It looks good but it tastes better: the bar at Malmaison lets food and drink speak instead of the decor.

The Venue
Malmaison oozes elegant luxury and as such, the bar of this hotel is slightly disappointing when compared to the cream and purple chequered carpets and benches of the hotel reception. The dark cellar bar, located in the basement of a former bus depot office, is furnished with purple chairs, a semicircular booth and long wall benches with comfy back cushions. The purple lights of the bar are the element supposed to create the atmosphere but they cannot hide the fact that there is nothing truly spectacular in the room design. A pity in a way: Malmaison has lashings of personality and this bar should have been designed with a more daring mind.

The Atmosphere
On first inspection of the hotel reception, you imagine rock stars and TV personalities to be the main clients of the hotel. And, as a consequence, you expect to find them (or their tour managers) at the bar. Whether rock stars actually stay here is matter of speculation. What is for sure is that you’re unlikely to encounter any at the bar. Most hotel guests are very regular people, often in their 40s. The atmosphere is upmarket but an allure of cool is still present; the softly spoken member of staff behind the bar has purple and green hair.

The Drink
Malmaision caters to any drinking taste without complicating things. They have a very good selection of gin, rum and vodka and an extraordinary list of whiskies. Below the spirits, listed one by one by type, you will find the cocktails based on that ingredient. Shots are on average £3-6 with peaks of £20 for the rarest bottles. Cocktails, instead, are £7.50 - £13, definitely higher than the Leeds average. The most expensive is the Simply Beautiful (£13), which mixes vodka, elderflower, lemon grass and champagne. For something cheaper, you can choose from a few beers at £3.50. Kaliber is your best bet.

Wine is not skimped on either, especially since every Malmaison is particularly devoted to its cellar, and is stocked with the help for a world class sommelier. The wine list is just great and you sample most bottles by the glass: 175ml will cost from an affordable £5 to the ritzy £13, in this case for the divine Chateau Ponte Fumee Gran Cru Classe Saint Emillion, one of the holy grails of French wines.

The Food
Local ingredients, beautiful presentation and great flavours are the agenda of the Malmaison menu. The dishes though, sound uncomplicated. You can pick from a few starters, like the Bleikers oak smoked salmon (£6) and progress with a main course (£12) like egg Benedict, the Mal burger (gruyere, bacon, relish and fries) or the simple soft herb and cheese omelette.

The Malmaison club is also worth trying: char grilled chicken, crispy bacon, plum tomatoes, omelette and salad leaves in avocado mayonnaise. Other tasty options are Yorkshire lamb shank, shepherd’s pie, grilled fish of the day or lemon and thyme chicken with chargrilled vegetables. To make things lighter for the wallet, opt for the lunch deal: one course, a glass of house wine and coffee or tea for £10.

The Last Word
The bar at Malmaison only needs to look a bit funkier to be perfect, but one could argue that near-perfection is just as hard to achieve. Malmaison does get close and its bar is very easy to enjoy.