North Bar - New Briggate

After a few mediocre bars, this challenge was needing a bit of a kick-start. What better way to inject some energy than to try out one of the most popular (and CAMRA-listed) bars in Leeds.
Surprisingly, despite having lived in Leeds for 10+ years, i'd never set foot in North Bar - I think I am naturally adverse to places that people keep telling me are great. Might just be pure stubbornness, but I prefer to make my own judgments...
..which is annoying really. As always, i'm the victim of my own ridiculous ideas - North Bar is fantastic, and is definitely a new favourite of mine.

Truly a beer-lover's dream, North Bar offers a variety of ales & lagers from around the world - the day I visited, there seemed to be an American event taking place - yet it's to the credit of the owners that this didn't overpower the atmosphere. I counted at least 20 different choices on tap, which had competition from one of the widest varieties of bottled beers i'd ever seen. I chose a pint of Jever (a German pilsner), which was served in an authentic stein. The bar itself was clean and welcoming, and the staff were as friendly as the reputation suggested.

Unfortunately, North Bar has the reputation of a 'student favourite', which may put some people off visiting - this would be a mistake. I'll even forgive the slightly higher prices (£3.60 for my pint, some were £5+), although this would make any more than a couple of drinks be an expensive session.

Without doubt, this was the highlight of my challenge so far, and I look forward to showing it off to others when they come to visit.

The West Riding - Wellington Street

The West Riding on Wellington Street is overshadowed by a 'gentlemen's club' next door - you know the ones, inexplicably named after a colour & an animal (blue leopard, red panther, yellow armadillo..), yet deserves to stand alone as a decent venue in it's own right.

The pub itself is compact, with a confusing array of table and chair heights - barstools are positioned alongside cosy lounge chairs, making conversation awkward in a larger group. Despite this, there was a good number of office workers taking advantage of their lunchtime break to enjoy a pint and a read (there are plenty of newspapers available for all to read).

For a pub of this type, I expected to be greeted with a large selection of local ales, yet sadly there was only one guest brew available (Golden Pippin again...).

In a strange twist, the barmaid was telling me that the pub is reputedly haunted, and recently they held a series of seances to try and understand the unusual noises & unexplainable occurrences that have happened over the years. Sadly, that is by far the most interesting fact about a pub that has gone through numerous name changes (Bar 36, Bar Work), yet has failed to capitalise on it's prime location.

Absolutely fine, yet nothing to convince any punter to return.

The Town Hall Tavern

Today was a rare occurrence, where I was able to get out of the office for an hour to have a relaxing lunch with a friend.  Fancying something nice to eat, we went to the newly renovated Town Hall Tavern on the Headrow. To be brutally honest, the Town Hall Tavern used to be known for being a rough place - where people due for a court hearing over the road used to come for a last drink of freedom.  It's taken a long time to turn this reputation around, but the new owners have done wonders in making the Tavern a pleasant little gastro-pub in the centre of the financial district.
The interior is welcoming and clean, with plenty of seating inside. There is a good selection of Timothy Taylor ales, and a tasty solitary cider (Stowford Press), but the real treat was the food. All cooked on-site, the meals are filling & perfectly prepared. We both had the Scampi, but there were 4 or 5 other choices that we could have easily chosen.
Overall, a beautiful little pub that deserves real recognition in an ever-changing marketplace.

The Victoria Family & Commercial Hotel

After yesterday's low point, I needed a real treat to pick me up, so it was with some trepidation that I headed for the Victoria Family & Commercial Hotel on Great George Street. To be honest, i've never been overly sure whether it was a hotel, pub or restaurant, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a warm and welcoming pub behind the old exterior.

The inside of the pub itself is huge - 3 separate drinking areas, and a massive seating area for diners. The decor is very outdated now, and there's certainly a level of disrepair inside the main bar - one family complained that there were snails under the table, whilst the carpet was worn away to a thread where I was sitting. Despite all this, my experience was totally positive - I took advantage of their lunchtime offer of a meal and a pint of Nicholsons Pale Ale for £7 - the food was well cooked and tasty, with a decent selection available. Good range of beers too, although the barman was confused over the different offers.

Very positive indeed - i'd certainly return here in the future.

Parkrow Bar & Brasserie

I expected some lows during this challenge, but certainly not on the 2nd day.. Due only to the fact that it is near my bus stop, I ended up going for a drink in the Parkrow Bar & Brasserie. This bar has annoyed me for some time, mainly due to the constant flyering along the Headrow. However, I went in open-minded, especially as it was advertising 'happy hour' between 4-7. If I had more time, I'd be looking into the Trades Description Act, as there was certainly nothing happy about this place.
Despite this being peak time for bars, and it screening the tennis from Wimbledon, there can only have been 5 or 6 people in the whole bar. There was no atmosphere at all, and even the bar staff looked bored. So, I finished my Coors Light (when did £2.50 become a discounted price for a pint?) and left quickly.
Sadly, due to the odd business model of having 3 pubs in one building, if I want to do this challenge properly I'm going to have to go back to try the Bierkeller and Shooters Sports Bar, but it certainly won't be for a long time.

Challenge Accepted !

Bit of a sneaky one this, as I wasn't planning on starting til Monday. However, an unexpected trip into Leeds coupled with some rubbish shopping meant that I had time on my hands. So, to start off the challenge, I chose a pub that most people walk past without even noticing it is there. Tucked away down a small alley opposite HMV is The Ship Inn (http://www.theshipleeds.co.uk/), a tiny yet welcoming pub that caters for harassed shoppers & bored men. Once you go inside, there's some token effort to keep up with a maritime theme, and the menu looks like they offer some standard 'pub grub', yet the real selling point is the amount of ales & local brews on tap. Excellent selection for beer drinkers (although sadly only one cider....), with a good range of darks & light ales. I went for a pint of Golden Pippin (by Copper Dragon - 3.9%) which i'd never tried before, but definitely goes on my 'must revisit' list....

Overall, not a wasted journey, but I doubt I would make the effort to go back to The Ship - there just wasn't enough to warrant a repeat visit. Still - not a bad start to the challenge.

A new challenge....

Ok - i'm the first to admit that I have new ideas, get fully involved with them for a few weeks, and then forget about them totally. However, a blog is something that I really want to keep up - it's a good way for me to keep track of what i've done in the year, and also it might be useful for others to read. So, i've been looking for ways in which I can relaunch the blog and make it more interesting.

For a while now, I've been looking for a challenge - something along the lines of the Dave Gorman / Danny Wallace books I read years ago. I started thinking about the things I enjoy as hobbies - football would be the obvious choice, as it lends itself to challenges (the '92 club' are a good example of this). However, it's expensive to do, and it would mean I miss Brighton games, so that's not an option.

Then, after a chat with some people in a pub the other night, the ideal challenge came to me. Why not visit every pub in Leeds and try to find out which are the best ones? For years, i've been going to mediocre pubs, drinking standard lager, just because they are the well known ones. There's nothing better than finding some 'hidden gems', and introducing other people to a genuinely nice drinking experience. Also, it means I might be able to find some different drink choices.....

I've got no idea how many pubs there are in Leeds City Centre, but i've got time and a will to succeed, so nothing can stop me !

Quick note at this point - the definition of a pub is tricky. It can't just be anywhere that serves alcohol, or i'd end up in bloody Pizza Express again. Also out for now are swanky bars - just because they serve Becks and have a few seats, it doesn't make them a pub. So, for starters, pubs are traditional drinking establishments - anyone that focuses on the drink rather than dancing.

So, the challenge starts here.... Check back later for the first entry.....