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On Wednesday, Wolfie and I celebrated our ninth anniversary by going into town and having a few drinks. Our good friend Fen_ra had gotten in touch a few weeks previously to tell me that he had very kindly brought a rare beer back from Detroit for us and enquirer as to whether we could meet up. As we were out anyway and he was free, it made sense for us to do this on Wednesday too, which is why I was sat in The Hedonist Project nursing an artisanal gin and tonic at 5:30pm. I love The Hedonist Project - a bar that is gutted every three months and turned into something new - and the new gin venture opened on 1 April. They have 12 different types of gin on the menu with a range of flavoured tonics and exotic fruit to try. Fancying a smoother sweeter mix, I opted for a less dry gin with a cranberry tonic, and I wasn't disappointed. At £7.50-£10 a drink, you are paying cocktail prices but at least these are for double measures so I guess it's not too bad. Being a huge gin fan, I'm glad that this has now been catered for in Leeds although it's a shame it's going to become a rum establishment in late June.
Fen walked in about ten minutes later but as he's not a huge gin fan and the atmosphere was rather loud, we decided to go to BrewDog and have a beer there while waiting for Wolfie. All of the regular BrewDog staff were on their rather belated Christmas party so the people behind the bar were our friends from Shuffledog. It was good speaking to them but it was a shame the regular barkeeps weren't in, particularly as I had hoped to share a bottle of the ultra-rare AB01 with them. I had tried to arrange this with the bar manager but he said that after inquiring with the staff they didn't really want to go back to their place of work during their party, which I guess was fair enough. Still we were there and had a very pleasant drink, trying a Mikkeller beer based on a Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quite unique.
Fancying a bit of a bar crawl as we were undecided as to where we were going for dinner, we decided to go a new bar Wappentake on Kirkgate. This is a cross between a rustic French cafe and old man bar, with old fashioned guns above the serving area. It's quite a quirky yet homely place and the staff were very friendly, directing us to the huge range of beers in the "Yorkshire Fridge". I knew that Yorkshire had a strong brewing tradition - second only to London in terms of number of breweries - but seeing a full fridge of local beers along with a wide range on draft was spectacular. We opted for two real ale type beers while observing their rather pathetic beer garden, finally settling on a tapas restaurant around the corner as a place to eat.
We had intended to go to Pintura, the Basque restaurant to which we have been meaning to go for about two years now but it was the other side of town and the tapas place, La Resio, had looked interesting when I had recently walked past it. It was quite dead but after peering at the menu, we noticed the restaurateur walking towards us so we decided to go in and give it a try. The owner is an elderly Spanish guy and he was telling us the restaurant had only been open five weeks. I was sure it was a little longer but he may have been right as I couldn't think exactly when I had walked past it before. He was very friendly and it was great talking to him, with most of the communication being done in Spanish largely because I had the confidence of a few drinks and was surprised how much I could remember. We ordered three plates of tapas each and it was definitely worth it, with the range and flavours of the food most fantastic. Tellingly, the only other table there was a party of four who were also Spanish, suggesting the high quality and authenticity of the food, and certainly this was proven to be the case. There was a high amount of seafood on offer, not something of which I'm a huge fan, but there was a range of great meat dishes including a most comprehensive platter. The waiter admitted to me that the cheese on this was not authentic but the meats were, while the chorizo cooked in red wine sauce was probably my favourite dish of the nine we ordered. The pork with the mashed potato was okay but I wasn't a huge fan of the metallic taste but all of this was eclipsed by the chickpea stew which was so flavoursome that everything was blown out of the water by it. We chatted to the owner quite a bit and he even gave us a free shot of Spanish style Sambuca that he called "white chocolate". I suggested getting some Spanish craft beer in as this had proven a good development for nearby Italian wine bar Ipsum Vinoteca and he did seem interested. Either way, for £53 between three of us including drinks, we were very happy with our restaurant choice.
