Bar Reviews

The Fleece, Otley

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Date of visit: Monday 29 October 2012

In an age of easy communication it can be surprisingly difficult to organise catching up with geographically disparate friends. Even those who work with the cutting edge of technology.

A fair bit of last minute to-ing and fro-ing saw us loitering outside a supermarket in Otley, waiting for my mate who had suggested the Fleece for lunch. The food and beer were both supposed to be excellent.

On a Monday lunch time the Fleece was almost empty: hopefully this means that many of the good folk of Otley are gainfully employed. As far as I’m concerned, a generous choice of tables in a pub is always a good thing.

The Fleece is operated by WharfeBank Brewery so in addition to a small selection of real ales from other small brewers, three of WharfeBank’s own beers took pride of place on the bar. I tried a pint of WharfeBank’s CamFell.

The menu is a good size list of smartened up pub classics. Andy chose fish and chips (Steve commented that the piece of fish looked like it had come from a whale), Steve chose the burger (with cheese but no bacon) and I opted for the crispy pork belly with black pudding mash.

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The mains all hover around the £8-10 mark so this was by no means the cheapest pub meal you’ll find in the north of England, but it was very good. My pork belly (the only thing I managed to taste!) was tender and moist, its piece of crackling was crisp and, perhaps most importantly, it got the seal of approval from the toddler. The black pudding mash also got a thumbs up – there was plenty of black pudding and the chunks were all different sizes. My one criticism would be the gravy which was a bit thick and, um, commercial tasting.

Service wise, the barman we dealt with was super friendly and helpful. He was chatty and efficient and, from what I saw, a real asset to the pub.

As with pretty much everywhere in the UK (it seems!), the Fleece offers patrons free wifi – just ask at the bar for the password!

A big tick all round and definitely a pub worth making a trip to Otley for if you live nearby.

Udaberri

- Alex 7 Comments

date of visit: Thursday 26 April 2012

Udaberri Pintxos y Vinos is the new cool kid on Adelaide’s bar scene. It’s at the northern end of Leigh Street, and if you don’t know it’s there and you’re not looking you won’t spot it.

Wait. I knew it was there and I was looking and I didn’t spot it. Cue frantic text to Andy to double check the address …

So – if you’re wandering up and down Leigh Street you need to look out for the logo above. When we dropped in for a drink there was no big sign and the bar has an unfinished (in an intentional way) look about it. Something I very much like and something Adelaide could do with more of. If you’re bored with the homogeneity of many of Adelaide’s refurbished pubs (and I most certainly am) then Udaberri is for you.

The “pintxos” part of its name is (basically) Basque for “bar snacks” – the Udaberri menu is brief and light. You won’t be heading there for a full blown dinner*, but if you can get by on things like anchovies, peppers and cheese you will be catered for.

Drinks wise there are three beers on tap – they’re written up on the wall which suggests they might rotate. When we were there a pint of Lobethal Brewery’s Pilsner cost $9 (which seems expensive to me, but I haven’t seen the beer on tap anywhere else). The wine list has a fair range of Spanish wines (nothing too crazy) so I had a glass of Albariño which was $8.50.

At present, Udaberri has a very new vibe about it but it’s definitely a bar with great potential. Adelaide needs more bars like this, so head in for a post work drink. That way you can claim to have been drinking there from (almost) day one.

UPDATE: Following on from Celeste’s question, I emailed Udaberri and Rob, the proprietor, emailed me back. Pinxtos are $2 at present. He also sent me a copy of the current menu. Example dishes are oysters, shucked to order with Champagne vinegar – $3 each, croquetas de bacalao (salt cod croquettes) – $8, and they offer a selection of cheeses – 1 piece $9, 2 pieces $13 and 3 pieces $16.

* If you need a proper meal in the area, try Rigoni’s.

Udaberri Pintxos Y Vino on Urbanspoon

Cork Wine Cafe

- Alex 1 Comment

NOTE THAT CORK IS NOW CLOSED

date of visit: Saturday 3 March 2012

Our dinner reservation was quite late (8:30pm) so it would have been plain rude NOT to go somewhere for a drink first. Cork Wine Café has been on my radar for a while – plenty of people I follow on twitter seem to be semi-regulars there and even my parents have been.

It is one of those awesome little hole in the wall style bars. There are a few tables outside (no use in our case, as it was chucking it down) and even fewer (I think) inside. But one was free and we ducked in and nabbed our spot.

Cork is pretty trendy but not so trendy we were put off. It’s all dim lighting and dark furniture with a long bar behind which sits a really impressive array of wines. The wine list isn’t arranged by varietals (you know – “Riesling”, “Sauvignon Blanc”) it’s arranged by wine styles, so if you fancy a “textural white” you know where to go. Initially I was really sceptical about this but I stopped my huffing and puffing for long enough to read the menu (sorry, wine list) and then I just got really excited.

Cork has loads of wine by the glass and the bar also offers tasting flights – if you simply cannot choose just one “textural white” then try three (in tasting measures) for a single price.

Which is what I should have done. But I was overexcited about the presence of a Picpoul de Pinet on the wine list (a grape variety from southern France which I’m pretty sure I haven’t tried before) and a grower Champagne. I was bouncing around in my seat trying to decide between the two (the price did it in the end – the Champers, at $20 a glass, was twice the price of the Picpoul). Andy’s choice of a Trumer Pils (from Austria) was a lot less traumatic.

I’m not going to write about the Picpoul (I thought it was fab) because this is a bar review. And that is what Cork is – a bar. Apparently if you turn up expecting it to be a dessert café you may get a slightly chilly reception. That was certainly not our experience – service was friendly and my parents report that the staff are knowledgeable.

As it’s a bar, there’s some very limited tapas style food available. As we were heading out for dinner, we didn’t try anything. But I’m more than happy to go back, have a glass of something interesting and sample some food.

And you know what? It won’t matter if the food is dire, because you go to Cork to drink.