York Tap
What's it good for?
Huge selection of beer, a drink before/after a train journey, meeting groups of friends after work or before the football.
Where is it?
When I was a young lad, like many a stereotype would suggest, I loved train sets. I especially enjoyed building tracks that contained at least one obstacle that would potentially derail the train or cause a head-on crash, and that is why as a kid I found the old use for the building York Tap occupies to be a disappointment.
Much is made of the original use of the building tacked on the side of York Station as the old tea rooms however I remember it as the Model Railway Museum. This was less of a museum and more of a 'How adults build boring, photo-realistic, crash-free working model railways', and I never let go of that disappointment, so when it closed down and a pub replaced it I was especially delighted.
What's it all about?
York tap have won numerous awards for their renovation of the old tea rooms including CAMRA's Conversion to Pub Use Award, and the Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award for the best restored listed structure. It really is a wonderful building with terrazzo flooring sweeping around a huge central circular bar, art deco lamps hanging over leather cushioned booths around the sides, and massive stained glass windows illuminating the whole building. When it opened there was a real sense that it had taken York up a notch and I still love seeing it.
As a station bar you get all sorts of people in who have just stepped off a train but more and more are people specifically heading to York to come to the York Tap but it does mean you never know what the place will be like. Sometimes you pop in and you have the place to yourself and 20 beers to choose from, other times it's standing room only with half the beers off but when that leaves you with 10 to choose from you can't really complain.
One common observation about the York Tap is that there is a strong focus on overly hoppy beers, it has IPAs in abundance. If I'm not in the mood for experimenting with a new brew I like to fall back to an old friend, some kind of easy to drink session beer hovering around 4%, unfortunately at the York Tap the beers don't stick around for long so you can find yourself drinking three different hoppy 5% beers in one visit just through them changing so frequently.
What's on the bar?
With 20 pumps on the bar there is usually something for everyone (unless you pop in looking for Carling as so many do in the station). There are draght craft ales, Bernard lagers and a Sheppy's cider on tap.
Do they serve food?
If pork pies, scotch eggs, and sandwiches are your snacks of choice then you are in luck here as they are all locally handmade, but you won't find any meals at York Tap.
Is it accessible / allow kids / dogs?
There is a small step on the door into the station and the platform seating, but the rest of the premises is level. Dog and child friendly.
Will you go again?
Regularly! York Tap has become an important part of York Station and provides a good stopping off point.
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