The Opening of Cabana Leeds | Trinity Centre Leeds

As I strolled through the Leeds Trinity shopping centre on my lunch a few weeks ago, I notice a boarded up shop location with the brightest funkiest advert for "Cabana". Been the nosey one I am and never wanting to miss out on anything new, I quickly searched Twitter and noticed there was a new Brazilian restaurant coming to Leeds. Cabana. Tonight Cabana (located opposite Trinity Kitchen) finally opened it's doors and I was invited along to sample their delicious Brazilian menu and slip on one or two five cocktails. 

Leeds in quick becoming a haven for new restaurants and many of my new favourites have sprung up this year (see what they are here and here). I've always loved the vibrancy of Leeds and their willingness to embrace anything new. So I'm guessing it was a clear choice to open the first venue for Cabana outside of London (no idea if that's true, but it's clearly a brilliant guess). It seems we have all the burger joints we now need for the next decade, so it was time to bring in something a little different. 

When Trinity Leeds first opened I must admit although I loved the massive Primark, the gigantic Topshop and the addition of a Victoria Secrets, the restaurant department was a little disappointing. In fact other than the new concept of the Trinity Kitchen, most of the dining venues what originally opened first was what Leeds already had, Carluccios, Giraffe, Yo! Sushi, etc, etc. Tick! Although there has been more brilliant venues since, what it needed was something fresh, vibrant, edgy and even fun to create a real buzz going. Tonight I think I have found just that. In Leeds's newest Brazilian Restaurant, Cabana. 

Cabana, (I'm starting to say cabana too much now, to the point it doesn't sound like a real word) is attempting to recreating the warm, uplifting spirit of Brazil in their vibrant up-cycled themed venue. Serving up their take on a true Brazilian Barbecue and fruity cocktail it was really hard not to find anything to dislike about the place. Unless of course your not willing to embrace the awesome atmosphere? 

The food and drink samples kept on coming all evening long and I defiantly sampled everything there was to offer here. It ended up that I needed a good lay down when I got home before I wrote this. Well a rest and a catch up on The Apprentice. 

The food was incredible and everything I tried (almost everything on the menu) was cooked to perfection, thick cuts of steak served pink and bloody in the middle. Which I'm calling the correct way to cook steak. Chicken juicy and tender with the most amazing flavours and lamb which melts in the mouth. Plus more home comfort's such as pulled pork sliders, chicken coxinhas (croquettes of shredded chicken and spices) and sweet potato fries. The menus seemed to have a nice balance for a Brazilian restaurant of not been too "only meat" heavy and offering a few more alternative dishes than I expected. 

Drinks wise, there was a good range of cocktails on offer, mostly sticking to the classics such as Caipirinha's and the more rum and tequila based cocktails (not a problem with me!). There is also some great twists on the classics on the menu, my recommendation has to be the passion fruit and kiwi caipirinha. 

One thing I did spot was the soft drinks menu also looked just as great, no more boring coca cola if your driving, you can still join your friends with something a little more exotic just less rum. If cocktails aren't your thang (not even a spelling error there, I'm just so relaxed with the vibe going on, or maybe it's the cocktails talking and I should change it) there's also Portuguese and Brazilian lagers on offer too. 

At the end of the night I was gifted with some Cabana Bucks, so I can return...not that I need any prompting and introduce the venue to some friends. I actually can't wait to bring my friends along here and show this place of. I can defiantly see this making a huge impact and been in the prime location of the Trinity Centre, Cabana should feel pretty welcome in it's new home too. 

Is this a place you would like to try? 

What do you make of the newest place in town? 

Sammie

Cabana

Trinity Leeds

T Shirt Store | Trinity Leeds

Firstly it feels like I have not blogged in so long! It's only been a week but I've kind of missed it. For all of you who don't know on Monday I started a new job so I've been rather busy. 

Since my previous working hours allowed me to roll out of bed around half 9, my new job now means I'm up at 7am like an actual adult. Quite frankly although that's pretty normal time to awake, for me the only time I see 7am is after a pretty god night out! I would say my new job feels like it's going to be very challenging but it's a good step forward. I am also quickly starting to realise the perks of city centre working again, so maybe I should leave my bank card at home. Although I save loads on travel, a Costa coffee here, a nice lunch there, a magazine for the bus and a few irresistible items spotted in shop windows quickly adds up. 

Since Leeds has changed so much over the past year with the launch of the Trinity shopping centre I've had so many new shops to fill my lunch breaks with. Leeds has always been a good place for welcoming independent stores and so I was very excited last week when I received an invite to the new T-Shirt store. The company also kindly sent me a new phone cover as well, I must admit when this arrived I was very confused and my first thought was have I been drunk online shopping again? 

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

So onto the Tshirt Store. Arriving fashionably late as usually I was greeted to some champers and pizza from the staff and shown around the fabulous collections.  The store has such an amazing range of t shirts and jumpers all designed by independent designers. It was so hard to pick a favourite as all the designs are unique however I would say my favourite was the one pictured below with the video tapes on (It makes me feel a little old now that video tapes are now seen as vintage).  

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinity

T-shirt store Leeds Trinit

T-shirt store Leeds Trinit

The T Shirt Store pride themselves on the quality of there t-shirts and they are all made from the highest certified organic, fair-trade cotton. Speaking to the manager of the store the passion for using ethically sourced cotton and finding the best independent designers definitely showed. 

I genuinely loved the T-Shirt store and think the store will be a brilliant edition to Leeds. The store should defiantly go down well with the student population and I would like the thank the guys for the invite.

Sammie