Sponsored by
Bar review: Headingley's Box
A company called Arc Inspirations seems to have cornered the market in three-letter pub names.
Over the years I've given mixed reviews to some of the others like Hub, Arc, and my personal favourite, Zed at Chapel Allerton.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Headingley Today.
Perhaps running short of names they've now branched out into four-letter words like Trio, Kobe and the excellent Napa in Roundhay.
When I first called in at Box maybe five, six years ago I was rather drunk at the time, and the shorthand notes I took in my treasured Moleskine notebook proved to be little more than indecipherable squiggles in the cold light of day. So the review remained unwritten, as they sometimes do.
* Click here for latest news in Headingley, West Park and Lawnswood.
When I called back this week I was a little more sober, unlike many of the bar's other customers who were clad in all manner of fancy dress in this the most unashamedly studenty of student pubs.
The Otley Run is a rite-of-passage for those who pass through the city's great halls of academe, and this famous pub crawl was being enjoyed by a host of participants from Pudsey Bear to the St Trinian Girls during my brief visit.
Box stands roughly half-way along its route, so by the time they're here the Otley Runners have pretty much reached the point of no return – a serious drinking session is well under way, but the projectile vomiting is still at least a mile away.
That this is a venue targeted squarely at the students and young
professionals is celebrated in a cartoon-style menu fringed with caricatures of local 20-somethings, presumably staff and regulars.
The food's everything you'd expect really – solid, yet interesting home cooking seemingly designed to soak up the alcohol, yet with enough of a chic twist to convince customers they've found a cool and happening cosmopolitan venue to refuel.
There's burgers – they start at 6.75 for a Lineham Farm Cheeseburger which includes a 50p contribution to the local activity holiday centre at Eccup; and go up to a mighty Godfather (9.50) which is two burgers, cheese, bacon, mayonnaise, onion rings, chips and essentially as many calories as you care to mention.
There are sandwiches, wraps, a little Mexican selection and then a choice of pizzas named amusingly after great footballers of the world – like a simple boring margherita (Lineker), the spicy chilli and jalapenos one (Pele), and the giant 14-inches of meatballs, chicken, bacon, cheese, pepperoni, onions. In many places they'd call this feast-size sharing pizza a house special: ("a little of everything and lots of love"). Here it is rather cruelly dubbed the Gazza.
It did strike me that most of these players were at their peak when Box's typical customer was still at primary school, so maybe some of the names need an update. Like the chunky meaty one which leaves you with a nasty taste in the mouth (the Wayne Rooney); the spicy, fiery one which you can only rent, but never buy (the Carlos Tevez) or the one that rolls off your plate as soon as you try to tackle it (the Cristiano Ronaldo).
I'm talking a lot about the food because the beer's nothing much to write home about, though I'm sure the students love it.
Unlike Zed and Napa, which both offered real ales last time I was in, Box doesn't seem to concern itself with such niche considerations as far as I could see, and has packed its bars with lagers (cold), Guinness (Extra Cold) and Tetley Smooth (served too cold).
It's not a selection I warmed to, though Beck's Vier was my choice of
those on offer – this lighter version of the German original seems to have become my session lager of choice in recent times.
As boxes go, this is a fairly sizeable one, with two comfortable open plan rooms – one downstairs and one up – plus an outdoor terrace area which even boasts its own TVs, at a venue where you are barely ever more than a few feet from a plasma screen.
There are 15 of them apparently, and though Box shows live sport of course, they have two separate Sky boxes, meaning they can cater for different tastes at the same time.
The Yorkshire Evening Post's nightlife awards named Box as the Best Student Venue in both 2005 and 2006.
And with big American pool tables, cocktails, a high-tech quiz played out through the TV screens, and acres of soft leather upholstery, you can absolutely understand why it has become so popular.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Simon Grayson sacked: Whites keeping managerial options open LATEST
- January 2012 Premier League and Championship transfer round up
- Leeds United: We wouldn’t have got Alan Smith for £2,500 a week! - Grayson UPDATED
- Web poll: Who should be Leeds United’s next manager? VOTE HERE
- Leeds United: Axed Simon Grayson leaves with tears and a salute for fans INTERVIEW
- Simon Grayson sacked: Whites keeping managerial options open LATEST
- Leeds United: A fresh start is just what we need - Lorimer
- Web poll: Who should be Leeds United’s next manager? VOTE HERE
- Are you satisfied with Leeds United’s dealings in the January transfer window? VOTE HERE
- Match report: Leeds United v Birmingham City
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -1 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
