Duck & Drake

This place always has a good selection of well kept ales. For me though the best part is the beer garden. For a filthy smoker like me a nice beer garden is a god send and a hard place to leave.

Things I haven’t done in a while:
1) Stopped drinking for more than one week.
2) Stopped eating when I am full.
3) Been to the Duck and Drake.
Happily after this Saturday I managed to cross all three off the To Do list with one sweep of my quill!
After some Brooklyn’s at the warm, friendly but ‘oh wow my first two pints of the evening have left me with only copper coins from a tenner’ Outlaw’s Yacht Club, followed by 3 plates and pudding at OBM Buffet, Chris and I had a rather bloated wander around the back streets thinking of places to go… and there with the doors open and band setting up was the Duck and Drake.
The last time I was here was in the months preceding a rather unfortunate hammering with a walking stick incident. Seriously. Look it up. Since then it was closed for a while and I wasn’t in the mood for an actual physical hammering rather than a metaphorical one so I admit I’d not really been interested in going back.
Well bash me on the noggin and call me all turned around on the idea!
The Duck and Drake was friendly, clean, cosy, had Old Rosie on tap (HALLELUJAH!) and the band (Crosscut Saw) were a big old wintery fiesta of enthusiasm, harmonicas and the blues. Colour me impressed, the Duck and Drake is back on the trail.

Went into town yesterday for the launch of the new Leeds Brewery Pub, The Crowd of Favours, which is right next to the Duck and Drake. It was supposed to open at 10am for brunch, but when we arrived, the cleaners told us that they weren’t open until 12? Good start!!!
Luckily for us, the Duck and Drake was open, so instead of brunch, I made do with a bag of Walkers and some of the best real ales I’ve had in quite a while. They had around 15 on handpull, and each one I tried was in tip top condition.
The pub itself is a shrine to live music with guitars hanging on the walls, and even one on the door to the gents!!! Looking at the gig list, it seems they have an act on every Wed/​Thu/​Fri/​Sat/​Sun. They also have a decent beer garden in which they sometime hold BBQs. Their pork pies are nice too!
The staff are very friendly, efficient, and know their stuff when it comes to beer! The atmosphere was nice, and the regulars seemed like a friendly chatty bunch too. Really enjoyed my few hours here, and will definitely be back soon.

Were a declaration of love to be made to this pub, it would only be fair that it came fully attired in some kind of grunge-​y dress, loose long hair, a pint of their finest ale in one hand, and possibly a banjo or kazoo in the other. That might not make much sense, but until you’ve snuck in through the doors, and beseated yourself at their bar, you probably won’t get what I’m talking about.
It’s a place of excellent real ales, fantastic old school proper pub décor, the most friendly and chilled out bar staff, and some of Leeds’ finest rock and acoustic music. I’ll admit, I’m not even nearly regular enough to describe the range of bands that play here, but every time I hear of a gig I regret not having made it across town to sup amongst the regulars and musos. Cross Cut Saw play here, for goodness’ sake. (And if you’ve not had the pleasure of their fine sounds, you’re missing out.)
They’ve recently (although how recent, I couldn’t say) had a beer garden extension out the back, and it’s a fantastic little enclosure. I mean enclosure, as you’re safely gated in from the flotsam and jetsum that might wander by on Kirkgate, and safely ensconsed in a space decorated by decking, cool shaded benches, interestingly arranged architecture where old-​mysterious iron stairs meet new build high rises, and a piano bursting with plant life. The old outhouse loo still remains. For real.
Those with a thirst can sup on a range of local and guest ales, from dark to light, and if you’re feeling fruity there’s always a Southern Comfort and coke. Do not call it Soco, no one will serve you. (Well, they probably would, but you’d lose my respect — if that counts for anything.) Be wary not to make the same mistake I did, and wander into the men’s instead of out the back door. That was embarrassing.
On our recent visit, post Unilocal supper club at Tong Palace, we were even served after last orders because the bar lady forgot we’d snuck outside to drink. There’s not many a pub that’d be so kind these days. Come the winter months, when the weather turns, you’ll struggle to find as cosy a spot, complete with brilliant beardy old ale-​ers, students, music lovers, and general good folk. It’s a keeper.

Been drinking in here since god was a boy. still excellent and good music beer

A million real ales, live music, massive outdoor area. What’s not to like?

Maybe a slightly different take on this place, but I’ve played here (as part of Britain’s most obscure and slightly rubbish band) and it’s one of the best venues I’ve ever played. As other people have intimated, there’s a great mix of people down here — especially compared with the kinds of crowd you get at the Town end of town. When we started playing, I looked out to see proper metal-​heads, off-​duty builders and too-​cool-​for-​school stude-​dudes and yet, to my surprise, everyone was just nicely enthusiastic for the experience of live music. Even the weirdos. A great ‘character’ pub of the kind that is increasingly rare and precious.
Also, fab selection of real ales with foam and everything which if you’re a sucker for that kind of thing is always welcome.

With the mixed clientelle, the merging of the suits and the market traders, there is no dress code here. What people share here is their love for real ale. A great pub that may not be in your typical walk through town, if you like your ales, hunt it down. With as many as 12 different ales to choose from, you’ll be sure to find something you can settle for as your lifelong favourite.
With offers of food and live music, it is a pub with something for everyone. And just a stones throw from Call Lane, the drastic contrast is something of a blessing, a place to escape from the image conscious bar crawlers and relax and indulge in some fodder and a pint.

With very few people below the age of 30 in this pub offers a wonderful range of cask ales and provides a haven from the gentrification that this once unique and beautifully rustic part of town is now suffering. This pub is hanging on to its clientele and vice versa.
There’s always a lunch time offer on pie and peas and regular live music throughout the week, the regularity however doesn’t diminish the quality. This is a lovely pub, wood everywhere and pumps for the ale, my cup-​of-​tea.

If you want a drink that’s anything other than bitter, let alone anything as fancy as a cocktail, be prepared to be sneered at by both regulars and bar staff alike. Welcome to the pub where the roles are reversed; unlike the trendy bars that abound just up the road from the Duck and Drake, you’ll be lucky if they let you in here wearing smart shoes, and attitude is definitely not high on the agenda. What you do get here is a proper spit-​and-​sawdust pub, split into two sparsely decorated rooms — the Tap Room with its bench seating around the walls and the Lounge where live music often takes place. It’s certainly nothing special to look at, but it’s the beer and the regulars that make this place what it is. With 16 different cask ales, all from local breweries, the former comes plentiful and relatively cheap, while the latter are a bawdy bunch of local workers and market traders who always have a good story to share in return for a pint or two. Call Lane it is not, and it’s definitely not to everyone’s taste, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Living in Leeds and being from Preston its a rare treat that i can watch PNE on sky sports (more so as they arent often on!). As setanta show premierleague matches at the same time as sky shows championship matches its become even harder…
…Although my search is now over! The duck and rake doesnt have setanta and therefore only shows sky sports matches. A haven for the likes of myself! With a 42 screen is hard to find anywhere more suitable for the footy.
Whilst its argubably not the nicest bar in Leeds its does its job well. A great selection of ales compliments the football viewing.
A great find!