Bar 166 Bistro

So, another new discovery in Horsforth for me, and whoa — it’s a popular place! So, after a nightmare situation with taxis, I finally made it over for the second Unilocal outing for drinks in H-​town. It was absolutely packed out, full of merry drinkers, with a busy bistro. A good sign if you take popularity to mean a jolly spot. After hellos and apologies to the chaps, I trotted over to the bar with Claire R to see what treats were in store.
It’s a standard affair in terms of your lagers and such, with a few world lagers on, including Kozel. I initially went for the Leeds Brewery Lager, since it’s a decent local brew, and crammed myself in to the table we’d acquired. It’s also a dressy affair — seems to be the place to doll up, as there were a fair few glitzy outfits going on, and all the Christmas cheer on show in terms of décor.
The staff were the stand out bit for me. Having gotten a few sips down on the Leeds lager, I realised it was totally flat so returned it to the bar in exchange for a Kozel. This was no problem at all, the chap explained he’d just changed it but it still seemed funky so we switched. The only downer was that the Kozel didn’t fare to well either, as it was also flat. Boo indeed.
Next up was the mission to get burgers. We’d assumed we needed to table it up in the bistro, so I asked about tables — without booking it’d be an hour wait, which was actually really decent considering how busy they were. I asked if we could order food in the bar, and huzzah! Yes indeed. So that’s what we did. Even ordering separately they brought it all out at the same time, which was grand, and the girl at the bar needs special mention — she was extremely helpful and friendly.
To the burgers. Brioche buns, coleslaw, a choice of chips, fries or salad, and a small side salad is what you get, for ten or twelve quid. (Can’t quite recall the price.) The burgers are certainly of a good size, and the meat quality was evident, but there was just something missing from the flavour to fully capture my ravenous carnivore. Not juicy enough? Meat was too packed together for the full effect? It was seasoned nicely, but didn’t have that beef to it, if you’ll pardon the pun. Also, the cheese didn’t seem fully apparent (couldn’t taste it at all) — perhaps because the bacon took over. If I were to rate just the burger, it’d be ³⁄₅. Fair.
The fries, however, were heavenly. And by the look of the chips, I made the wrong choice — they stole the show. (Which was discussed as not being necessarily a good thing.) All in all, I liked the festive busy atmosphere, the front garden bit looks ace for summer, the staff were totally excellent, but the food and drinks let it down a little for me. In overall balance, it’s a firm a-​ok on the richter scale. Or, rather, the Unilocal scale.

This is nothing like Bar 62 just my opinion, I actually liked this bar allot can’t really fault the place, it’s a really good friendly feel to it would recommend this to anyone and the service is spot on a high 4 stars

If you’ve ever been to Sixty Too Bar in Horsforth then you should get an idea of what you’ll be getting when entering Bar 166 and Bistro. P. S. These guys really like naming their bars after the building numbers, guess it makes sense I suppose, and doesn’t take anything away from the charm of the place. Much in the same vein as Sixty Too Bar, Bar 166 offers the people of Horsforth a nice place to chill over coffee and light bites in the day and does that miraculous transformation thing from day to evening, making it a funky soulful place that’s pleasantly lively without being too rowdy of an evening. All times of day are great for grabbing a few mates, indulging in the light bites, or even a salad or pasta dish, for lunch between the hours of 12 and 3pm very reasonable times I believe, and then open again from 6pm to closing for their evening meals. Price wise it does run on the more expensive side of pub grub, but the tag of bistro does compensate for this, as it isn’t pub grub. I do think it’s a bit steep charging £11 for sausage and mash, no matter how much you big it up, as it is really sausages and potato, but for dishes like braised Beef Wellington, you don’t mind too much shelling out the £13. For things like the lamb tagine, I would suggest going to a Morrocan specific venue, as the authenticity doesn’t quite match up. If you’re hankering for a dessert there are a few here to set the tastebuds going, but at a fiver a chuck, you may be thinking it’s not quite worth it for meringue and fruit. I guess it all depends on how frivolous you’re feeling on that particular day. Sunday’s prove to be popular due to the Sunday roast offer, two courses for £11, but beware that it does get busy with this to tantalize the locals.
Oh oh oh, flash your student card if you have one, and get 50% off! Brings down the bill massively, of course, duh me, but it’s well worth it, to get some quality food half price. Shame if you’re visiting with a none student, but hey ho!
Evening wise, well you can’t go far wrong for the trendy folk, lots of wood and leather and again it’s trendy and slightly moody without being too oppressive. Good selection of wine, spirits, cocktails, shooters and beer on tap, at reasonable prices for the area. Small tip, 2 for 1 cocktails on Thursday nights, which seems kinda random, but they’ve just started holding acoustic nights on Thursdays so it could be good atmosphere wise to check that out.

Bar 166 proudly sits atop Town Street, and has long been the most chilled out place on this lively street. Retaining the same sort of relaxed vibes that it had when it was Stuart’s all that time ago, this bar/​restaurant is definitely somewhere to check out, whatever your needs. I’ve been both during the day and for an evening meal, and, on both occasions, Bar 166 impressed me greatly.
During the day, it is usually quite quiet, enabling you to enjoy a coffee and a conversation in the effortlessly cool interior. If you fancy lunch, they offer an extensive day-​time menu which ranges from small snacks to ‘Fillers’ — if you’re there during the day, I’d recommend the duck salad — it’s glorious. I’ve never eaten here on an evening, but I have stopped for a drink, and got quite a surprise at how busy the bar section was. Given the chilled out atmosphere and the well-​priced booze, however, on second thoughts, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all.