The best 5 restaurants in Sheffield we’ve visited in 2022 including the Wisewood Inn, Le Ble and Neepsend Social Club

The city’s food and drink scene is thriving at the moment with new venues opening every month. In honour of our fantastic hospitality industry, here we have pulled together the top five restaurants we have visited this year. You can read what we said about these places below.

The Wisewood Inn, Wisewood

There is a welcoming atmosphere when you first set foot in the place and it is nicely decorated with some nice rural touches including antler light fittings and chandeliers.

For starters we went for a shared baked camembert with warm crusty bread. Dipping our breads into the gooey cheese was a sheer delight. For the main I ordered the meat and potato pie, while my partner had a chicken burger.

The pie was to die for. Crusty pastry with succulent chunks of beef and potato, accompanied by homemade cooked chips. My partner also enjoyed the chicken burger.

If there's any criticism to be had I would say the number of chips we were presented with was a little over-facing – though I’m nitpicking, the meal as a whole was wholly filling and very satisfying. We finished off with a very rich tasting chocolate brownie and ice cream. At about £40 it was very reasonably priced given the quality and quantity of food we were served.

Le Ble, city centre

In a spread that has to be seen, this ritzy coffee shop is a colour wheel of cakes, pastries and delicacies, lined up wall to wall like keys on some decadent piano. In every direction are gateauxs on lazy susans, dusted croissants and decorated tarts lined up like a jewellery box. There are ganaches, frostings, fruit glazes and icings with the variety of a Dulux paint pallete, and lots of bite-sized gems I don’t know the proper name for. I would guess there were more than 70 individual options, and that was just at a glance.

It might be a lot to take in on arrival, but have no fear. When I arrived with a friend, a very charming member of staff came around the counter to greet me and walk me and my friend through the options – over here are the vegan options, these are honey based, these ones cream, let me know if you need any help. This was all alongside the artisan bagels on offer, the range of coffees and the fridge full of the more gucci soft drinks one can think of.

Of course, I had to suffer for this review and order two pastries instead of just one. With a friend along, we went for an ornament heart cream tart (gorgeous), a crusty blueberry muffin (dense, lovely), a plain old croissant (spot on) and a spicy warm apple tart (wintry, best of the bunch). It all looked stunning too, and with the interior design will make for a pretty Instagram post, if that’s your thing.

On top of that was an oat milk flat white (silky, strong as it gets), a salmon and rocket bagel (as good as I’ve ever had one) and a pastrami sandwich, which my friend didn’t let me try because they enjoyed it too much. The team was out of apple fruit tea when I asked for it, so instead I had some of their Japanese green tea, which came in the form of an extravagant loose leaf plunging thing and was fun. I didn’t like it myself, but my friend, who knows better, had a sip and said ‘no mate, that’s really good’, so I’ll defer to him and recommend it anyway.

Well recommended.

The Plough, Low Bradfield

At this time of year there’s nothing better to do on a Sunday than go for a nice bracing walk, finished off by a carvery and perhaps a couple of drinks at a nice, quiet pub. There are many fantastic watering holes around the city and on the edge of the Peaks that can offer such replenishment whether it be off the main menu or a carvery.

The Norfolk Arms at Ringinglow and the Old Horns Inn at High Bradfield both get honorary mentions here. But for me, the pub which offers the best Sunday carvery in the city is undoubtedly The Plough Inn at Low Bradfield.

You get a choice of three freshly roasted joints - ham, beef or pork. This is accompanied by homemade Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, sausages and a thick rich meaty gravy. Visitors are also invited to indulge in an array of fresh vegetables including cauliflower cheese, red sautéed cabbage, roast and new potatoes.

We really ‘went for it’ during our visit and had a combination of meats, and as much veg as we could reasonably fit onto our plates. The meat was cooked to perfection, the accompanying veg was very tasty and there was a nice glug of thick gravy on top.

Our meal was reasonably priced too at £13.95 for adults and £6.95 for under 13s. We paired our meal with a bottle of Jack Rabbit Shiraz – a full bodied red wine that goes perfectly well with a Sunday roast.

Neepsend Social Club and Canteen, Kelham Island

Steeped in industrial heritage, the area is awash with repurposed buildings that previously housed mills and warehouses, but are now occupied by some of the city’s coolest hospitality businesses including Cutlery Works and Peddler.

Sheffield’s reputation for producing incredible brews has also been responsible for bringing beer tourists to the area, starting with traditional – and iconic – venues such as the Fat Cat and the Kelham Island Tavern and now including more recent additions such as Heist Brew Co. and Hymn to Ninkasi.

In many ways, it is the seamless juxtaposition between the old and new that makes Kelham Island so special.

And that is why Neepsend Social Club and Canteen, which offers a modern twist on working mens’, and social, clubs of the 1970s and 80s is such a perfect fit for the area.

Between us, my dining companion and I ordered the Budapest poutine which comes with charred peppers, crispy onions, soured cream and smoked paprika; the pastrami sandwich with house smoked pastrami, mixed pickles and mustard on toasted sourdough with fries and the club burger with a veggie patty that came with grilled onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato and house sauce and fries.

The kitchen had run out of crispy onions for the poutine so they were substituted for garlic mushrooms; and while they made for a slightly different dish the end product was utterly delicious. The deep flavours of the sauce had an umami feel to them, and were complimented perfectly with the sour cream and subtle paprika seasoning. Meanwhile, the club burger’s patty had a great texture to it, and all of the other components including the house sauce made for a very tasty and satisfying burger. The fries were great too. We also paid £1.50 extra for some slaw which was an excellent addition.

The pastrami sandwich had classic pastrami spices, slightly smoky, with fresh, lightly pickled vegetables (carrot and cauliflower), Dijon mustard and melted cheese (£1.50) inside toasted white bloomer, held together with a skewer, but not so deep filled or sloppy so as to not be eaten with fingers (and a few napkins!).

Overall, I really liked the atmosphere and the food and drink offering at Neepsend Social Club and Canteen, which was also pretty good value with three dishes, including ‘slaw and melted cheese add-ons, and a keg pint of beer coming in at £39.

Karen’s Diner, city centre

Many of you will have heard of Karen’s Diner – the unorthodox restaurant where the food is great, but the service is intentionally awful. I went along to see for myself what it is really like in Sheffield’s most bizarre dining establishment.

It takes its name from the American internet reference to Karens as a woman seen as entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal.

Jack Underwood is a waiter at Karen’s, but his role is primarily as entertainment. His background (like many here) is in acting and stand-up comedy, making this a gig like no other.

He explains: “I go round on the microphone, calling people out, making jokes but that can’t take away from the waiting side. We have to be good at what we do. We say terrible service, but the actual food service is good, it’s terrible in a good way.”

Customers are encouraged to embrace their inner Karen, engaging in back-and-forth banter with their server. There are rules about the extent of the insults with boundaries set to make sure everything remains in good spirit.

The goal certainly isn’t to genuinely upset people and I’m told that the aim is to provide escapism from the real world. In real life you will almost surely have come across some horrible customers at your workplace or been met by rude, dismissive service in a shop or restaurant. Karen’s Diner seeks not to truly offend but to make you ‘cry with a smile on your face’ as Jack puts it.

It’s a restaurant like no other and that is clear when you meet the staff for these are no ordinary waiters. They have a part to play in making this the best, worst meal of your life.

Jack describes it as a ‘fantastic’ place to work and urges anyone with a sense of humour to come down and give it a try: “Highly recommend it to anyone, come down and have a laugh to escape it all”.

Having spent time in this surreal world of Karens, I can’t say I disagree!