Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Leeds

  • Leeds – Stick or Twist Pub

    Leeds – Stick or Twist Pub

    The Stick or Twist had been a JD Wetherspoon operated pub in Leeds from 1997 until 2018, when it was demolished to build student accommodation. The pub chain had a long lease which meant they were able to negotiate a new pub at the site as part of the new building complex. That opened a few weeks ago, in mid-July 2021, after a £1.8 million spend on the interior fittings. It’s apparently larger than the old pub, which I hadn’t visited, with a bigger external area as well for customers to enjoy the outside (for those people who like that sort of thing).

    It’s all clean and organised, but I thought quite bland for a JD Wetherspoon outlet, although they’re limited by the quite bland building they’re in. Not many of the tables had access to power points, which is usually a feature of a renovation by the company, with only a limited number of booth style seats as well. The section at the front has mostly high seating (which is what I prefer) and the section at the side has mostly table seating, so there’s a bit of a choice for customers which is handy.

    I ordered the Blonde Witch from Moorhouse’s Brewery from Burnley and I used the app to do that. That probably wasn’t the best idea, it took them 14 minutes to get the beer from the bar to my table, but I wasn’t in a rush. My table didn’t have a number on it and so I had ordered it to the table next to me, which was empty. The staff member seemed just a little bit put out at that, asking why I had used a different table’s number. The beer was quite bland and lacking any real flavour, but it was at the appropriate temperature and well-kept so it was about as good as it was going to get.

    Anyway, there’s nothing particularly wrong with the transformation and I’m sure that many in Leeds are glad to get their pub back again. To me though, it all felt a bit generic and soulless, albeit at least clean and tidy. It’s good that pubs are starting to open though, even if this one was replacing a location that had closed.

  • Leeds – BrewDog White Cloth Hall

    Leeds – BrewDog White Cloth Hall

    Having visited the Leeds Brewdog North Street bar for unlimited chicken wings I thought that for the sake of completeness I’d visit the other Brewdog in the city as well. That’s all handy given that I’m working my way through all of the Brewdogs in the UK, although they’ve just opened another one in London as soon as I’ve completed that little challenge.

    This Brewdog is located in the historic White Cloth Hall, this one traded in undyed clothing and another hall dealt with, well, dyed clothing. All very precise and a reminder that the woolen and clothing industries powered Leeds financially for many centuries. The bar opened in 2013, so it is one of the earlier Brewdog locations and the company notes “we had to fight for the right to bring BrewDog Leeds to life in the White Cloth Hall”. Sounds an exciting back story….

    The inside of the Brewdog and there was a friendly staff member at the door ready to welcome guests. I think he was actually just a bit bored and thought he might as well standing there greeting customers, as it wasn’t that busy. It felt a friendly environment though, although there’s a more limited food menu than the other outlet.

    The beer fridge. Apparently there’s an Nintendo 64 system upstairs for guests, although I didn’t go looking for it to find out for sure.

    There were a few fruit beers made jointly between Buxton Brewery and Omnipollo, but I opted for the original double blueberry ice cream one. This had no shortage of blueberry flavour which is pleasant upfront although just very slightly too tart at the end, but still a very decent beer. I think some other Brewdogs are serving this drink with ice cream, which sounds a bit too decadent for me.

    This is the Milk Shake from Wiper and True brewery from Bristol, given that name from the milk that goes into this stout to add to the creaminess. I had only moderate expectations for this one, but it was a combination of rich and creamy with a pleasant aftertaste, so it was better than I had expected.

    As for the reviews, I’m unsure about this one which said “I just ate dog food”. I’m not sure if that’s a rude comment about the food, or whether he ate one of the dog biscuits that I think Brewdog supply. I would have quite liked to have seen more information about that though. Nearly everything else is very positive, so they’re doing something right.

    So, that’s another Brewdog visited alongside the many Good Beer Guide pubs that I went to in Leeds, and all of the pubs were a delight (well, a couple of the Wetherspoons were a bit average). This bar had friendly service, a clean environment and decent beers, so nothing for me to complain about.

