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

The Graduate, York

The Graduate York

On the way back from my Newcastle/Sunderland jaunt I decided to stop over in York. No particular reason, just fancied seeing what was happening in York! My mum and I used to always go to York around Christmas time to do present shopping and Party Dress Shopping, a tradition which we still carry out now. York also brings back great memories of our annual primary school trip to the York Transport Museum and Yorvik day out. For anyone who hasn’t been to Yorkvik, its brilliant – overpriced yes but very educational – if the Vikings float your boat.

After a day of burning through my wages, I needed a place to relax. I have a reputation for being notoriously picky when it comes to finding a decent bar, though I don’t see it like that. I like somewhere clean, with a good atmosphere, good music, reasonable prices and a high potential of good eye candy!
After walking past the same old, Wetherspoons, Yates, Revolution, blah blah blah, I was getting bored and about to give up and just go back to my hotel when I fell across a really cool old bank style building called The Graduate. The music coming from inside sounded good and the decoration looked good from looking inside through a window. Funny side story actually, the window I looked through looked onto a booth style table and my friend from college’s sister was sat at the table, I waved, she didn’t recognise me and I felt really really stupid!

Back to the Graduate. I was walking around trying to find a seat but it just kept going. I would turn a corner and there would be another room, another book, another snug type room, another cluster of sofas and finally I discovered an outside beer garden. The whole bar was immaculately kept and brightly decorated. The pictures say it all really.

There were references to The Graduate the film all the way through the bar, a film poster here, a film shot here. Really cool, it had me singing “Mrs Robinson” before I knew it.

Really nice to have table service all night, I didn’t have to get up once!

It just so happened that the bar was the first on the Carnage Pub Crawl. For those who don’t know Carnage, it is a University based pub crawl that takes place all over the country. People buy the T-shirt with the pub route and have to tick off certain challenges whilst dressed in the theme of the night which in this example was Cops and Robbers. Once again, some great photos.

Scores on the (royal) doors: 

Food and service:  Very attentive table service.
Atmosphere and decoration:  Very impressive, funky and very unique.
Facilities:  Spotless, so well kept, the staff deserve a big thumbs up.
Talent Radar:  A few robbers stole my heart! HA!
Fun Factor: Has the potential to be a massive party hot spot!
Perfect for: Food, beer garden, group bookings, small groups, pizza party
In 3 words: GO THERE NOW!

Fun in Sheffield – A mini pub crawl.

Hey Guys

Last week I felt an uncontrollable urge to go back up to the North. (Granted it’s not that north but when you live in London anything above Watford is north) I had it good authority that Sheffield is an awesome night out so with high hopes I decided to brush up on my northern accent and hopped on the train.  Next stop Varsity Sheffield!

Varsity Sheffield is smack in the middle of West Street – the main street in the city where you can find most of the bars, pubs and clubs in the city, hence why it has been re-named “wobble walk”. The bar has just had a refurbishment and had a great trendy, warehouse style feel to it. Sections of the bar were sectioned off with shiny beaded curtain. The bar swept round in a semi-circle in the centre of the room and the large floor rugs and the happy staff warmed the pub up from the freezing temperature outside.

Beer tower anyone?

The best thing about this Varsity is the Karaoke booth! Students and karaoke are a match made in heaven, especially when you throw in cheap drinks!

Once my tummy was sufficiently filled with burgers and chips and coke, it was time to move on the next pub! The bar staff recommended The Bessemer, so next stop The Bessemer!

The Bessemer is only a short 5 minute walk from wobble walk towards the town square which on this occasion had been turned into a mini fair, I’d like to think for purely my benefit but who am I kidding! It’s a lovely bar with a real homey feel to it with lots of character.  I really liked the idea of putting all the old real ale signs on the main pillar by the bar, and the old LPs around the DJ booth, it was a nice little touch.  At the back of the pub there were a couple of pool tables and a darts board which was great for keeping the kids quiet and a bit of light entertainment in the afternoon. I’m not sure if I can class a game of pool as exercise but we are told to do 20 minutes of sport a day and pool is classed as a sport. A glass of jelly beans and a few rounds of drinks brought a nice close to the evening.

DJ Party Princess?

 

Scores on the (royal) doors:  

Food and service:  Lovely talkative staff in Varsity

Atmosphere and decoration:  Great family feeling in The Bessemer

Facilities:  Love the pink bleach in Varsity!

Talent Radar:  Too occupied by pool and jelly beans to notice!

Fun Factor: Not a mad crazy night out but lovely still.

Varsity Perfect for: Karaoke, student hang out, pre clubbing drinks

Bessemer Perfect for: Family friendly fun, bar games, real ale.

In 3 words: Sheffield rocks….a-lot