Residents of Leeds.

Going there for my birthday weekend on Friday (12th) and would appreciate recommendations for pubs/bars/eateries that i could try. Been a couple of times recently for the day and did a few- Whitelocks, The Hop, The Grove and one or two others whose names escape me. Nothing too crazy and full of young 'uns. Also any other interesting places just in case we fancy doing something that doesn't involve beer. Been to the Armouries twice, so that's out.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not a Leeds resident anymore but can suggest a few places. Down Water Lane there are a couple of nice pubs which do decent food and are close to each other - The Cross Keys and The Midnight Bell. A bit further down is a brewery called northern monk with a bar in it. Bit cool for school, hipsters but a nice place and some good beer. Some nice places near the station - friends of ham does good tapas and beer and bundobust do good beers and veggie Indian tapas stuff that is really nice. Reliance do nice food and it's nice and steady but a bit out of Town.

Thingso to do is a bit harder. Roundhay Park nice for a walk I guess. Other than the armouries not sure there is much in the city other than eating, drinking and shopping.

Cheers Rodley. Few names there i can check out. I doubt we'll do more than drink, eat and shop anyway, despite the best of intentions.

If you fancy a film then the everyman cinema in trinity shopping centre is ace but a bit pricey. All seats are two people sofas or armchairs and have tables. You can have a pizza and a beer or a bottle of wine with the film. Get some different stuff shown as well. There's a good Mexican restaurant in trinity as well but can't think of the name.

Thanks again. Will check out your suggestions.

No worries. Happy birthday and hope you have a good weekend.

Cheers.

The viaduct show bar should right up your street.

Quoted from Grim74

The viaduct show bar should right up your street.

Cheers, i love a good drag act. Where will you be sat so i can buy you a drink?

- some good drinking round the train station now. All a bit pricey and can be expensive but Friends of Ham, Tappd, Head of Steam, Brewery Tap are all very good places for beer.

- Leeds city museum is free and could maybe kill an hour if it's raining. Not loads in there to be honest though.

- Henry Moore institute may be a bit heavy but it's free. It's sculpture so dunno if it's of any interest.

- if you do fancy some culture (with a beer) then the Tetley is worth a visit - http://thetetley.org/

- if you can be arsed with shopping then Trinity (where the Everyman cinema is) is very good and the Corn Exchange and Leeds market are quite interesting if you haven't done them before.
- 10 minute train ride to Saltaire. Visit Salts Mill, look at some David Hockney art (inc one of a blonde lady in the buff), have a beer at Fannys Ale House, go to the park and watch some cricket. Unfortunately livosnose and I won't be there to show you round but it's honestly worth a visit if you haven't been before.

Cheers PSG, some good suggestions there.

I would recommend Bierkeller, a German Barvarian style bar. Serve top quality beer in steins and have bar staff in lederhosens - I'm sure you get the picture. It obviously  have people singing and dancing on the tables but I've lost count the amount of fantastic nights I've had in there - i'd imagine it would have to be your type of thing though.

For food, just to throw something different in - i'm a big fan of  Trinity Kitchen. It''s at the top floor of the Trinity Centre and does various types of street food. It doesn't look the prettiest place in the world but i can vouch the food is absolutely fantastic.

Lots of fantastic things too do within the area though  

Thanks Brad. Lots to ponder.

Hope you have a good birthday anyway mate - let us know what you get up to. UTM

North Bar is a good spot, not the cheapest but good atmosphere and hundreds of beers, ciders and spirits to choose from. For good music and a bit of a dance, the bottom end of Merrion Street is a pedestrianised street with lots of bars down there - my favourite being Mojo's which plays anything from Bowie to funk to 90s stuff... but there's a few good uns down there

North Bar does indeed have a big selection of beers but expect to pay a premium for them! Last time I went there a year or two back, I paid around 15 quid in total for one German and one Belgian beer (admittedly quite strong ones)!

I visited Saltaire yesterday (flying stop) and it was indeed very nice. Not sure if ten minutes on the train is correct, however, as it is part of Shipley and out past Bratfud.

If so inclined you can apparently walk along the towpath from Saltaire to see the Five Rise Locks at Bingley. Marvel of engineering, etc etc. Would take an hour or two for a round trip, I understand.

Well, i had a good weekend. Didn't start well when there was a 2 hour delay at Donny as someone jumped in front of the train we were due to catch somewhere down the line near Grantham. Got really annoyed with all the twits moaning to station staff and had to remind one or two of them that someone had died, so a bit of a delay wasn't really that much of a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, we got to several pubs/bars and also spent Saturday morning at the Salts Mill before trying Fanny's Ale House. The Mill was good but the ale house was not up to much we thought.

We also managed to get to:-

The Hop
The Grove, twice (second time it was full of miserable Leeds fans as they had lost to Birmingham)
2 Wetherspoons (for breakfast only)
The Midnight Bell
The Cross Keys
The Northern Monk Refectory (my joint favourite)
The Adelphi
The Town Hall Tavern
The Duck and Drake (bit of a dive)
Tapped
The Lamb and Flag
Leeds Brewery Tap
Head of Steam( joint favourite)

Probably a couple more that i forget and my wallet took a battering. Leeds pubs are a bit expensive compared to our usual weekend drinking oasis of Kelham Island. Enjoyed it though and thanks for all the suggestions.

Glad you had a good one and enjoyed Northern Monk. Definitely not an option for a cheap pint though, especially if the bottle shop sucks you in! Had forgotten the Adelphi and like it in there. Have been in lamb and flag a couple of times and thought it should be good but was just totally devoid of any atmosphere. The Grove with Leeds fans after they lost is way preferable to after they've won!

*winces at the Duck and Drake*

The Northern Monk was actually the cheapest pint we had. They had a pale session ale on that was £2.50 a pint and was very nice. There was a wedding do going on and it was very lively until they all went upstairs to a private room. The price of most of the others on the board were way more expensive, so we stuck to the one beer. Agree on the Lamb and Flag about it having no atmosphere and we felt the same way about the Cross Keys, which was full of "same sex" couples. Nothing against them but we felt a bit out of place and moved onto the Monk, which turned out to be a good move as we were in two minds whether to try it or go back into the centre of town at that stage.

The reason we went in the Duck and Drake was because it was one of the pubs we ended up in on a stag day a couple of years back and the beer was excellent. Going back on a Saturday night was an eye opener though. They had a blues band on we were keen on seeing but it was getting very packed and rowdy, so we moved on. There were some "characters" in there i must say.

I have a soft spot for the Duck and Drake back from my University days (over 20 years ago now!), as it was one of the few pubs in the centre which sold real beer back then. Would only nip in for a couple of pints on an afternoon from time to time as pubs in central Leeds were pretty much no go areas for students in the evenings back in those days.

I seem to think it was literally the first pub I ever entered where they put sawdust on the floor each day to mop up any spillages of whatever sort!

Headingley is full of really decent pubs -  just have to have a wander down Otley Road, plenty of decent gaffs.