The Market Cat, York

This was the one remaining York pub in the latest Good Beer Guide that I hadn't previously visited. Initially I remember seeing a couple of people on a bench outside (similar to the picture above), but managed to walk straight past it and into the market itself, which stands just outside. After a quick walk around the block, I managed to locate it! With darkness having fallen late on a Monday afternoon, the pub felt quite dark inside, especially with some rather dim lighting. However its corner location and windows on two sides, probably makes it quite light during the daytime. There were a fair few people in on the ground floor, but I didn't manage to explore the upper floors. Apparently the pizzas served here are nice. Service from the young barman was friendly and there was a good range of both cask and keg beers from Thornbridge (who own the pub) and also from elsewhere. On cask, Thornbridge Jaipur & Lord Marples are regulars. Thornbridge Wild Swan & Lumi were also on, alongside Timothy Taylor Golden Best, Tapped Toha & my choice Play Brew Co. Choco Peanut Butter Marshmallow Ice Cream Stout, a rather sweet affair which went down quite nicely. Craft beers from Thornbridge were Zero Five, Brock, AM:PM & Green Mountain. Guests were Brew By Numbers #10 Mocha Porter, Shiny Rainbow Tea, Play Brew Co. Hug & a beer called Super 8 Cherry. The cider was Lilley's Cherries & Berries. Whilst I didn't spend much time here, as I had many more pubs to explore, I could have quite happily settled in here for an evening session.

Really enjoyed spending a bit of time in the Market Cat back in July this year, working my way through a selection of the ales on offer. This is a Thornbridge bar but there are also guests available. Pretty busy downstairs as you would expect at the weekend in York city centre, but additional seating was available upstairs and was plentiful. Food is served in the form of artisan pizzas and you can see the food prep area from the first floor area. Well worth a visit.

The Market Cat is on a corner location with three floors of seating that overlook the adjacent Shambles Open Market and York City beyond. Seating is found on the two upper floors and a U-shaped bar area is located on the ground floor. It was busy during my recent early Thursday afternoon visit, but we managed to grab one of the window seats with copper topped tables that run along the front facing the main market side. These windows looked out onto some vendors selling posters, and the right-hand windows, where a long armchair resides, looked out onto some stalls selling jewellery where my wallet took a pounding. Along the rear mirrored wall are some booths and the dark wood panelled U-shaped bar counter comes out of the right-hand wall. The large bulbs hanging from the ceiling emitted a dull orange glow which went well with the dark furniture, panelling and wooden floor throughout. The bar supports a premium and craft keg selection, and the eight hand pumps were drawing Thornbridge’s Freeman Street, Jaipur and Lord Marples alongside Neptune Brewery’s Ezili and Galene, Electric Bear Brewing’s Debora, Roosters Brewing’s Little Changes and Kelham Island’s Pale Rider. The Ezili was on good form, and with three soft drinks cost less than a tenner, which surprised me because this place wouldn’t look out of place in some trendy London borough where I would have paid over £20 for the same order. Food is available in the form of partisan pizza, the 12” cost up to £13 and the 18” up to £26. The crowd was quite transient, which was to be expected considering the location, but there was a good atmosphere, which was mostly due to the very friendly barman. I wasn’t expecting much from this place, but I was pleasantly surprised and would gladly return.

Overlooking the Shambles market, this is a curious modern take on a pub in a joint venture between Thornbridge and Pivovar. With a fairly small footprint, it is arranged over three levels. The ground floor is tricked out in dark wood, with some old style booths to one side and arty lighting. The central bar has 8 handpumps, with a fair range of Thornbridge ales and guests, although pale ales of some sort seem to dominate. Moving upstairs, the first floor has a more open feel with large windows, while the top floor has a nice view of the rooftops and houses the toilets and, bizarrely, the 'cellar'. There is a lift but if not working, as on this occasion, it is a fair old climb from the bar. The beer seemed in good condition, but was perhaps a bit on the expensive side.

I liked the interior of this pub, with the dark stained timbers. Button back leatherette bench seating finished in dark brown and deep mustard coloured bench seating, plus the various types of light fittings and the booths along the back wall. Eight handpumps, serving 5 Thornbridge, 2 Guest and 1 Cider. We went for the Bad Seed Hit Squad and the Half Moon Wilma, which were excellent. Staff were all twentysomethings and were very pleasant.

Enjoyed our early afternoon visit here , good selection from 8 Handpulls , 4 from Thornbridge Brewery and 4 from others , my Pig and Porter Skylarking was spot on .

Enjoyed our visit to this bar last month. Good choice of cask ales and craft and we chose Thornbridge Ena and Dark Revolution So.La which were fine. Went to find the toilet upstairs, and was shattered on the first floor to find another floor to go up but staff got the lift for me which was great. Lovely views from the top floor too.

A nice enough two storey bar, if a little on the bland side interior wise considering the part of York it’s in. It’s not the prettiest of buildings anyway though so fair enough. Eight real ales as detailed below and not cheap. The huge glass windows are completely opened on a nice day creating more of a continental bar atmosphere. It’s fine and obviously a good spot to sample good ale in the Shambles area.

An impressive, newish bar on York market square. Three storeys, with smart seating around the walls on the ground floor, a couple of long tables and some standard dining tables on the first floor and a couple of booths on the top floor along with the toilets and the "cellar". We visited twice over our 2 days in York and went upstairs both times. We must be much younger than OB. :-)) A good selection of ales, but not cheap, as may be expected as Thornbridge & Pivovar aren't exactly renowned for being cheap. In fact the Malbec was downright expensive. Both the pints I had were in excellent nick. I guess we'll be visiting this one again and again.