Ambiente Tapas Restaurant in Leeds

This is our 2nd visit to Ambiente this year. As always, the food and service were excellent. We tried to work out which of the 6 tapas we chose won the standout dish of the day award , but concluded that they all shared first place. The super light focaccia and balsamic dip was the perfect way to start our lunch. Patatas bravas were crispy and tasty with just the right amount of aioli and bravas sauce. The carrots and hummus are taken to another level. The fish croquettes were divine. The albondigas are full of herby flavour with a delicious sauce. The beef short rib was so very tender and full of flavour. We will be back!

Amazing food - plenty of vegan options for myself and plenty of meat options for my partner. Fantastic service as well!!

A really good wine maker tasting event with delicious wines and great food. The restaurant manager made us feel incredibly welcome, paid us special attention during our stay, and did check backs to make sure everything was okay. The information was great, the social aspect was really nice, and there was a lot of passion that clearly went into getting the event together. I highly recommend coming for a visit even on a normal occasion, and certainly for an event. I’ve booked my next one already! The only constructive criticism I could give is that the chairs are a little hard, particularly those that don’t have a back but just a metal frame, and that during the winetasting there were significant differences in portions at times, with the last guests potentially rationed ever so slightly more. Other than that, it was very difficult to find fault and was worthwhile. Keep up the fantastic work and we can’t wait to see you again!

Great food and service as always. Ambiente events are fun and it's great to sit with people you don't know and get talking to them - great fun from the winemaker

Delicious tapas and excellent service!

Food⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Drink⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Service⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Vibe⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Awesome great atmosphere tasty food and friendly service 👌

We had an amazing selection of tapas and some really nice wine. The servers were friendly and happy to give recommendations. Great restaurant!

Lovely meal- such friendly staff and nice drinks too. Javi was so helpful when choosing drinks and came over to chat to us and make sure we were enjoying our meal. Definitely gonna come back. Staff a real credit to management :)

Had a really wonderful dining experience at Ambiente. The food menu is diverse without being overwhelming and the team are incredibly knowledgeable. The wine list and drinks menu is huge and good value for money. Javi in particular was brilliant and made our time very special. The January deal is also very good value for money. I wouldn't hesitate to return. Thank you!

I was absolutely blown away by how accommodating this restaurant was with my dietary needs. It made for the best experience I've ever had, I was able to feel confident and really enjoy the dishes, alongside my colleagues for our Christmas night out. Special thanks to the lovely lady who made it possible, Autumn. The food and drinks were exceptional from start to finish.

Best tapas I have ever been to in the UK. The food is amazing and the portions are great. Would definitely recommend and will be back again soon.

Mikey was brilliant and the food was delicious

Delicious tapas and lovely atmosphere here. Excellent bottle of white rioja recommended by Francesca. Great to have staff that actually know their stuff re wine and the dishes on the menu. We shared 5 tapas dishes. Hope to be back soon.

Great Tapas, Great Sherry. What's not to like!

Didn't go in, just walked past to look inside. Looks ok, but never judge a book by its cover🤓

I've always really liked the tapas at this restaurant. However, this last time for a Christmas gathering was not the best. The paella was unseasoned, the tapas were not that well made either. The dessert were quite nice though. I really liked the creme brulee.

¡Tapas y Tentaciones en Leeds! Ambiente in Leeds is a staple for anyone who loves great food in a stylish, trendy setting. I visited recently and was once again impressed by the quality of the dishes, especially the Paella and the beef short rib with kiwi salsa—both were absolutely excellent! The paella was rich, perfectly seasoned, and packed with flavor, while the short rib was tender and the kiwi salsa added a delightful, unexpected twist. The atmosphere strikes a perfect balance between chic and welcoming, and the prices are very reasonable for the high standard of food and service. Speaking of service, our waitress was not only attentive and friendly but also had an effortlessly charming presence that added a little extra sparkle to the evening. If you’re looking for a place to enjoy top-tier tapas in a setting that feels special but unpretentious, Ambiente Leeds is a must-visit. I’ll definitely be back!

A great ambience, and good food to go with. Service was excellent and we were very looked after. Would definitely return.

