How the other half live!

Meandering through Mayfair the other day I popped into the 'Punch Bowl' for a quick pint. "A pint of Kronenbourg please" "That will be £4.30 please sir" "Fuck me is it gold-plated?" No response!
Anyway I take my pint outside to enjoy the vista and low and behold there are a couple of archetypal sloan traders standing next to me "fucking labour" "fucking trade unions" "just bought a house in the cotswolds" Drank my pint swiftly and went.

Time gentlemen please!

Walking from Newington Green up to Stoke Newington one afterenoon a couple of weeks ago, I thought that it might be a nice idea to have a pint or two. I passed six pubs and all of them were closed, none of them opened in the afternoon.

I can only surmise that it is not profitable for them to do so? or that the metrosexual middle-classes deem it too working class to get hammered in the afternoon, unless you're at the riverside in Putney drinking Pimms?

Not only are all the pubs closing down but the ones that have been gentrified don't fuckin open!

Walking the River Pinn

The river Pinn runs from Pinner to the Grand Union Canal at Cowley, 12 miles in all. Pinner is classic 'Metroland', a sterile suburban high street and an old village green, church and a couple of 17th C. pubs.

The route from there runs through an amazingly long stretch of interlinked playing fields, meadows and woodland. Parts of the walk are very badly signposted and there are two major diversions, RAF Hillingdon and Brunel University.

We stopped for a pint at the Red Lion Hotel, a splendid looking Fullers pub overlooking Hillingdon Hill. Not a great selection of beers on offer, in fact one of the worst selections i've seen in a while, Carling, Stella, Strongbow, Guinness and three real ales! but then maybe i've been spoiled?

And then on to the finish at Cowley, according to most of the posts on BITE, a chav lager drinking paradise! didn't hang around to find out, got the train to Paddington and had a cheap pint in 'Cads', all the pints are 1.90!!!

A Sojourn around Southwark on a Sunday with a Scouser!

My scouse mate Mark is an avid walker, so with both of us having nothing better to do and the sun shining we decided to head of towards Tring and meander towards Wendover. But alas, we missed our train from Euston and the next wasn't for another hour. We decided to walk down to the Thames and into deepest Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, a fabled land home of the scaffolder!
We stopped at the 'Angel', a Sam Smith's pub on the river and then at the 'Mayflower' in so called Rotherhithe Village. This is a lovely part of London, very calming and evocative. We then walked to 'Stave Hill Ecological Park, a great place with a man made hill with a view across docklands. From here we walked to GreenLand Dock and stopped for a pint in the 'Wibbley Wobbley' floating pub, a gem of a place full of locals and other eccentrics.
A lovely walk and a great day out.

Sam Smith's

There are 36 Sam Smith's pubs in London, and every one of them is an architectural gem, how does the company do it? They've managed over the last few years to take over some of the most beautiful victorian pubs in London.

I've been in few, and it's my ambition to try all of them, but my favourite has to be the 'Cittie of Yorke', 22 high Holborn, it has a wonderful vaulted beamed ceiling and 'confessional' like snugs.

There are also a number of huge wine vats near the entrance, said to hold 1000 gallons each!

The 'Pure Brewed' Lager is only £2.88 a pint, which is nearly Weatherspoon prices!

Piss Poor Pints in Paddington!

The pubs just off Praed Street in Paddington are a strange brew! Maybe its because of their proximity to the railway station that makes them on the whole, characterless, soulless and bland.
The first, the 'Rob Roy', as you may have guessed a scottish theme pub, was virtually empty at 5.30pm on a Friday. I had a pint of Holsten Export which tasted slightly sour, the barman replaced it with another that tasted slightly better but I ended up leaving half of it and moving on.
The next one was 'The Sir Alexander Fleming', full off white van drivers and staff from the nearby hospital. Ordered a pint of Grolsch which was flat, asked the barmaid to top it up or replace it and she replied "it's my first day, what do you expect". Drank up and left.
Lastly, visted the 'Fountains Abbey', another characterless pub serving bad beer. The only interesting thing about this pub is the lovely green tiled victorian fireplace.
I've heard that the 'Royal Exchange' on Sale Place is a gem of a place, must try.

Lunch, a beer and English Longhorn Cattle!

Last Sunday we, that is me, the missus and the little one, decided to head up to the wilds of Chingford for lunch.

Near Chingford Station there is a pub called the 'Royal Forest', as near to Harvester hell as you can get! The food wasn't good and came in very mean portions, but the beer garden leads onto Epping Forest and on one side you have Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, built by Henry VIII in 1543. So all in all a very nice view and place to sit in the sun and quaff a beer or two.
Also there are some very nice walks in the forest. The little one was fascinated by the Longhorn Cattle, which have recently been re-introduced to Epping Forest

Unspoilt Gem!

, beer

I met a good mate of mine in 'Ye Old White Horse' , an unspoilt gem near the LSE, the other night for a drink or two. We then meandered through the back streets behind the 'Old Bailey' skirting past our beloved 'Seven Stars' and ended up in the 'Old Nick' in Sandland Street, had a pint of HB, a strange hoppy lager. A nice enough pub with a very friendly landlady. From there we moved onto 'The Duke' in Roger Street, just off the Grays Inn Road, a great 30's art deco pub with a lovely little dining room. And lastly onto the 'Queens Head' in Acton Street, Kings Cross, a classic little victorian pub with a lovely bow window at the front and some original features inside.
All in all a pleasant crawl.

In The Bailey!

Getting away from breakfats for a moment!
I have tried thai food in pubs all over in London since it became the in thing well over 10 years ago, and I must say that most of it has been mediocre to say the least. My favourite used to be the 'Coach and Horses' in Stoke Newington. But!I have just had a thai lunch in 'The Bailey', which I think is probably one of the best pubs on the Holloway Road, and it was bloody lovely. A large portion of king prawns stirfried with peppers, onions, fresh pineapple and chilli with rice, £6.95.
I would thoroughly recommend it, if the Arsenal memoribilia doesn't put you off!!!

Armin's Arse Rippers!!!

On one of my rare forays outside of London, last weekend I went to Whitstable for their Oyster Festival. What a brilliant place and a great festival. The seafood and fish was some of the best that I have tasted and the beer, produced by the Whitstable Brewery Company, was excellent.

Whitstable is also home to the 'Ship Centurion Arminus', a wonderful pub, run by a loud and charasmatic German named Armin. They have Bitburger, Erdinger and Dark Budvar on tap, aswell as a good selection for the CAMRA lot!, and chilli pickled eggs nicknamed 'Armin's Arse Rippers'. What more can I say!!

I stayed at the Duke of Cumberland, an imposing victorian pub slap bang in the middle of the high street. The room was nice and the view even better, but the breakfast left something to be desired. I had the veggie option, which consisted of 3 small veggie sausages, 2 eggs, 6 mushrooms and a small grilled tomato. The sausages were overcooked to the point of being crunchy!