Number nine on the Otley Run has some great boozy options for non pub crawl weekends.
Anyone who has popped their head into the Hyde Park pub, will know its a student paradise. There's pool tables aplenty, cheap drinks that come with a discount if you're in education and nobody bats an eyelid if you rock up in fancy dress.
If you've ever taken on Leeds' famous Otley Run, you'll recognise this stop as one of most atmospheric with Indie classic tunes and disco lights that bring the small pub to life for the weekend. Now, there's another reason to visit the popular watering hole, and you don't need any fancy dress outfits.
Instead of downing fourteen pints at different pubs, Hyde Park is offering you the chance to reserve a table (no squeezing yourself between bar stools) and sit down for two whole hours before the Otley runners come flying through the door, whilst treating yourself to unlimited pints, gins and drinks galore.
Expect a full array of alcoholic options like Prosecco, Gordon's pink gin fizz, draught pints of Amstel and Peroni and soft drinks as well as sweet-tasting cocktails like Passionfruit Bellinis, Aperol Spritz, as well as Virgin Mojitos and Espresso Martinis.
For just £5 extra, you can upgrade your bottomless options to a wider range of beers (essentially any craft beers on tap) as well as selected gin and tonics, served as 25ml single servings. Hyde Park hint that there's more to their fiver upgrade stating on their website that you can ask a bartender for the full range of options.
The food options are just as exciting with a choice of either a: brekkie, burger or pizza on offer.
On the breakfast menu, there's your classic full English breakfast, as well as a vegetarian alternative as well as avo on toast, French toast sticks with raspberry coulis and the breakfast stack: a toasted bread bun layered with cheesy beans, crispy bacon, a poached free-range egg and Hollandaise sauce.
Over on the burger menu, there's cheese and bacon on either chicken or beef patties, as well as a vegan Moving Mountains B12 burger for those tempted to opt for a plant-based option.
The pizza menu is loaded with meat, so expect the likes of spicy pepperoni, slow-cooked hickory-smoked BBQ beef burnt ends, streaky bacon and chicken as your toppings of choice.
All this comes to just £25 per person and we can't think of a better way to kick off the weekend without the hangover of the Otley Run. Just make sure you don't sleep in, this one's only available until 1pm on the weekends.
The Wombats aren’t just still going strong - they’re getting better. And honestly? Long may they reign.
The Wombats absolutely tore the roof off the First Direct Arena in Leeds last night, Wednesday 26 March and what a night it was.
From the second they hit the stage it wasn’t just a gig, it was a full-blown indie-pop spectacle, packed with infectious energy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of dancing.
They kicked things off with “Moving to New York,” and honestly? The crowd was in from the first note.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Matthew Murphy’s unmistakable vocals rang through the arena and suddenly, thousands of people were screaming every lyric like it was 2007 all over again. It was one of those moments where you could just feel how much this band still means to people.
Despite the massive venue, The Wombats somehow made it feel intimate. The lights? Pure chaos in the best way - vibrant, colourful, and totally in sync with the band’s wild, bouncy sound.
Murphy’s cheeky banter between songs made it feel less like a polished arena show and more like a jam session with a few thousand of your closest mates.
Setlist-wise, they nailed it. “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “Greek Tragedy” had the whole place losing it, while the stripped-down version of “Techno Fan” gave everyone a minute to breathe (and maybe get a little emotional).
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those quieter moments just made the high-energy choruses hit even harder. It was a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.
Then came the encore. If you thought the crowd was loud before, “Kill the Director” took things to another level. Pure, chaotic indie bliss. The kind of moment you don’t want to end.
Here’s the thing about The Wombats: some might say their older songs hit harder than their newer stuff, but is that just nostalgia talking? Or maybe it’s a generational thing?
Either way, they proved they’re still one of the most exciting live bands out there. They’ve still got the hooks, the humour, and the ability to turn a massive arena into a sweaty, euphoric singalong.
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
Danny Jones
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Sophie Smith -
27th January 2022 