I came for my birthday, mimi served us and was a delight! Excellent service, excellent craic, excellent scran! Chefs kiss xoxo

Really nice place lovely staff and great food. The manager was very attentive sorry forgot his name glasses & young & fairly new to the place, you’ll know the one! Will be back to try the paella

Another outstanding visit. Our server Iggy went above and beyond to make our dining experience fantastic. Food is divine.

Great varied menu. Service was faultless. Beautiful setting and decor. My daughter and I visited Leeds for a gig and were recommended Ambiente by the Chilli-shop. Pleased to say we followed up on the recommendation. We had the non-alcoholic 'sangria' which was lovely and refreshing. Then the food we had 3 dishes each which we shared and bread with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar to dip whilst waiting. All dishes tasted really good but 3 of them were memorable and we will be back for these and to try others. The 3 dishes were chistorra y fideau which is a flavoursome 'village' sausage with pasta, tomato and cheese, queso De Cabra; a good sized piece of goats cheese with honey, fennel and beetroot crisps. The blend of flavours complimented eachother perfectly. Then a baked chilli and feta dish. We had a small issue which was dealt with promptly and efficiently by Javi the manager. Thank you 😊 I wish I lived closer as this would be my 'go to' restaurant if it was in my local city. Hope to be back soon.

Food was well served and tasty. Friendly service and reasonable prices for Town. Would definitely go again.

Selected Ambiente for Tapas as the pricing seemed much better value than other places in Leeds and we were not disappointed. We originally only selected 6 tapas dishes as one or two were unavailable after a busy weekend, but as the dishes came out we kept ordering more as every plate was absolutely delicious. Every meat was tender and succulent, every dressing flavourful The staff were pleasant and friendly. We cannot wait to return!

Love this place. Excellent vegan food and fab service. Thanks Jordan. You rock

Great menu, varied too so something for everyone. Great atmosphere and brilliant service from Mimi who was extremely knowledgeable about the menu, prompt and very friendly. Food was delicious, so much so we had seconds of certain dishes, the chorizo and potatoe dish was divine! Would definitely recommend for couples, groups, families and more. We will be back.

Great food and great staff! After accidentally leaving keys we received a call shortly after from the restaurant, who kindly held them securely for me to collect. Staff were really enthusiastic and made the experience - will definitely be back! Thank you for a lovely meal and going the extra mile - we really appreciate it.

Our group of 8 thoroughly enjoyed our Sherry Taster Event on 7 November as part of Sherry week 2024 Tikka Masala King Scallop accompanied by a Fino sherry Roast Squash & Mushroom Veloute with Amontillado Sherry Duck breast and onion cheese tart with Palo Cortado Sherry Pig Cheek with Oloroso Sherry and finally Cheescake with a dessert sherry All courses were introduced by friendly staff, presented beautifully, tasted delicious and well spaced out to savour the experience Hamish Bredin from Gonzalez Byass was extremely knowledgeable about the Sherries and explained the production skills involved this was the 3rd visit for some of our group and I will definitely be returning - it's a wonderful opportunity to try something new and experience a range of fine wines/sherries Next one may be scheduled for February....

We had a superb time at Ambiente. Delicious plates of food to share, one dish nicer than the next. Service was excellent and our server Mimi was very informative about the menu and warm and welcoming. The manager also checked to see if we enjoyed our meal, a nice touch at the end. Highly recommend this place, for dates, family friend groups. Reasonably priced and excellent quality food.

The food is amazing and it has a great atmosphere. The manager is super friendly but when it’s busy service can be a little slow. It is however worth the wait.

Great tapas and fantastic service, it's pure Spanish & Catalan cuisine through and through.

Great food and fantastic service

Really tasty dishes, and a great selection too. Friendly and welcoming staff. Worth a visit.

Having been to Ambiente over 10 times, I have never been let down. The food is excellent, the service is great, the staff are extremely nice and knowledgeable. I took my Parents there yesterday for my birthday and they go to Spain a lot and were blown away with how authentic and nice the food was. We also got 20% discount for my birthday and 50% off the desserts because they had a change over of chefs and it took a little longer. Not that we noticed! Keep up the great work!

