North Taproom

Since opening in CircleSquare earlier this year, North BrewingCo’s youngest offshoot has gone from strength to strength. It’s an airy, welcoming space with plenty of indoor and outdoor benches, an excellent selection of craft ales and the option to buy bao buns through a hole in the wall courtesy of Little Bao Boy. And best of all, they now have an expanded summer specials menu for food and drinks.  

You can always rely on a top-tier sour here, and today’s North x Pastore collab is no exception. It’s a refreshing treat, with notes of peach, blueberry, raspberry, and ginger. They also do a respectable Aperol Spritz – perfect prep for a Little Bao Boy feast. 

We start with deliciously crispy chicken gyozas and the oyster mushroom bites – the latter are deep fried to a deep golden brown and strewn with wasabi lime mayo, spring onions and sesame seeds. 

Next up is a tale of two bao buns: one packed full of juicy, umami, slow-cooked beef brisket, and the other full to the brim with salt and pepper aubergine. Both are excellent and come with plenty of salads and exciting garnishes – our favourite being the incredible sauce combination of sriracha and hoi sin on the aubergine.

From the Summer Specials food menu, we try a light, bright gomawakame salad, bursting with colour and seaweed flavours, plus a sensational Thai red curry noodle broth. At £6.50 the broth is both a bargain and undeniably addictive. Choose pork as the protein option for it and be rewarded with big hunks of pulled pork, oyster mushroom and other delights to fish out as you slurp away. 

The specials also include some well-made cocktails. Try a sweetly spicy twist on a Bloody Mary in the form of the Strawberry-Sriracha Daiquiri, a fruity Blueberry Smash, or the mad scientist’s invention of Schoffermosa – a Mimosa made with grapefruit Schofferhoffer and prosecco. 

Our hosts top off our visit with a brand new experience – tequila verdita. If you’ve never heard of it either, it’s a shot of tequila immediately followed by a shot of herbed pineapple and lime juice. It’s a vast improvement upon tequila slammers and well worth trying.

With all this going on, plus incredibly friendly and knowledgeable service, North Taproom is the perfect spot to meet friends and family this summer.