt and pepper) to make 9 mini burgers. That works out at roughly ½ a pound of meat per person, split between three mini burgers. This amount is perfect for a good sized main meal when served with a big shared bowl of potato wedges.
• Mould your burgers into lime sized balls and then press your thumb into the centre and squash down. This creates a fat, red blood cell shaped burger. Place these onto an oiled plate and set in the fridge or freezer for at least 15 minutes before cooking. When the burger cooks the dint in the middle will expand creating a perfectly flat top. If you have them flat to begin with then you’ll end up with golf balls after cooking, it’s a neat trick that works a treat.
• I used butchers mince but fresh ground chuck steak with a bit of fat is even better. There’s loads of recipes online and I’m not pretending the burger recipe here is the best. This post is about the toppings, and the beer match.
• I cooked my burgers on a really hot griddle pan for 4 mins either side to medium well done.
• The Mango and Blue Cheese burger was partly inspired by this post from Andy at BeerReviews, and also the great rare beef, Stilton and onion Maramalde sandwich I ate recently in Pickles & Potters of Leeds.

If you’ve never made a Hotpot at home then you are depriving yourself of one of the best one pot dinners the British Isles has ever given birth to. It’s just got everything; crispy butterglazed potato, succulent slow cooked lamb, sweet stewed veg (in my version) and a richly flavoured stew-like gravy which spreads across your plate like a lava of Lancashire loveliness.

I add beer to my version (who’d have guessed) but make sure you go for something fairly light, with a nice clean malty flavour like you get with pale English Brown Bitters. Personally I think Marstons Pedigree is the perfect choice. A stronger beer such as a stout or porter would just completely drown out the delicate flavour of the lamb and herbs, and anything too hoppy won’t cook out well at all.

I’ll also warn the purists that this is my version of a Hotpot, it’s not meant to be rigorously traditional or definitive, it’s meant to be tasty. Hence the addition of the Pale Ale, Root Veg, and Fish Sauce which adds an extra layer of savouriness and seasoning but not a hint of fishiness to the flavoursome sauce.

To make this you’ll need:

• 600g of Stewing Lamb (Neck end or shoulder)
• 400ml of Pedigree Pale Ale (and more for drinking)
• 300ml Water
• 2 Onions (One sliced, one roughly chopped)
• Roughly 6 Large sliced Potatoes (I like to use red ones)
• 1 Large Parsnip (Chopped)
• 1 Large Carrot (Chopped)
• 1 Clove Garlic (Chopped)
• Sprig of Fresh Rosemary (Leaves only, chopped)
• Sprig of Fresh Thyme (Leaves Only)
• 1 Chicken Stock Cube (I use Knorr)
• 1 Beef Stock Cube (I use Oxo)
• 2 Tsp Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce
• 1 Tsp Fish Sauce
• Butter, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper

How to make my Lancashire Lamb Hotpot with Pedigreee Pale Ale

So Sunday was the day that has been postponed, rearranged, cancelled, and finally, well, finalised more times than I can even remember – my brew day with Dean from Mr Foleys in Leeds. Or should I say, Blue Suede Brews.

We decided on the beer months and months ago, a well hopped Red Rye Ale not dissimilar to something like Founders Reds Rye P.A. around the same time in June I wrote this actually: Red Hop Ales the New Black IPA?

The idea behind going for the Rye was to give an added depth of flavour and a biscuity, slightly spicy malt flavour to balance out those big hops.

The recipe was kicked back and forth between me and Dean - essentially an amalgamation of a few different recommendations from brewing buddies, homebrew websites, and some last minute tweaking and tinkering from Dean who ultimately decided on the ratios we used. Oh and we threw in some Galaxy hops at the 11^th hour because they smelt so damn good. But that’s what homebrewings all about isn’t it.

The ingredients were as follows:

Malts: Maris otter, Crystal, Cara Red, Rye

Bittering Hops: Riwaka

Aroma Hops: Amarillo and Galaxy

Dry Hopping Hops: Amarillo

Yeast: US 05

It came out a really nice deep, medium dark red/amber, but that could all change with fermentation, and secondary fermentation in the bottle. What looks dark now may well drop out to be a much more crystal red, only time will tell.

Once I know, you’ll know.

p.s. Here's a sneak peak of the spiral label artwork I designed for the beer, tested on an empty bottle, it's called Red Eye Rye....