Brewbar Espresso, Leeds

Eating out
Brewbar Espresso, Leeds

The community of very decent coffee shops in Leeds seems to be expanding all the time.

Good indies are still outnumbered by the Faceless Chains, but you don’t have to walk far these days to get the real deal.

Brewbar Espresso takes a bit of effort to get to, not because it’s out of the way…it’s just very well hidden.  Once you twig where it is, it’s easy…you know those massive chess boards on the paving stones outside the library and art gallery on the Headrow, by the cenotaph and the Henry Moore Institute?

Well, you’re right outside Brewbar, which is tucked away inside the art gallery’s shop.  The only external clue is a chalkboard boasting, not unreasonably, “choice tunes and awesome good coffee”.

The espresso was good and rich, served short and strong in a glass.

A glass?

I don’t get that. Cups are better, and my double espresso seemed a little lost in the bottom of a far too large glass, but that aside, it was very good, and cheap at only £1.50.

Better than the Tiled Hall Cafe upstairs, and a million miles away from the Starbucks and Cafe Nero just up the road.