Leeds – Head of Steam (Park Row)

I’m slowly (but very surely) working around all of the bars in the Head of Steam chain, a process taking me a while as they’re mostly up north and I’m mostly down south. This is their outlet in the centre of Leeds on Park Row, opened in 2019, and they have another one in the city.

The bar has plenty of seating as there’s external seating, a large room near to the entrance and seating all around the bar area itself.

The gaming area of the bar and there are screens at the rear which rotate through the beer selection that’s available. I looked at the beer list before I went in and then ordered accordingly. The member of bar staff was friendly and knowledgeable, so it felt an inviting place to be. My first impressions were very positive and, as it transpired, all my impressions were very positive of this Head of Steam. I also liked that there power points generously located around the bar so that customers could charge their devices up.

I wasn’t sure what I’d think of this fruited Gose from Tooth & Claw Brewing, called Squeeze Please. I thought that it was delightful as it’s hard to imagine a beer that was much more lemony than this one and I’m very much a fan of that flavour in nearly any drink, from tea to coke and from beer to cake. A very drinkable beer with a lot of lemon zest to it, all really quite decent.

I thought that I’d order two half pints, so this is the other choice, the Black Coral from Camerons Brewery. It was OK, not as much body as I had anticipated, but the flavours were there. Another very drinkable beer, although I’m not sure that I really felt it was 4.1%. Camerons have owned the Head of Steam chain since 2013, hence their beers appear regularly, but I hadn’t tried this one before and it was the only stout that they had on draught.

Clicking on the image above of the bar’s screen shows my Untappd ratings at the bottom of the screen….. I’m easily pleased if I’m being honest.

The reviews of the bar are generally positive, just a few negatives about the food and some ridiculous comments because customers didn’t agree that Head of Steam were enforcing Covid-19 rules at the time. And a few people complaining that the beer was expensive, but my two half pints came to £5.10 which I thought was reasonable given the quality of them.

Inevitably quiet on a Monday afternoon, I was pleased that the bar was open. Beautifully run, spotlessly clean and a really nice venue, one of my favourites in the chain. I can imagine that this location gets busy on weekend evenings and I also suspect that the noise might all get a bit much. However, during quieter times at least, definitely recommended.