Great atmosphere, food, wine etc

Excellent food (try the carrots and the chicken kebabs), wonderful atmosphere and decor and even better staff. Huge thanks to Franceska for the smooth service and sherry/wine advice and Xavier for making us laugh. Perfect evening. . Very buzzy even on a Sunday night!

Staff curtesy, food Outstanding!! Service very good, 100% recommend we where all satisfied totally with our choice of foods & drinks.

It may seem strange to give 5 stars given we only stopped in for one drink. But the service was fantastic. We said we fancied “dry, but not too dry sherry”. We were brought a selection of three to try and given full descriptions of each. And even after having chosen and paid for our choice, they brought us another example they thought we might like to try. If we come back to Leeds we will definitely be coming here.

Delicious food with excellent, friendly service. Not sure why we have never been before, but will definitely come again. It looks like they put a lot of effort into the Spanish side of things, with interesting notes about the wines and sherries. PS we have been a few times now and always enjoy a visit. Tapas size plates mean that you can have as little or as much as you want.

It is more expensive than stone and tastes worse than stone. I suspect that the boss and chef are Indians. The music is all Indian songs. The paella has nothing to do with Spain. It smells like Indian spices. It’s really a piece of cake. Don’t come here! xhs are all lies. I have been to Spain three times and I have the right to speak.

Having been to Spain a few times and eaten tapas I wasn't quite sure if Ambiente would be as good I was expecting it to be but glad to report it was. I did have a drink at the York location many years ago but never dined there. The attention to detail is great, the staff are all helpful and friendly and checked back to see how the food was going on several occasions and most importantly everything tasted delicious. Started with a glass of sherry from their extensive list, a plate of tomato bread with extra alioli and some dates with ham while deciding on some other dishes to order, they recommend 3 to 4 per person but it's entirely up to you. The tempura prawns were light and crispy, the house salad was good , the artichoke with corn and ancient grain freekeh was not that exciting but good for you I'm sure. The braised short rib of beef was excellent , tender soft meat - should have got 1 each. A bottle of house red wine was perfectly quaffable at £19.95, total including 10% service came to £78.10 Tap water provided without hesitation. The restaurant has a lovely atmosphere and the location overlooking the river is lovely. I will definitely return and certainly recommend it for a great night out.

I visited Ambiente a few Fridays ago, I can assure you this place is a hidden gem! From the warm welcome, to us leaving, everything was on point. My partner who has a gluten allergy was attended to cautiously. The staff were lovely and very intentive. The prices are also fair, we both had 4 tapas dishes each all of which were outstanding! I could not find a fault (which does not happen often). The chef there must be extremely passionate! The place itself is beautiful, the photos online do not do it justice! It's a really warm, cosy romantic setting which is just what we wanted. We will definitely be visiting again in the near future. If you are thinking of visiting, please do so! You will not be disappointed. Thank you all for a wonderful evening. See you again soon. Steph.

Service was awesome and food was great!

The place was empty but they couldn't accommodate for drinks only in between bookings despite the next booking being 45mins later. Staff were rude and not helpful at all. Really disappointing.

Would well recomend this beautiful relaxing place.brillant service.fantastic chefs.tapas were amazing.an to speak spanish to a spanyard(owner) in leeds....😃we were made very welcome.made very welcome by all💯will definetly return next trip over

Ambiente never fails to please. The tapas is amongst the best we've eaten. All in a lovely chilled out atmosphere. Great service - helpful and informative without being intrusive. We are spoiled for choice in terms of great restaurants in Leeds. This is one of the best.

Excellent tapas. Generous portions. Nicely presented. Good friendly service. No need to ask for water, it was brought to the table automatically. You know when food is good in a restaurant - it has authentic aromas and umami.

Went with a group of friends to celebrate my 22nd birthday. Service was amazing as I was the birthday girl I received complementary Prosecco upon arrival. Food was preorder from set menu and there was enough for everyone we were all STUFFED by the end. Special shoutout to Molly in particular for her wonderful service. Would 100% recommend for celebrations

Javi the manager was so nice, brought us some free dessert to take home really made our night so thank you x

I have visited this restaurant a number of times and usually have a great experience. Food was ok but I have had better. There were 2 dogs in the restaurant, which we yappy and very annoying. I didn't realise dogs were allowed. Wasn't a great experience

Extremely good quality food with pretty decent prices given the portions are filling. Best to come with friends and share around 3 tapas per person. Location is great and back of restaurant has views of the dock. Staff are lovely. No complaints.

