A new restaurant serving rare and exotic food and inspired by a Queen has opened in Leeds.
Lake Victoria Bar and Restaurant, serving international foods from Africa and the Caribbean opened at the Crossgates Shopping Centre in Leeds on Saturday, August 6. It is the brainchild of businessman Jimmy Sydney.
Jimmy, 35, who has been running a thriving furniture business with several branches in Yorkshire spent several months doing market research in Leeds, and consulting with his community about what they felt was lacking in the hospitality industry. He found there was a huge demand for African and Caribbean food.
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He said: "It has been my dream to open up something like this, an African restaurant, for a long time. I thought there was a gap in the market.
"It is the first time I am opening a restaurant and I am jumping into the deep end. I will see what happens. All I know is there is a huge demand and market for this kind of restaurant, I did a lot of consultation, checking and asking.
"A lot of Africans need to find indigenous food but don’t find it. That’s the feedback we got from people when we did the consultation."
Jimmy's restaurant has a royal theme, sharing the same name as The Queen, but it is inspired by a massive haven for marine life. Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest freshwater lake, stretching across three countries.
The lake, which can be accessed in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda was named Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria of England by the British explorer John Hanning Speke in 1850. And now, it will have a home in Leeds, with Lake Victoria Restaurant.
Jimmy says his restaurant will be extremely unique and provide a hitherto unseen family environment. He said: "The restaurant is mainly focused on food which is not available easily everywhere.
"I know a couple of restaurants, but there are not places you can go with a family. Ours is quite spacious and you can go with family, its really family friendly."
Lake Victoria Bar and Restaurant is located at Unit 8, inside Crossgates Shopping Centre.
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