Peacock Bar, Bradford

Official site of Peacock Bar - www.peacockbar.co.uk

Official site of Peacock Bar - www.peacockbar.co.uk

Modern bar on the North Parade strip. Long and narrow with a small downstairs area, then up a couple of steps to a tight bar and then a couple more for further seating. Metallic green, blue and purple shades with sone stylised peacock prints and over-loud modern music. Three cask at the servery, 2x Bradfield and Saltaire. The Saltaire refused to clear and after a Mexican standoff I got a flat Farmer's Blonde as a replacement (NBSS 1.5) which I simply gave up on. Seemingly no idea what they're doing, don't waste your time. Its inclusion in the 2022 GBG is a mystery to this reviewer.

As far as I could tell all the pubs and bars along North Parade are shop conversions and this one is GBG 2020 listed. As noted before it's a long narrow room split into three levels with varied mainly low seating at the bottom, the bar area in the middle and a food ordering area at the top. There is also an upstairs room where the toilets are located. There is a large TV screen which was turned off. The food here is described as Indian Street Food but I didn't try it. The five hand pumps had a Mango cider, Thornbridge Jaipur, Saltaire Marmalade Sky, Bradfield Farmer's Blonde and Phoenix Struggling Monkey. I tried the Jaipur and the Marmalade Sky (£3.20). The Jaipur was OK but better the following day in the GBG listed Carlisle JDW. The Marmalade Sky was fine. I would return if only to try the Street Food.

Split level bar run by two Indian guys. The bar is done out with Indian decorations. There's a few seats in the front room and then up a couple of steps to a mainly standing area. It was sunny on my visit and there were some chairs at the rear of the pub. Upstairs is another room with Sky Sports. No curry smell when I visited and no sign of any food being available. The surprising thing is that there are 5 handpumps, one of which is reserved for cider. My pint of White Rat was in decent nick as well. Worth a call in for a quick one.

This is another place on North Parade I wasn't sure about trying, but again figured if they serve real ale it has to be worth a go. There is a strong curry smell as you enter, which is not surprising as it is an Indian themed bar that does food. This is a split level bar with a few steps up to the bar area. At the bar are five hand pumps offering two ciders, Thornbridge Jaipur, Bradfield Farmers Blonde and something else that was in the process of being pulled through. The two ciders looked interesting but I went for the Farmers Blonde instead, which was nothing special and didn't seem to fully settle. A half of the Farmers Blonde was an impressively cheap £1.50. There is a poster advertising a free function room which can hold up to 50 people. Apparently won Bradford CAMRA pub of the season for Spring 2018, which I found a bit surprising. It doesn't so much feel like a pub or bar but a waiting area for an Indian restaurant. It just felt a bit weird to me, and I was keen to drink up and leave. There is a rather grand looking swing seat in the window, in contrast to the less impressive foam covered bench seating. In addition there are standard tables and chairs. Another venue I am glad to have tried but have no desire to rush back to. Though if I did, it would perhaps be to give the ciders a try...