The White Rabbit Bar, Leeds

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This doesn't seem a likely place to find a bar - the long terraced rows of this quiet street play host to solicitor and architect firms and as I strolled down the road late on a Saturday night, there was no-one else in sight. But the distant sound of music and a small sign at the top of a staircase betrayed the location of this strange basement bar. Having descended the stairs, you enter into a long, narrow room with banquette seating along the right hand wall eventually making way for the servery. It's a fairly dark space with bare floorboards and very little room once crowds build up around the bar. Having bought my drink I made my way further into the bar, where things open out considerably into a room decorated with supremely garish retro wallpaper with velvet panels and furnished with some weird orange plastic tub chairs, some of which were arranged around a table top arcade machine. A bright painting of the bar's logo stands out, as does a strange statue at the rear of the room, whilst the walls have been decorated with some cool rock posters including an excellent one for the Who's Quadrophenia album. I noticed a pile of board games stacked up behind the bar and there was a decent soundtrack playing fairly loudly throughout my stay. Live music is a regular item on the bar's entertainment roster.
A board behind the bar explained that Leeds Pale is the house ale, but there was no sign of it, so I opted for a pint of Outlaw Baby Faced Assassin instead. The barman made a fairly heroic effort to pour me a pint, but it soon became clear that he was drawing the dregs of the barrel up, so I switched to the only remaining ale, Ridgeside Rushmoor which was in reasonable condition. Keg options included Brooklyn Lager and Stowford Press Cider and their website mentions Ilkley MJ Fortis Stout, although I don't recall seeing this. Useful menus can be found on most tables, listing the bottle range which covers most of the more popular American craft beers and a few Belgian and German classics. Cocktails are available at £6 a go.
I had no real expectations for this place, but was pleased to find a decent alternative to the usual city centre bar-by-numbers format. It's nice to have some decent beer options in a place like this and whilst the bar is clearly aiming at the younger end of the market, it's still got enough about it to merit a quick look around.

On 14^th January 2014 - rating: 6
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