What a great concept. Tapas in England, but all in one place, no bar hopping required. Great choice of foods and look out for the special.

Good selection of tapas, highlights this visit were the sherry sauce on the chorizo, the glazed carrots, and the green beans. Don't forget the acorn liqueur for digestif

I have been here a few times. It is a great tapas place. They recommend 3-4 plates per person and we had three each and were full. The rose sangria was delicious! Service was quick and atmosphere was great!

Had a really nice meal. Went with my mum, im veggie and she has various intolerances. The waitress (Francesca) was amazing! Went above and beyond. Food was yummy and a nice vibe. Will be back

Lovely place, helpful and charming staff. We were recommended 3-4 dishes each. We are quite big eaters but feel 2-3 is more appropriate. Sardines were on special, excellent. Everything else was a bit too fried with lots of garlic butter

Amazing Tapas in Leeds! Lovely staff and great location.

My colleagues and I had a delicious meal here in the evening. The food was gorgeous and served promptly, and the staff were friendly and attentive. I often complain about the price of Tapas, because you order 3-5 plates each so it does add up. Our food came to £47 each in the end including a drink and dessert each but I was surprised by the high quality so I think it was definitely justifiable. I’d definitely visit again.

I booked Ambiente for my 22nd birthday and we ate from the Fiesta Menu and it was incredible. As soon as we sat down our server, Iggy, was so lovely and attentive to us. We ordered the house rosé which was delicious, such good value for money. Within minutes the meat sharing platter came out with the most amazing focaccia bread. Iggy answered any of our questions about the food and was on top of refilling our glasses. We chose the chicken and chorizo paella which was one of the best paellas we have eaten. Then the tapas dishes then came thick and fast. We had the jamón croquettes, patas bravas, chicken and chorizo skewers and the calamari. Everything was absolutely spectacular with our favourite being the bravas and calamari. It was possibly the best calamari I’ve eaten. There was a gap between the final dishes, pork belly and baked feta, which were also delicious. Our only constructive criticism is that the baked feta needs something with it to dip in/eat with. But wonderful nonetheless! As it was my 22nd birthday, our server Iggy brought me out a scoop of ice cream with a candle in. Such a lovely evening we cannot recommend more and will definitely be coming back! Thank you.

Had a wonderful meal here tonight - our server, Matty was superb - really attentive and friendly and the food was fab - the Basque cheesecake is out of this world

very loud, food was not good at all, really disappointed as it used to be lovely but it’s gone downhill unfortunately. when i addressed i wasn’t pleased with the food the manager came over and said he would cook us something else, but it wasn’t just one dish it was the whole meal that we didn’t enjoy so that would not make a difference.

I have been to both Ambiente Tapas restaraunts in York and was told by staff (of the leeds restaraunt) that their site was better. I have to say, it is not. The building is impressive, but some of the booths look worn and in need of renovation. There are slight deviations in the menu, but overall, it is similar. The staff were really nice and accommodating. The food was nice, but nothing out of this world, like we were expecting, having been to the York sites. After the meal, a £13.24 (optional) service charge was added, which was paid, but only because the staff were good. Therefore, we felt compelled to pay, rather than happy to pay.

Every time we dine here it is always a pleasure. The staff are well trained and attentive. Amazing wine and sherry selection. Menu changes often giving you even more reason to go. gorgeous views from the balcony for a late sunset drink.

Place is nice but nothing is spanish about this place other than the music. Food was edible but nothing I would try again. Service wise it could be much better but not the main disappointment.

Disappointing food. First 2 dishes rather bland (mussels, roasted aubergine) but 3rd (goats cheese) very good.

A great authentic experience of classic tapas. A wide selection of Spanish wines. A great thank you to Javier for a great evening and all his advice on menus and drinks. Great experience under every aspect!!

Five stars for everything. We really enjoyed our visit here.

Lovely experience, we had a flight of sherries and some tapas to share. Our server Sneha was wonderful- very attentive and friendly with excellent recommendations. We will definitely be back!

