I absolutely love tapas food, it's my favourite kind of cuisine. I love sitting down with good drinks, sipping away, giggling away and nibbling. I've always been a nibbler. I much prefer nibbling on things than eating crazy big meals, I think that's why I enjoy starters so much. I could easily eat 10 starters rather than a main. I've never really had any amazing tapas in the UK. Infact, I've always been disappointed with Spanish food in the UK until now. If you've read my blog for a while, you'll know just how much I adore Barcelona - particularly for the food. For me, food is a big part of my life and I love eating out, it's definitely my favourite hobby. Recently, I finally got the chance to try out Pintura and it's changed my impression of tapas food in the UK. Read on if delicious food is your thing...
Pintura is tucked away down a side street in Leeds. I've been going to their gin bar for quite some time (imagine a magical little den in a basement, full of delicious gins and filled with dim lighting, t's the most romantic little location) but only recently I got the chance to finally sit down and enjoy a meal there too. I'd heard incredible things about the food so knew I was in for a treat.
We started with some drinks. Usually a place does good food or good drinks but Pintura offers them both. The gin cocktails at Pintura are something seriously special, I've started drinking gin over anything else recently as it's a little bit healthier (not for my liver...) and I actually really enjoy gin now. If you like gin, Pintura is the place for you, with over 90 types of gin on offer! The bar staff are incredible too, they really know their stuff. I do love somewhere where the staff are actually interested in what they're selling you. They seem genuinely passionate about the food and drinks and it makes the experience so much better.
After drinks it was time for the pintxos - delicious bite sized snacks which are popular in the Basque country. We devoured them all, they were truly delicious - super fresh, high quality and amazing. Our waitress was so attentive and told us everything, we went for everything she recommended too.
The mini burgers were pretty epic too. What's great is they have a specials board which is full of incredible new things to try, we basically had them all.
Then it was time for the main event. We started with a huge platter of cold cuts and cheeses. I love nothing more than a nice drink, some delicious meat and cheese. It's basically my favourite kind of meal. 
We got the chance to try Pintura's new birthday gin, Cien, their 100th gin! This was produced using Spanish botanicals but also keeping Yorkshire in it's heart. Imagine Yorkshire honey, Yorkshire gold tea, Spanish tomato, juniper and more. I didn't think I'd like it but it wasn't too spicy at all, it was still delicious and I'd highly recommend trying it. This restaurant is like nothing you've ever tried, local, high-quality ingredients, incredible service and even better tasting food.
Every single item on we tried blew me away. I got so bored of low-quality, not-so-nice tapas in the UK that I pretty much gave up trying to find nice tapas over here but finally, with Pintura, I've found it. 
A few more cocktails down, we didn't even want to leave because we were enjoying the atmosphere so much. Pintura has the most chilled out lovely vibes but there's a really nice, luxe vibe to the restaurant. No-one pushes you to leave the table, we honestly sat there for hours and felt so relaxed. I could have easily kept nibbling on things from the menu.
We ended with some delicious desserts - even the desserts were good. Pintura seriously gets a 10/10 from me, the best date night location, the best place to go for nibbles with the girl and an even better place to go and catch up with family around a big table eating those amazing platters.
The only bad thing for you? If you're not from Leeds, you'll have to get yourself here soon to try this baby out because at the moment, it's Yorkshires finest tapas bar and it's thoroughly put Leeds on the map for best tapas. If you're Northern, you're in luck, if you're not, jump on a train here, asap. You wont regret it. You can read my blog post all about the best places to eat and drink in Leeds if you haven't already.
Do you like tapas food? Have you ever eaten basque food? Do you like the look of this? How do you feel about gin?
Lots of love, Em x
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