  • Leeds – BrewDog North Street

    Leeds – BrewDog North Street

    There are two Brewdog outlets in Leeds and this is the North Street location.

    The ground floor of the Brewdog, which isn’t the largest of locations, but the window arrangement makes it bright and airy. The air conditioning seemed effective as it wasn’t too hot inside, otherwise I might have been less pleased about the situation. I also liked the number of power points located around the bar, which was quite handy, it was a modern feeling environment.

    The beer board and the central bar. There was one staff member when I went into the pub, but he was friendly and engaging, being knowledgeable about the beer options. Another staff member was visible soon after, but it remained quiet during my visit so I’m not sure how much money this Brewdog is actually making at the moment.

    The downstairs, which with its slight damp felt like a proper cellar, had shuffleboard tables in it. These seemed quite popular during my visit (I took the photo during a dull in proceedings), they no longer charge to use them and a few people came in to book times. Brewdog have these in a couple of their London pubs as well, but I’ve never quite got round to fully working out the rules.

    Although they’re all switched off at the moment, there were a number of arcade games as well in the basement.

    I only had one drink here, which was the Berry & Cherry Trifle by the Mad Scientist brewery from Budapest. I remembered the Blackcurrant Trifle that I had at Brewdog Brixton a few weeks ago and so had high expectations of this beer. I wasn’t let down with this one, there was a noticeable aroma of strawberry from the beer but the main taste was from the cherries, with a rich aftertaste of berries. I liked how subtle this beer was with the various flavours that it had within it and I decided that it also went well with the chicken wings.

    The beer list, as would be expected from Brewdog, was sizeable and there were a range of different beer styles. For those who really couldn’t find anything they liked, there are also a fair number of cans in the fridges.

    It’s Wednesday, so I had reserved a place for Wings Wednesday. They didn’t bring a larger portion for the first round as usual, but they were one of the most pro-active at offering more wings that I’ve had. I think I went for one round of five chicken wings more than I really needed, but they were a handy little snack (well, less snack, more complete meal or indeed two complete meals by the time that I’d finished).

    The reviews of the bar are generally very positive, although I noted the 1/5 star rating as “I paid £4.85 for a pint of trendy ale!” as if that’s a lot of money for something decent. Anyway, I liked this bar, it was laid-back, informal and friendly. I had already tried many of the beers that they were stocking, but the Berry & Cherry Trifle was a decadent little treat here, so happy with that. And I also enjoyed the several rounds of chicken wings, so all really rather lovely.

  • Leeds – Vocation at Assembly Underground

    Leeds – Vocation at Assembly Underground

    This was the final visit on my little tour yesterday of some Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds. It’s a quirky location and I’m not sure that I would have found out about it without CAMRA’s recommendation as it’s located in a cellar where the first visible venues inside are food outlets. It’s actually like a little food court, with Vocation providing the bar section of the whole arrangement.

    As an aside, there’s some heritage to the building that the bar is located in.

    This isn’t the sharpest of photos unfortunately, but this is the main seating area and the food venues can be seen to one side. There are other seating areas available, including within Vocation itself.

    This is Vocation’s bar area at the rear of the basement.

    Grrrr, this photo isn’t as clear as I wanted either, but the beers are listed on screens above the bar. I asked the member of bar staff about what dark beers they had, with four options being suggested, which is an excellent choice and it’s rare that I’m offered that many to pick from. Indeed, they try and have fifty different beers on, so I can see why they’re in the Good Beer Guide with that effort.

    I went for a third of a pint of the rather decadent Ecstasy of Gold from Turning Point Brew Co. I’d had their Mile Zero just a couple of hours before, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to drink another of their dark beers. And this one was also brilliant as far as I was concerned, smooth, rich, packed with vanilla and chocolate flavour. It was a heavy hit and so it took me a while to sip my way through the drink (which was overpoured so that it was nearer to a half pint, something I was pleased to note) but it remained as enjoyable at the end as at the beginning. I’m becoming something of a fan of this brewery, they definitely know what they’re doing.

