Nostalgia In Leeds

Heeeeey!

In a few of my previous entries I have recalled certain venues and places which remind me of my teenage years but there is really only one city which sums up my young princess years – Leeds.

(BTW: When pronouncing Leeds, try and say it in a short, snappy kind of way with a reeeally deep voice with an emphasis on the LE. Leeds, say it again Leeds – Good job!)

So yes Leeds was the first city where I was allowed to go shopping with my Girlfriend’s for the first time. We would get the train, hang around outside the Corn Exchange for a few hours looking super cool (An action that young people still do as it happens – Note to self, they don’t look cool, they look cold and miserable) then we would head to a pub for the remainder of the afternoon.

I have a few friends who went to Uni in Leeds, so we decided to head up to see what the students of 2012 are up to, we hadn’t been for a good 12/13 months and we felt like we were missing out – on what exactly I’m not sure…but oh well. Next stop Leeds!

All the decent pre-club bars in Leeds are about a 10 minute walk away from the train station heading up towards The Light shopping/cinema complex. You have your usual suspects, Wetherspoons, Yates, Woo Woo, and of course what city would be without a Varsity and an Oceana! OOOP and would you look at that, the two just happen to be next to each other. Now that’s what you call convenient!

I tell you what – Varsity has sure changed since the last time we were there. 100% changed for the better, it looked completely different. Loved the different types of lamps over the bar and the leather chairs round a fireplace. Fixed seating had been put on a new terrace and a new dance floor had been put in at the back of the pub.

I liked that there were several different areas, each had a different feel to it and I could get a big group of mates together in one area or have a quiet dinner/drinks with one person in another.

Hands down, my favourite part of the referb is the addition of (what I now call) The Lipstick Bar in the girls toilets. It’s perfect for doing a few touch-ups and the likes.

I ordered a southern fried chicken wrap (minus the chips) which was very yummy, as was the glass of Rose Pinot Grio I washed it down with. Great promotions actually – buy two large glasses and get the rest of the bottle for free. I think that’s a pretty good deal when you spilt the rest of the bottle between two people.  The staff were really attentive and smiley which was a nice change from the grumpy faces from the others on the strip – step it up guys cuz Varsity sure have!

We had a few more drinks before moving on to Oceana, the plan was to move on to another bar but to be honest, we didn’t need to. It was comfy, with good prices and great music too.

Scores on the (royal) doors: 

Food and service:  Service with a smile.
Atmosphere and decoration:  Great new décor, really brought it up to date and stood out in comparison to the other bars in that area
Facilities:  Beautifully clean and pretty!
Talent Radar:  Perhaps…….
Fun Factor: Great to re-visit Varsity and catch up with friends
Perfect for: Pre-clubbing, cheap food,  large parties, small parties too!
In 3 words: Var-Sit-eyyyyy

Leicester, Take Two…ACTION!

Huzzah dear readers! x

Given that my last jaunt to Leicester was so fantastically awesome, it would be incredibly rude of me to turn down an invitation to hang with those crazy Leicester students again. This time my invitation was from the second Varsity on London road.

Expecting a heavy night, I packed my berocca, my heels and a toothbrush and whizzed up to Leicester. Talk about timing, it would so happen that my visit coincided with the end of exam celebrations, I couldn’t have asked for a better excuse to round up the students of Leicester and De Montfort, and boy were these guys ready to party!

Even at 12pm, hoards of relived, blurry eyed and smiley student piled through the doors of Varsity looking for food and most importantly…booooze! The J-bombs started to flow and even got a cheeky few passed my way. Yes I know 1pm is a little early to start but, whilst in Rome an’ all! An army of burgers and curly fries made their way out of the kitchen to feed the students.

I got talking to one very lively (to put it lightly) group of chemists. Well, one thing leads to another and I ended up challenging one boy to a Man Vs (Varsity) Food!

Mission (Should you choose to accept it) “Consume a Dirty Dogs Dinner in less than 5 minutes, with your hands tied behind your back!”

