The Cardigan Arms, Leeds: 'Well worth an hour or two of your time' - The Grade II-listed Yorkshire pub with plush-looking side rooms and vaults
I’ve got a soft spot for The Cardigan Arms.
Many moons ago when I first started as a journalist in Leeds, post-work union gatherings were often held upstairs here.
Invariably a misty-eyed hack in an advanced stage of refreshment would wax lyrical about “the good old days,” while another hardened veteran would impart a few words of wisdom to cub reporters like me.
“You can get good stories in a pub, son.”
To be fair they weren’t wrong. Today’s young journos are more likely to get a story from Facebook than a tap room, but that’s just the way of the world and perhaps that’s not a bad thing.
I found myself back here the other week after what must be the best part of a decade.
It was the rendezvous point for a swift ‘half’ with a friend before we headed to a gig up the road at Brudenell Social Club.
These days The Cardigan Arms, a Grade II Listed-building “opposite McDonald’s on Kirkstall Road”, as its website succinctly puts it, is run by Kirkstall Brewery.
If you’re a fan of The Adelphi (another cracking Victorian era pub in Leeds city centre) then you’ll like it here, where the central bar area opens up into a series of plush looking side rooms or vaults.
There’s a chalkboard with a list of beers on keg and cask and as you might expect Kirkstall Brewery beers hold sway, with the likes of Virtuous, Three Swords and its Black Band porter.
There’s a decent selection of low and no alcohol drinks, too, including my new favourite Mash Gang’s Cult, a delicious non-alcoholic pale ale.
The food menu is all about pub classics and they also have live music, film screenings and quiz nights.
So if you’re in the vicinity, or just fancy trying somewhere different, this place is well worth an hour or two of your time.
Welcome 4/5
Atmosphere 4/5
Drinks choice 4/5
Prices 4/5
The Cardigan Arms, Kirkstall Road, Burley, Leeds. LS4 2HQ. Tel: 0113 226 3154.