Spot on food, so rich in flavour and Michael our server we also great, felt extremely comfortable and relaxed which was really appreciated

Visited on a Tuesday eve with no booking, was seated immediately by a very friendly host at a table by a window overlooking the river Aire. The food and drink were both phenomenal and reasonably priced for the quality. We were served by the wonderful Michael who talked us through the available sherrys and recommended our dessert in the end which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks Michael and thank you ambiente!

Great atmosphere and service. Food and Sangria delicious. Visited with friends had mixed tapas starter . Each couple picked 5 tapas to share all were amazing .

A cosy restaurant with the tastiest food and wine. The specials were gorgeous!! The food arrived quickly and was just perfect! Our server Michael H was really friendly, gave us a run through of how sherry is made and made us feel really comfortable. I couldn’t ask for more and will be back very soon!

Give Javier a pay rise. He is a lovely human being. The food was extremely good too. Will come back.

All excellent, really enjoyed our first dining experience at Ambiente and would highly recommend it. Nice decor, open kitchen, friendly service. Lovely menu, great choice of wines and sherry's. Good presentation and all tasted delicious. My absolute favourite was the cheesecake dessert with recommended sherry.

We visited Ambiente Saturday night. We haven’t been before but we were in a party of 22 people. The restaurant was very busy but this didn’t detract from the service we received. Our food was pre-ordered as we were such a large group. The staff were very efficient and no-one was left waiting for drinks or food. The food was delicious, we had too many dishes to name but they were all perfect, including the dessert at the end. What a great night, thank you.

Incredible food, excellent service Amazing for vegetarian and vegans Will definitely return Thanks to Mollie and Javier x

The attitude of the bar staff was utterly appalling, and I strongly believe this was due to the nature of our party. Although in unwilling to go into great detail in a review, I do not believe they are equality friendly, and actively sought to discriminate against someone in my party. Sometimes it isn’t the words we speak that let us know how we’re feeling about someone, often a look can tell a thousand words. And as someone with a good amount of life experience, I was disappointed with how cold and unfriendly the member of bar staff was that day, and how the restaurant host didn’t seek to challenge that. I expected better from a restaurant with such a high review rating, and in the centre of such a diverse city. I apologise my friend was a gay black man, I can assure the ‘boy’ won’t revisit again.

Great place to meet up with friends and family

This is the first Spanish restaurant I've ever visited. I went here yesterday (13/8/24) with my mum and her friends and it was such a satisfying and wonderful experience. All the food was excellent and beautifully presented and we weren't made to wait for long until we were served. The restaurant itself was super cosy and fantastically decorated with an amazing view of the river Aire out in the back. Unfortunately, we didn't dine by it as one waiter said that he'd like to keep all the diners in one part of the restaurant (I suppose to make things easier while serving the dishes) but this is only the pettiest nit-pick and it really didn't affect our visit at all. The waiters were all lovely and really friendly and they even agreed to take a group photo of us! The names of the dishes were in Spanish, so I was slightly nervous while I was ordering (I've seen skits on social media about waiters getting frustrated when customers mispronounce the names of the dishes 😭) but the waiter who served us was super nice, saying that learning to pronounce them is all part of the experience. (He was super cute too. 🤭) What's more, there was one waiter who was Spanish himself which I find absolutely intriguing as it really adds to the culture and feeling of authenticity we experienced while here. I even recommended this restaurant to a friend who is super keen on the Spanish language and Spain's culture (pretty sure he's taking it for A-level) and he said he really wants to visit, especially after hearing there was a Spanish waiter! I found that I took a liking to the Patatas Bravas. Although they may seem simple, they are just so comforting (and who says you can't enjoy simple things as much as exquisite things?) and I would really recommend them if you're not bothered by a dish that appears to be on the more "simple" side. What surprised me was the Cabeza de Bacalao Asada (a whole cod’s head finished with fermented hot sauce butter) - it was massive! And for the price (£6.95) we were really expecting a much smaller dish. Although I personally didn't have much (I was getting very full at this point), my mum and one friend did say it was incredibly delicious and tender. All in all, this visit to Ambiente Tapas has been one of the most memorable visits to any restaurant I have ever experienced. I would highly recommend bringing your friends along, especially if they are interested in Spanish culture!