    I liked this whole set-up and some of the food options looked really quite decent. It wasn’t very busy, but I can’t imagine Tuesdays often are, but I can imagine at weekends there’s an entirely different environment here. Some of the food venues apparently close when it’s not very busy, although this isn’t ideal if it means that customers can’t rely on food being available here. The Vocation bar is positively reviewed and although the drinks aren’t the cheapest, there is such an extensive range that they perhaps justify that slight extra cost. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, with the whole atmosphere feeling comfortable. I’m definitely pleased that this one is in the Good Beer Guide.

  • Leeds – The Cuthbert Brodrick

    Leeds – The Cuthbert Brodrick

    I’m still on a little pub crawl of Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds, I’ve popped into the JD Wetherspoon operated Cuthbert Brodrick pub. It’s not in the Good Beer Guide, but I was running out of power for my laptop and I guessed (correctly) that Wetherspoons could help with that. Incidentally, the pub is name after the architect who designed Leeds Town Hall and Corn Exchange, it’s positive that Wetherspoons have chosen this as it’s a reminder of his work.

    The pub’s interior, all functional but it’s a relatively small outlet from the chain, although there’s a fair amount of outdoors seating.

    This is under-poured by some margin and the staff really shouldn’t have either served that or let that out. However, the beer was cheap and I couldn’t much be bothered to complain about a small amount of beer, but it’s a shoddy approach from the pub’s management. It’s half a pint (well, not quite) of the Triple Chocoholic from the Saltaire Brewery in Shipley, West Yorkshire. I haven’t had this beer since I visited the Horse & Plough pub in Bingham a couple of years ago, en route to a little adventure in Sheffield.

    The staff were friendly, but the atmosphere was a little sterile in the pub, although it was quite quiet. The choice of beers wasn’t actually bad though, they had a choice of six including the guests of the Daleside Bitter and the Leeds Pale.

    The staff really shouldn’t have let out lime looking like that either, but there we go, I won’t concern myself about it.

    I thought I’d get a quick snack whilst I was in the pub and this was cheap and perfectly acceptable. The pub has run out of tomato sauce (apparently I found the last two sachets) because of delivery problems. There’s something slightly amusing that Wetherspoons is having problems with supply due to what is realistically Brexit, but I won’t veer further into politics here. It would be a cheap point to suggest that the pub could easily source (excuse the near pun) tomato ketchup from local shops as others in the chain have managed to do. It might be against the national policy, but realistically it’s perhaps the sensible solution.

    I have no issues with JD Wetherspoons, especially since I’ve visited so many of them, but this one all felt a bit basic. The staff were though friendly, the various glasses and my plate were collected promptly and I was able to charge my devices which was the main reason that I’d gone in. The cleanliness in the pub was though a bit lax and the under-pouring is very rare from any pub I’m pleased to say. All really quite average, and in places, pretty inadequate and I’m pleased that this is one of the Wetherspoons not in the Good Beer Guide.

  • Leeds – Tapped

    Leeds – Tapped

    I’m still continuing with my little tour of Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds, with this one being Tapped on Boar Lane. Opened in 2013, they try to keep 14 craft keg lines and 13 cask lines open, which should be sufficient for nearly any beer taste.

    The beers are listed above the bar, although it’s perhaps not really the easiest way for customers to try and work out what’s available. I asked at the bar for stouts and mentioned that I’d already had the Millionaire from the Wild Beer Co, so the friendly staff member suggested the Bad Kitty from Brass Castle Brewery. I recalled after ordering it that I’ve had this before, at Brigantes in York on 12 March 2020, on what sadly transpired to be one of the last days that this bar was open. Anyway, I’ve now realised that the beer choice is available on-line, so it is possible to see what they’ve got before arriving at the bar.

    Beers are made on site, which I thought added to the atmosphere in terms of the general feel of the bar.

    It wasn’t that busy during my visit and the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. I was starting to get hungry, but I didn’t realise that the bar was selling pizzas until just before I was about to leave. I’m unsure why they’ve put wine lists on every table, but not beer lists or food menus.