Granted, that doesn’t sound too bad, well hang on and let me explain what the Dirty Dogs Dinner actually is. Imagine a mountain of sausages, a big pile of chips smothered in Heinz Baked Beans and smoked bacon pieces, all served in….(wait for it) an actual steel dog bowl! Doesn’t that sound beautifully glamorous! Unsurprisingly it wasn’t! Seeing the poor bloke bobbing his head in and out of the dog bowl, we didn’t think to cut up his sausages beforehand which made watching the whole gut busting experience a little gross. Soon he had the whole bar including the staff cheering him along and he managed the dish in 5.30 minutes, so close, dang and blast!
Surprisingly, I lost my appetite for lunch and dinner!

"Hi Im Jonny Knoxville and Welcome to Man Vs Food!

On to the nightlife! Shots, J-bombs, pints, glasses of wine and bottles all £1! The Varsity Pound Party had begun. The tunes were rolling out and the crowds were rolling in to join in the party. The upstairs section of the bar had been booked out for an international students party and the downstairs was split between the cool kids at the back of the bar on the sofas playing pool and the rest of the nutters throwing out some choice moves on the dance floors.

I couldn’t have a night out in Leicester without visiting my buddies over at The Reynard and Varsity on Friar Road. (Read my previous Leicester blog here) I met my future Party Prince, Jef (DJOneEf), and sat and had a nice drink with the guy at The Reynard who told me about the success of their own student social parties on Wednesday, do I hear another invitation?! I think so!!

Scores on the (royal) doors: 

Food and service: Doggie-licious?! I did actually share a dirty dog bowl, and with proper cutlery, it’s pretty darn good!
Atmosphere and decoration:  Big and airy, mixture of sofas and booths along the side.
Facilities: HUGE girl’s bathroom!
Talent Radar:  If you love chemists with a face full of beans, then YES!
Fun Factor: As always, Leicester rocks it.
Perfect for: Filling your tummy and rocking out on the dance floor.
In 3 words: Student hang out.

Read other reviews for Varsity London Road here at View Leicester, Inapub.co.uk, BBC.co.uk and Qype

See you on Friday for my Newcastle/Sunderland Tour Part 1 through 3 

Durham

Howdy!

I was invited up north again this week to witness the first “Sutra” night of the term at Varsity Durham. As you have gathered I’ve been to a few Varsity’s now so I went up with a certain expectation of the venue, its inhabitants and the staff.  I’m happy to report, all of those expectations were well and truly SMASHED! I do like to be proved wrong (sometimes –let’s not get ahead of ourselves!)

I’ll start with the venue. Most Varsities’ consist of one large space which is then separated by areas with different style of tables, booths and the like.  Durham was totally different! Plain walls were replaced with brightly coloured and textured wallpaper with really comfy trendy furniture and unlike most Varsity pubs; this one had an outdoor area to the back overlooking the river and the bridge. The balcony had at least ten tables and there were another five or six in the terrace which had a roof but open at one side. Seeing as it was such a nice day I sat outside, enjoyed my glass of wine and tucked in to a southern fried chicken wrap and chips (don’t tell my gym buddy, I’ll get told off!)

YUM!

Fun in the sun

Party in the pub

Whilst going to refill my glass I noticed a nice big dance floor and several little hidden seating areas, each with two or three smaller tables, thought it would be really good for a private little date

Whilst talking to the bar staff, it was pretty obvious they were excited about the night as well and were expecting around 700 students over the course of the night. Now over a space of 4/5 hours, 700 hyper students doesn’t sound like much but it wasn’t mentioned that they would all come at once which was indeed the case. The look on the bar staff’s face was priceless, a nice mixture of terror, excitement and determination! Within no time the dance floor was filled to the rafters and considering the playlist was pretty awesome, you couldn’t help but dance along.

After talking to some students it was clear that Varsity is one of the better places in the city for students and it’s really obvious why.

All the students were really friendly which makes a nice change. Sometimes they get a bit too drunk and get rowdy but there was good clean fun to be had by all including little old me! As you can see, everyone was really friendly. Little note to the girlies reading this….Durham has some great guys, easy on the eye if you catch my drift! *wink*.

 

Nutters

Crazy girls!

 

 

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  swift service, fab food.

Atmosphere and decoration:  On trend, surprisingly lush and warming

Facilities:  HUGE bathroom.

Talent Radar: yes yes YES!

Fun Factor: University fun at its best

Perfect for: Cosy date,  quiet dinner, party hard, lunch time chill out, watching the game.

In 3 words: Student hot spot.
For more reviews visit Beer in the Evening, Qype, or Scoot OR watch these videos