Speaking of Ipsum Vinoteca, this was where we ended the night. We had intended to go to Shuffledog on the way back in a huge arc but Fen was getting tired and wanted to go back to the train station. Consequently a few beers here were our last of the evening, apart from a swift half in The Brewery Tap once we had realised we had just missed Fen's train and he had another half hour to wait. The guys at Ipsum were delighted to see us again and we sampled a few more of their unique craft beers. There was a lady serving for the first time ever but generally, we just sat on the stools overlooking the bus station or in the comfy chairs all around the craft beer shelves. It was a civilised way to end the night and although our tour of unique drinking houses with Fen didn't take in Shuffledog in the end, it was a good evening overall and a very nice anniversary.
Fen walked in about ten minutes later but as he's not a huge gin fan and the atmosphere was rather loud, we decided to go to BrewDog and have a beer there while waiting for Wolfie. All of the regular BrewDog staff were on their rather belated Christmas party so the people behind the bar were our friends from Shuffledog. It was good speaking to them but it was a shame the regular barkeeps weren't in, particularly as I had hoped to share a bottle of the ultra-rare AB01 with them. I had tried to arrange this with the bar manager but he said that after inquiring with the staff they didn't really want to go back to their place of work during their party, which I guess was fair enough. Still we were there and had a very pleasant drink, trying a Mikkeller beer based on a Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quite unique.
Fancying a bit of a bar crawl as we were undecided as to where we were going for dinner, we decided to go a new bar Wappentake on Kirkgate. This is a cross between a rustic French cafe and old man bar, with old fashioned guns above the serving area. It's quite a quirky yet homely place and the staff were very friendly, directing us to the huge range of beers in the "Yorkshire Fridge". I knew that Yorkshire had a strong brewing tradition - second only to London in terms of number of breweries - but seeing a full fridge of local beers along with a wide range on draft was spectacular. We opted for two real ale type beers while observing their rather pathetic beer garden, finally settling on a tapas restaurant around the corner as a place to eat.
We had intended to go to Pintura, the Basque restaurant to which we have been meaning to go for about two years now but it was the other side of town and the tapas place, La Resio, had looked interesting when I had recently walked past it. It was quite dead but after peering at the menu, we noticed the restaurateur walking towards us so we decided to go in and give it a try. The owner is an elderly Spanish guy and he was telling us the restaurant had only been open five weeks. I was sure it was a little longer but he may have been right as I couldn't think exactly when I had walked past it before. He was very friendly and it was great talking to him, with most of the communication being done in Spanish largely because I had the confidence of a few drinks and was surprised how much I could remember. We ordered three plates of tapas each and it was definitely worth it, with the range and flavours of the food most fantastic. Tellingly, the only other table there was a party of four who were also Spanish, suggesting the high quality and authenticity of the food, and certainly this was proven to be the case. There was a high amount of seafood on offer, not something of which I'm a huge fan, but there was a range of great meat dishes including a most comprehensive platter. The waiter admitted to me that the cheese on this was not authentic but the meats were, while the chorizo cooked in red wine sauce was probably my favourite dish of the nine we ordered. The pork with the mashed potato was okay but I wasn't a huge fan of the metallic taste but all of this was eclipsed by the chickpea stew which was so flavoursome that everything was blown out of the water by it. We chatted to the owner quite a bit and he even gave us a free shot of Spanish style Sambuca that he called "white chocolate". I suggested getting some Spanish craft beer in as this had proven a good development for nearby Italian wine bar Ipsum Vinoteca and he did seem interested. Either way, for £53 between three of us including drinks, we were very happy with our restaurant choice.
Speaking of Ipsum Vinoteca, this was where we ended the night. We had intended to go to Shuffledog on the way back in a huge arc but Fen was getting tired and wanted to go back to the train station. Consequently a few beers here were our last of the evening, apart from a swift half in The Brewery Tap once we had realised we had just missed Fen's train and he had another half hour to wait. The guys at Ipsum were delighted to see us again and we sampled a few more of their unique craft beers. There was a lady serving for the first time ever but generally, we just sat on the stools overlooking the bus station or in the comfy chairs all around the craft beer shelves. It was a civilised way to end the night and although our tour of unique drinking houses with Fen didn't take in Shuffledog in the end, it was a good evening overall and a very nice anniversary.
