The Northern Monkey, Leeds A Pint Of Ale Pub Review
A new name and a new look for an old pub, The Northern Monkey is a pleasant place for a weekend drink, as long as it’s not real ale.
This grand Victorian building on the Headrow in Leeds was formerly the Guildford Hotel and remained so until a couple of years ago. Before the smoking ban, the pub was called O2 for a year or so - a bland no-smoking place whose sole reason for being was snatched away by the ban. So we now have The Northern Monkey.
The building’s frontage has not changed - it’ still a Victorian highlight on the sometimes drab Headrow. Inside, the curved bar dominates the one room. It’s a bare floorboard and leather chair kind of place with a mixture of low and (very) high tables. The music adds a good atmosphere, pillar candles are on each table and Banksy-inspired artwork (predominantly monkey-related) adorns the walls. They have a nine-panel vintage photograph of the pub when it was still the Guildford on the back wall - a nice touch.
There are three hand pumps on the bar but unfortunately this is a throwback to the pub’s earlier days as they have all run dry. I asked if they had any plans to connect the pumps to anything and was met with a non-committal “we may do, there’s not much demand”. There is a standard selection of ‘premium’ lagers on offer - Kronenbourg, Becks, etc. The Monkey’s website makes proud claims of the other drinks on offer:
5 vodkas, 5 rums, 4 gins, 5 bourbons, 5 whisky’s [sic] and an array of everything else you could wish for!
I really liked the atmosphere in the Northern Monkey (and I like the name!). The music was just right, the lighting and the decor excellent and there was a good buzz about the place. All I needed was a pint of Leeds Best or Copper Dragon Golden Pippin and I could have stayed there all night…
(A word of warning if you use Safari on a Mac - the Monkey’s website homepage may well make you sick!)
