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Restaurant Review: Town Hall Tavern, Westgate, Leeds
Town Hall Tavern
THERE was once a time when Little Oliver wouldn’t contemplate crossing the threshold of this, one of Leeds’s most famous watering holes.
The Town Hall Tavern was always a perfectly respectable place, you understand, it’s just that it really was what you’d call a watering hole.
Uniquely positioned between the courts and lawyer’s heartland that is Park Square, it was often a hostelry where solicitors, barristers, detectives, witnesses and, rather awkwardly, defendants would congregate before or after an appearance before the bench.
But it’s fair to say that the pub’s position was always it biggest strength and prior to it closing and being reborn as a gastropub – yes, that’s right, it’s now a gastropub – it was less of a destination, merely a convenient stop-off.
Which is why it wouldn’t even blip on our radar because food certainly wasn’t its focus. It certainly is now.
Brazenly promoting itself as a gastropub, the new Town Hall Tavern has been rejuvenated as one of those sympathetic blends of contemporary and classic.
The old school elements are retained, or at least given a bit of a new twist, and the aim now is to make it an everyman, and an everywoman, kinda joint.
Dark wood tables and furniture contrast with bright blue tiles and loud scatter cushions perched on benches. Even the walls are adorned with both modern artwork and black and white images of bygone Leeds.
Meanwhile, drinking doesn’t take second billling, you understand, it’s just that wine and cocktails are now as much the order of the day as a decent pint.
But both the look of the place and the emphasis is geared towards making it somewhere to dine. Does it work? You bet your oven roasted coley and Fleetwood langoustine it does.
The menu is a mini marvel, packed with alluring combinations (see above) which are either a slightly more upmarket or whole league above pub grub.
For example, we went for two mains: the sauteed chicken and Skipton chorizo fettucine in a bloody mary sauce along with a Wensleydale ham knuckle and chicken pie. Both were superb.
Our dishes were reasonably sized, packed with their respective ingredients, perfectly seasoned and balanced in overall flavour.
What’s more it isn’t that costly, at least not for a gastropub. Most of the mains are priced from about £8 to a tenner with just one or two specials costing about £12 to £13.
That may be slightly more than most pub food but you can really tell the difference in terms of quality – and they source much of the produce and meat locally. But best of all it actually tastes homemade.
With a bottle of sauvignon blanc for £10 our overall bill was just shy of £27, but it was worth it.
The service was speedy and second to none with a barman who not only came to our table to take our order but actually seemed to know everything about the food and the wine.
The only flaw is the slight transitionary state which the Town Hall Tavern seems to be going through. Whether it’s the unusual position on the edge of the city centre or just an unusual blend of regulars, it still has echoes of the watering hole it once was vying with the changed focus of what it now wants to be. That makes for an ever so slightly peculiar atmosphere.
No matter, the vital elements are all there and this is one of those rare occasions where a pub strives to go gastro and actually manages it. Top marks for trying and top marks for succeeding.
Star rating 4/5
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