The Eagle & Child, York

Official site of The Eagle & Child - www.eagleandchildyork.co.uk

Official site of The Eagle & Child - www.eagleandchildyork.co.uk

A recently opened Leeds Brewery pub in the building formerly occupied by Plunkets restaurant. So recent, in fact, that construction workers were still going around putting in the finishing touches at the time of my visit. The bar is immediately inside the door, with two banks of four hand pumps - the group with the Leeds core range is repeated on a further section of the bar round the corner. The bar facing is so high that the young woman serving there didn't see me come in the door - a bit of a design fault, surely? As with all the Leeds Brewery pubs I've been in, the building has been painstakingly, almost faultlessly adapted, if seen from an aesthetic point of view, but as a pub it is totally lacking in warmth and ambience. I had Leeds Best, which was ok without pulling up any trees. Despite its eight real ales, this is one for the tourists rather than beer aficionados. And will probably therefore make loads of money. (Toilets are upstairs - I didn't see one for disabled customers downstairs but I didn't explore far.)