My son loves tapas and this is his favourite tapas restaurant. Take from that what you will.

Celebrated my daughters 40th here. Food was fab. We had tapas. Desserts were really good portions. Bit slow bringing out the drinks especially as there were only about a dozen people in at the time. But will definitely go again. No disabled access.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Star experience, Well done. Service great food delicious. Pavlova unbelievable.

We visit Leeds just to go to this restaurant. Such a beautiful location, amazing food and wonderful staff. We can't wait for our next visit.

We came for lunch. Had 6 tapas between two which was recommended. Good overall, some dishes very basic (one was half a grilled aubergine).

We had a table for 2 booked for 9:15pm, seated immediately and served delicious bread whilst we cooed over the menu - so many delicious options! After finally deciding (whilst sipping our cocktails), when the food arrived it was more than our bellies could handle! Refusing defeat, we asked to take the food home for our respective husbands, and the staff were so accommodating - even labeled the bags up for us, too! Excellent tapas, didn't rush us to leave despite being shut when we did eventually find the energy to heave ourselves from our seats. Cannot recommend enough.

Absolutely excellent meal, service and place! Highly recommend to anyone. The photos are if the premium meat sharing platter and the monkfish tail. We didn't take more photos because we were too excited to eat.

Such an amazing tapas place! Food was unreal. Came for my boyfriend's birthday, and we both loved every single dish. Would come here again for sure.

Amazing food with a great atmosphere, and to top the evening, a wonderful waitress called Iggy who was the best host. Thank you

Food was okay but prefer the old menu. Portions seem to have got smaller so we had to order / spend more. Service was poor. Had 3 different people serving us. One food dish had a long wait (we had to ask for it again) and whilst waiting we were told we only had 15 minutes left with the table, even though one waitress had just asked if we wanted another bottle of wine. After explaining to one waiter that we were still waiting on food, he said we could keep the table. Then another waiter came to tell us to finish up without the food arriving! I put birthday on the reservation and we told the staff at the beginning but nothing special was served despite the table next to us getting something.

Went here for a meal after my daughters graduation . It was gorgeous would defo recommend

Excellent choice of menu using healthy and fresh ingredients Would recommend this over all other tapa restaurants in leeds

Thouroughly enjoyed my visit here , the staff were attentive , and the food was some of the best I’ve had outside of Spain , I would definitely recommend it for authentic tasting tapas , I thought the portion sizes were good as tapas is only supposed to be small plates , I would definitely go back if in Leeds again !

Food was mostly okay. The chorizo dish was a winner, others not so much. A bit on the pricey side considering they're tiny portions. It always frustrates me when they won't serve a bread basket on its own so you can soak up the sauces (the best part). Just put a sharing bread basket on the menu. 20 pieces of bread for £10 or something and people will buy it. Service could have been a lot better but I think this was down to brand new staff. Had to go to bar to pay at end as couldn't get anyone's attention. I'll forever be against a 10% discretionary service charge being put on the bill, especially when it's only 4 people and the service wasn't that great. If you want an extra 10% then put it in the prices upfront. I'm more than happy to tip servers directly if they go the extra mile. It's a little thing but it's definitely something that gets taken into consideration when discussing going back.

What a lovely little place. The food was beautiful and reasonably priced for tapas. The place was well located and nicely appointed. The service was friendly and good. One star off for service though as we were waiting 25 minutes for some bread, and our host had to apologise. Would definitely come back.

What can I say no words to explain about the food, staff gesture, food is really awesome highly recommended, I went for my friends birthday the way staff treated it was Awesome. Thank you

The staff was very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. Due to the nature of the tapas and their small portions, we were able to try almost everything on the menu. We enjoyed the chorizo and the sourdough bread in particular.

Great spot. Highly recommended.

An array of tapas dishes that would suit all pallets, the staff are friendly and offered good advice when selecting dishes. They offer a great service on wine paring which makes the experience more interesting. The venue is very stylish and offers views across the post industrial landscape of the city.

Amazing tapas, great selection, if you like sherry this is the place for you