Earlier this year in May, readers across Leeds voted for their favourite venues in the city, from pubs to cafes for the Leeds Loves Awards.
One pub beat out all the others to be crowned the best in Leeds by you: The Skyrack in Headingley. Located on the Otley Run, you'll regularly find this pub full of students and revellers on a weekend when the weather's good.
To find out what set it above the rest for our readers, I headed down there with some friends one evening to try it for ourselves.
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Skyrack, a Green King venue, is a large pub, with a big capacity inside as well as a popular beer garden. It's equipped with pool tables, a large bar, and a bizarrely Lord of the Rings themed corner.
We went at quite a quiet time, but there was still a fair number of people milling around the pub and garden with drinks. The atmosphere was quite chill - very different to how it feels at peak Otley Run times.
You can order both drinks and food using the Greene King app without having to leave your table. The first problem we encountered was that my vegetarian friend was fairly set on the Beyond Meat burger sliders or the similar Beyond Meat Burger - and neither of these were available.
This didn't leave many veggie options, so she ended up getting the Woodland Mushroom Pie.
The drinks arrived in about 10 minutes, so given it was relatively quiet we probably would have been better up getting up and going to the bar. Two of my friends ordered soft drinks: a coke and a lemonade with orange juice.
I tried one of the on tap options; the Level Head IPA. I really enjoyed this - it was light and had some citrussy notes that made it go down really easily. Another of my friends was very happy with the large choice in cider flavours, and very much enjoyed her passionfruit Rekorderlig.
The food took just over half an hour to arrive, but did all arrive mostly at the same time when it came out.
Millie was very happy with her Mac and Cheese, and said the cheese was perfectly stringy, comforting and warm - exactly what it said on the tin. It also came with a bit of garlic bread, which was a nice surprise.
Louise was also pleased with her Philly Steak toastie, which contained steak and red onion with grilled cheese on a sourdough. She said it was perfectly nice, though the steak could have been slightly less chewy.
I do object to Skyrack's definition of 'seasoned'. We ordered the seasoned fries to share between us - it turned out seasoned meant salt only, as far as I can tell. Though once we'd accepted that, they were good fries, with a nice skinny ratio of potato to a crispy outer skin - I definitely recommend these as a snack while you drink.
I ordered the half a kilo of peri peri chicken wings to go with the fries. I got what I ordered with these - and a big portion too considering they were from the small plates list. I got a bit bored of the chicken wings after a few since they didn't come with anything, but they would definitely do you a whole meal with the chips. The peri peri sauce isn't amazing, but it's decent greasy fare to go with a drink.
And finally, Meg ordered the Woodland Mushroom Pie, which she'd very much hoped came with gravy. Spoiler: it didn't (though to be fair, it wasn't listed to come with gravy, we'd just incorrectly assumed it would).
I can't recommend this one - it was so tough Meg struggled to get her fork through the pastry, and it was very dry without any gravy or sauce to go with it. The pie did come, however, with a decent portion of chips and peas, so there was definitely enough to fill up on.
So while the drinks were good, the food wasn't exactly anything to write home about.
But let's put food quality aside for a second. This whole thing cost less than £50. For less than £50 for a drink a meal for four people, why not?
The drinks aren't super cheap but you'll have a good time in Skyrack at a friendly venue, and if you're hungry, you can grab a hot and filling meal for a decent price.
The Bill
- Rekorderlig Passionfruit - £5.65
- Pint of Level Head IPA - £5.55
- Coca-Cola - £2.85
- Orange juice and lemonade - £2.90
- 1/2 kilo of peri peri chicken wings - £5.49
- Mac & Cheese - £7.59
- Seasoned fries - £2.99
- Philly Steak toastie - £6.49
- Woodland mushroom pie - £8.79
Total once VAT added: £48.30
To find out the latest food and drink news in our city you can visit our Best in Leeds homepage. There you will also find a guide to great things to do in Leeds.
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