    The Bad Kitty was fine and served at the appropriate temperature, with a chocolate and vanilla taste to it. It was reasonably priced and I thought that the whole experience was positive.

    The reviews of the bar are generally all pretty good and most of the complaints are what I’d consider to be either ridiculous or over-stated. There was an angry person annoyed that they wouldn’t let her in wearing flip flops, and the bar is perhaps quite right to ban these not just for sartorial reasons, but because it’s quite likely some idiot would stand on them. Other complaints are from customers moaning that they were wearing tracksuit bottoms and were refused entry. I’m not one for dress codes (I’m hardly a fashion expert myself if I’m being brutally honest) but the bar doesn’t seem unreasonable in its requirements.

    Anyway, friendly staff, decent beer and a clean environment, all really rather lovely and this is justifiably in the Good Beer Guide as far as I’m concerned (although I can’t imagine that anyone is much bothered by that, at least it keeps me happy). Ideally though, perhaps they should be a little clearer about their food menu and not keep it as something of a secret.

  • Leeds – Whitelock’s Ale House

    Leeds – Whitelock’s Ale House

    And the third in my little pub crawl of Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds….

    As the sign notes, this is the oldest pub in the city, originally known at the Turk’s Head. I like that they note the number of real ales available and also mention that craft beer is sold. I visited here because the pub was listed in the Good Beer Guide, but if I had seen this sign then I would have popped in anyway.

    It’s located down an alley, but the signage is clear so it’s not difficult to find. I was welcomed at the entrance by a friendly staff member and was told it was quite busy inside and was asked if I would be OK outside. I decided that this was fine, although decided I’d pop inside to have a look at the historic interior. I’m not a fan of outside (insects, rain, too much sun, etc), but the beer barrel that I was seated at was perfectly fine and the weather allowed such outside dining.

    And there it is, an interior not really much changed from the early twentieth century. I was going to take another photo but a staff member looked at me as if I was an idiot, so I thought that this one would suffice. I liked the atmosphere in the pub through, very traditional and the staff all seemed friendly and engaging.

    I’m a fan of John Betjeman, so I consider this great praise.

    Initially, I thought that this beer menu was just a little generic, but then I saw the Mile Zero from Turning Point, who are one of my favourite breweries (I haven’t forgotten their Yellow Matter custard beer which was pure gold, or pure yellow really). Given the quality of this beer, I thought that £2.35 for a third was a bit of a bargain.

    I accidentally ordered a packet of crisps with the beer as food pairing is absolutely important. And, as for the beer, it was beautiful. There was a richness of toffee and it was packed with liquorice flavour as well, with an aftertaste of Werther’s Originals. This was a decadent treat and I was delighted to be able to try it. Really nice.

    The reviews of this pub are very high and even the negative ones are a bit ridiculous, like the person a few weeks ago who was furious that “I waited ten minutes to be served at my table”. It’s not ideal, but perhaps not the end of the world, nor justification for a 1/5 review given the current situation (or indeed perhaps at any time). Another customer gave it 1/5 although he had been going since 1969. Yeah, great, have a bad experience after 50 years of going for a pub and rush to rate them 1/5. Nice.

    So, this is another pub from the Good Beer Guide that I really like. Friendly service, clearly popular with customers and some interesting beers. The prices were lower than I would expect and I felt comfortable throughout, so absolutely recommended.

  • Leeds – North Bar

    Leeds – North Bar

    I started my little tour of Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds at the Templar Hotel and that was fine, but not quite to my tastes. My next choice was the North Bar and this is much more my sort of thing, one of the earliest craft beer bars (I think that this one opened in 1997) and part of a small local chain. For those people who don’t drink beer, there are also lots of whiskies and rums to choose from, which all adds to the excitement (although not to me, I’m not a whisky or rum drinker).

    The bar wasn’t very busy, but there were plenty of staff and they were helpful in showing me what dark beers they had available. They mentioned that they had Northern Bones from Bone Machine, a brewery from one of my favourite cities which is Hull. There was though plenty of other choice of beers and I liked the engagement from the staff members. I’m quite amused by the Tequila Tuesdays, but I wasn’t tempted to get three of them for £6…..

