Ghosties Favorite Leeds Bars Volume 1.

After my little review of the Grove I thought it would be nice to do a mini series of posts this year reviewing pubs/bars and other places I like to frequent and drink good beer.

Now this will be a purely objective and un-biased set of reviews, of public places in the great city of Leeds, called Ghosties Favorite Leeds Bars! 

I thought the best place to start would be one of my frequent haunts, where I like to cause mischief and mayhem - North Bar.

Not much to look at on the outside, tucked away down a side street in the town center, but momma ghost always said to 'never judge a book by its cover!' and this is a perfect example. It's a great cosy little bar based on European/American style bars with a little bit of home comforts and product tucked in as-well.

Now for drinks; North has a great selection on offer, something for all tastes. They usually have a permanent line of cask Wild Mule from Outlaw, a few other real ales, and a great selection of draught German/Belgian lagers and speciality beers on tap. Today's selection looked a little like this; (and a few taps I didn't capture)

Marble Special Ipa
Summer Wine Boreas American Pale
Fruh Kolsch
DAB
Lindeboom
Schlenkerla Rauchbier

Marble Dobber
Summer Wine Teleporter
Brooklyn Lager

Belgian Specials; Liefmans Kriek
Chouffe N'ice
Delirium Noel
DeKonick Noel

Now you may think that its all about the beer at North and from the looks of the photos wouldn't be wrong for thinking that.

But North has a lot more to offer than just your plain selection of  fantastic beers, oh yes. A few of North's extra qualities include;

This was a whole bare wall.

Constantly changing local and great artwork.

A line of there own clothing!

A fine selection of spirits, including some great single malt whiskies, you can even get some good cocktails if you like.

North also boasts a very good selection of treats for the peckish among you. Their cheese and meat platter boards go down really well with a pint, and the pies are super, enough all round to satisfy the hearty-ist of appetites. The bar also boasts a great selection of bottled beer, you know, for those occasions where you might want to take some away or just try something completely different. Of course if your not in the mood for beer there is a good selection of wines, a couple of 'real' bottled ciders, and as always a bottom-less coffee.

If this is all the stomach + guts of the place, then who's the brains and heart?

Roll on magical manager Matt, who obviously loves a brew as much as the rest of us. Completely clued up on the craft he sells, he makes sure he passes his expertise onto the rest of his friendly, competent staff, who are more than happy to recommend you a good drink anytime. It's Matt who also brought home the excellent idea of how to deal with the massive graffiti problem they had in the toilets. After a trip to a pub in Amsterdam, Matt brought this idea home to get people to stop writing on the walls, saving the place a lot of time/effort and money painting and re-painting the walls. Well I say 'stop writing on the walls'......

They've gone ahed and covered the toilet walls in blackboards! It's a great idea! and according to Matt it really works - no more harmful graffiti. Well played I say, would be a nice addition to any gents.

They are sure to keep a clean shop; cellar and pumps all kept in a good clean, organized order, which leads to the great quality of the beer you can drink from the barrels. Both the Marble beers I tried today were in great form, and would make me want more (dangerously as they were 5.9% and 6.5%!) For now though I had to settle with halves as I have others I need to haunt today, but hey! there's always tomorrow, and I'm sure another trip to North Bar won't be that far away.

Great bar, super pub! 

Closing times - Mon, Tues - 1am

                          Sun - 12am

                          Rest of week - 2am

North Bar -24 New Briggate

                  Leeds LS1 6NU
                  0113 242 4540                     - Look out for Volume 2!!