Leeds – Head of Steam (Mill Hill)

For reasons that I’ll post about when writing about (look at that for anticipation and cliffhangers…..) my National Express coach trip from London to Bradford, I managed to get 45 minutes in Leeds as part of the experience. This was handy as I was able to visit a Head of Steam in the city that I couldn’t visit earlier in the year as it was shut. That means that I’ve now visited all three of the Head of Steam outlets in Leeds, the others being Park Row and Headingley. This one opened in 2014, Park Row in 2019 and Headingley in 2016, so it’s the oldest in the city.

An interesting little design set-up which can be viewed by anyone going upstairs to the toilets.

I went for two half pints, the Barista Stout from Theakston (on the left) and the Abduction from Vocation Brewery. Both very decent beers, I very much liked the initial hit of raspberry and the aftertaste of plum with the Abduction, that was really quite classy. Definitely the best way to eat fruit. I was pleased with the range of beer styles being offered across cask and keg, with a pleasing selection of darker beers.

The reviews are pretty positive, but the pub was rightly annoyed at the 1/5 review on Google:

“Not been inside just outside”.

Really bloody helpful that is….

Service was friendly and this venue felt more like a relaxed pub than a bar, the other Head of Steam in the city centre is much more of a vibrant bar environment. I like this pub, it felt like it had a community feel and customers were served in turn and efficiently. The prices were reasonable and the pub seemed clean and organised. I was glad that the National Express faffing about led to me getting the chance to visit this pub, but perhaps it was just fate. And as a bonus that I didn’t realise when I was there, the pub is in the latest edition of the Good Beer Guide.