The first week back after an exciting holiday can sometimes leave you feeling a bit flat, so it’s nice to have something a bit naughty to look forward to, to help recapture a bit of that holiday spirit!

We had exactly that today as we sat down to our reservation at The Malmaison’s famous Sunday Brunch (I know it’s a Saturday but it still retains that name!)

A little bit of Christmas shopping in town had allowed us to work up an appetite, which was just as well given the amount of food we were about to consume! As we sat down, our waitress explained how the brunch worked and we set about ordering an omelette each and a main course (a burger with fries and a risotto).

Whilst our omelettes were being prepared, we visited the “chef’s table”, which offered salads, bread, soup, smoked salmon, cold meats, sausage rolls, and scotch eggs. We piled our plates with a modest amount of food (!), slightly fearful of the dishes still to come.

These plates were delicious; the variety was really good and the foods that can usually be a bit of a letdown at a buffet (namely sausage rolls and scotch eggs) were delicate and had real flavour along with crisp pastry.

After a break of a few minutes, our omelettes arrived. As you’d expect from a brunch staple cooked by the Malmaison, these were very good. The consistency was just right, although I like mine slightly runnier, and the ingredients tasted really fresh, especially the tomato and onion.

A ham, cheese, and tomato omelette – just a modest portion!

So, two plates down and two to go! Next up came our mains. The risotto came with vegetables including courgette and carrot and thankfully wasn’t too filling! It had a “dry” texture and wasn’t too creamy, which was nice after the first two plates of food.

Young vegetable risotto

The burger was slightly more filling, and the brioche bun and special steak sauce made it stand out from your normal pub burger fare.

The burger in all its glory

Dessert isn’t compulsory at the Malmaison Sunday Brunch but since you’re paying a set price it would be rude not to order one, so we did! We ordered one sticky toffee pudding with pecan caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream and an eton mess, both of which rounded off our meal delightfully. The sticky toffee pudding in particular was moist and moreish.

Sublime sticky toffee

Eton Mess

Weighing in at under £20 per person for food of a really good quality and plenty of it (four plates each!) the Malmaison Sunday Brunch offers fantastic value (we actually only paid £12 each thanks to a Twitter offer, so keep an eye out for similar promotions).

It’s a lovely way to spend an afternoon in town after or before a spot of shopping, with the basement venue nicely tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Leeds city centre.

We’ll be back for another brunch experience soon; we just need to work up an appetite again first!