24 New Briggate,
LEEDS,
LS1 6NU
(0113) 242 4540
The ViewLeeds Review
Leeds’ landmark beer emporium where the crowd is cool and the drinks are carefully selected to make sure you have a good time, albeit with a bad head in the morning.
The Venue
Northbar sits just along from North Street (where else?) on New Briggate Lane. It's a 100 yards from Leeds’ beautiful Grand Theatre and it's also got a selection of fast food joints directly opposite which gives it that East London feel. This all helps to make it a favourite with the arty set and a great area to spend the night boozing.
This bar and the area in which it sits has a much more pleasant atmosphere than, say, Call Lane where things can get a bit rowdy as the majority of punters drink to oblivion.
Northbar is glass fronted with strange turquoise-coloured frames, but don’t let this put you off. Inside, the bar is long and narrow with artwork on the walls and small tables and chairs atop beautiful wooden boards.
It also has a revolving system of exhibitions so it’s worth popping in regularly just to have a nose at the work. There are no sofas to chill on, which is a bit of a shame, and the toilets can get a bit crumby, with no mirrors for all you poseurs out there. But this is a place for hearty beer drinking, not cool glances and Cosmopolitans.
The People
Beer enthusiasts of course love this place. And even if you’re not the biggest fan of beer and ale, it’s fun to try the different varieties and critique that muddy-looking stout your friend is polishing off.
Northbar isn’t your traditional English pub in the dales, it’s a busy bar in town so there’s plenty of groups oiling up before going on to a club or others who finish the night here into the early hours. Students and young professionals alike love it too.
There’s sometimes music and there’s sometimes not, the emphasis being on good drink and good conversation rather than relying on a chain marketing ethos and a big menu to draw the customers in. Bar staff are less friendly than Northbar’s little sister in Chapel Allerton (Further North) and a bit cooler, we are in the city centre after all.
Every time you step inside this pub you’re assured of a buzz. Specialist beers get people chatting and interacting, and the more you drink, the more you talk. Be assured that the atmosphere is never a let down here.
Several beer festivals are held throughout the year here. Give them a reason to celebrate the amber nectar and they will, with bells on. So, there's Oktoberfest to celebrate the German offerings, a summer beer festival representing local brews, a Belgian bier festival, etc, etc.
It gets packed at weekends, and when there's stand-up comedy at the Grand Theatre it gets even busier. It’s also perfectly fine to bring your mum and dad here before the opera because, if this place is cool (and it is), it’s definitely not pretentious.
The Food
There's a small selection of food, the emphasis being on anything really tasty that complements the beer. So, pies it is then, all made with locally produced meats and vegetables (£3.30 alone, £5 with a pint and £4 with peas). And guess what? They are really tasty and encased in rich, buttery pastry.
They also serve local cheeses with bread (£3) or pickles (£3) and an array of tasty bar snacks such as good old fashioned Seabrooks crisps, bacon and scampi fries and pork scratchings (all 60p).
The Drink
Beer, beer, and more beer. It’s what you come here for. Well that’s a little unfair because there are plenty of other reasons. Even someone who hates beer would find something to love about this place. But beer is the main event.
They have bottles and barrels of the stuff, served in flutes, mugs, bell-shaped glasses - you name it! Tasting the different varieties can become a night’s endeavour in itself but, be warned, some of the beers can be potent. With alcoholic percentages reaching nearly 12 per cent, you're best embarking on your beer adventure with caution.
The beer list is split up into various categories. There's the permanent selection which covers draught beers (Erdinger Dunkel is very rich and smooth at £3.80) and Trappist beers and bottled beers divided by their country of origin. Belgium (too many to choose from!), Germany and USA make up the biggest entries and a world selection covers Australia, Mexico, Poland and Italy.
There’s also a load of fruit beers mingled in with the masses which tend to cater for the female drinkers and the curious (Bacchus Framboise £2.70). Don’t worry there’s plenty of UK beers (Roosters from Knaresborough is always on tap and costs £2.50). And wine too, with half a dozen bottles to choose from (around £14 a bottle). The Trappist beers are a good way to start and La Trappe Blonde (£3) is wonderful.
The Last Word
This is a devine drinking den which celebrates that wonderful invention - beer. Northbar isn't going anywhere, and that makes us all very, very happy.
Northbar has been reviewed by 1 users