    The interior is quite long, with the bar itself to one side. I’m not sure why somewhere this exciting isn’t busier, but there we go…. Actually, one thing I’m missing already from some bars is the beer list that was put on tables during the time that Covid required table service. However, all credit to this bar as they’ve put their list of beers on Untappd, although I didn’t notice that until I had already ordered.

    My beer choice of half a pint of the Northern Bones, which I liked, but it didn’t quite have the rich flavours that I hoped for. A perfectly good beer though and I was pleased to have the chance to try it.

    I really liked this bar as it was laid-back and comfortable, being on-trend but without trying to be so. The reviews of the bar are positive and they apparently serve Bao Buns from a nearby takeaway as their food option, although there was no internal signage about this. The staff were friendly, I liked the high tables and decor, with this being a very well deserved entry into the Good Beer Guide as far as I’m concerned.

  • Leeds – Templar Hotel

    Leeds – Templar Hotel

    After a busy day of visiting museums and the like, I thought that I’d work through a few Good Beer Guide pubs in Leeds tonight. I can’t say that I was thrilled to see that my first choice was owned by Greene King, but I thought that I’d still give it a try. It’s a traditional pub and it’s well looked after, so it felt a clean and comfortable place to be. It was also full, so the first time in quite a while I had to prop myself up at the end of the bar (that’s quite easy to do in the first pub of the evening).

    There were six beers to choose from (although there might be eight judging by that back board, but I could only see six), which is usually an exciting number to see at any pub. None of them really excited me though, and I’m disappointed to see such a load of generic beers on there with a limited range of beer styles. However, I have to accept that the pub was full and so they clearly know what they’re doing, it’s just I’m hopeful of something a little more decadent. Whilst I was at the bar though, every single order was for lager, so perhaps I should be grateful that there were so many real ales to choose from.

    The Tetleys beer was well kept and tasted as it should, which isn’t really overly exciting. I rated it as 3.25 on Untappd, which was perhaps generous, especially given its average rating is 2.96 (from 15,000 reviews) which is a very low score. The price was though low for my half pint, so no complaints about the cost of the beer.

    I can’t say that there was anything wrong with the pub, but nearly everyone seemed to be watching the televisions and the beer selection wasn’t for me. I prefer pubs that are powered by conversation and atmosphere and this one didn’t do it for me with that reliance on the televisions. However, the staff were welcoming and I’m sure it’s a safe environment which serves its customers very well. I can see why this has gone into the Good Beer Guide, as the welcome is genuine, the interior is traditional and there’s a choice of reasonably priced real ales.

  • Leeds – Kirkgate Market (The Fisherman’s Wife)

    Leeds – Kirkgate Market (The Fisherman’s Wife)

    Meandering around Kirkgate Market in Leeds, I accidentally stopped at this fish and chip shop. It seems that it’s now positioned within the market buildings due to a modernisation by the nearby John Lewis requiring them to move location, something which seems to have annoyed at least a few locals. Such is the power of these corporate giants…..

    That font on the menu isn’t the easiest to read, but there’s a meal deal of two sausages, chips, gravy and a Dr. Pepper for £4.99 (there were other options) which seemed entirely reasonable. The staff were friendly and helpful, with the ordering process being efficient and they not only accept cards but they actually promote them.

    The food, which is a larger portion than my photo suggests. Always a delight to see Dr. Pepper and the sausages were of a decent quality (not world class at they didn’t have quite as much richness as I’d have liked), the chips were suitably fluffy in the interior and the gravy added some decadence to the arrangement.

    There’s a small seating area inside, but there are also a fair few seats outside as well, with everything being clean and organised. It was quite busy at just after 11am (I had an early lunch….) so I suspect that this is a popular place to go for a quick lunch. The meal deals seemed good value for money and there was a fair selection of them, with the reviews for the chip shop generally being mostly positive. All rather lovely.