Wapentake, Leeds

A pleasant pub located on the popular Kirkgate, this describes itself as a café/bar and presumably morphs from one to the other as the day progresses on account of the fact that they stop serving food at 6:00pm, which was a bit of a shame as we were looking for a bite to eat. Nonetheless, it looked sufficiently tempting that we stopped for a drink. Internally it’s all one open plan room, with the rear section up a couple of steps, and some large windows looking out and to what appears to be a small courtyard, although we did not investigate this. Unlike many café/bars. It’s got a fairly traditional pub feel to it, with rough wooden boards on the floor, a dark wood-panelled bar counter and some areas of exposed brickwork with rough plasterwork elsewhere. An old piano was off to one side in an alcove under the stairs, and an enormous selection of beer mats suggested an ever-changing selection. One wall was pretty much covered with old pictures and mirrors, whilst some festoon style lighting provided a low level of light which made for a rather cosy atmosphere. A TV screen was showing the football was the volume was off so this was not too intrusive and we found it a peaceful respite away from many of the very noisy bars nearby. Beers on tap were Abbeydale Moonshine and Kirkstall Pale Ale, whilst a further two pumps appeared unused so there may on occasions be others. The solitary cider meanwhile was Somersby. Overall, despite the disappointing cider choice, I quite liked it here and would certainly pop in again if in the area.

This cafe bar was saved from imminent closure after the collapse of a nearby building led to a collapse in trade. See this: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/business/wapentake-leeds-owners-of-well-loved-cafe-bar-in-kirkgate-thrilled-as-business-saved-from-closure-4677775

Official site of Wapentake - www.wapentakeleeds.co.uk

Official site of Wapentake - www.wapentakeleeds.co.uk

Cafe bar situated close to a few other good Leeds pubs. With 12 of us descending on the place, I wasn't sure whether we would be able to get seats, especially with it being a matchday. However, as luck would have it, a slightly smaller group vacated the largest table in the ground floor room, just as we arrived. We didn't venture upstairs, but did see food/snacks/drinks being delivered there. In addition, there was a small courtyard area at the rear. Just the 2 real ales were on - Kirkstall Pale Ale & Ridgeside Io. It was only after ordering the Io that I spotted the Leeds Urban Harvest Leeds City Cider in a box in the fridge. I ordered that as well and it was a rather dry affair.

Agree with JAQPTIO, this is definitely a café bar. It was very busy on our Sunday afternoon visit with rugby being shown downstairs and football in the upstairs area. Due to the footy I couldn't really get a look at the upstairs. Friendly enough downstairs with 3 beers available. My pint was in good nick, but wasn't really to my taste. I wouldn't mind calling in again when it's not as busy.