Hare and Billet

For all two of my dedicated readers you may have been wondering what good pub guide pub I would visit this week.  You may have even had money on it.  But alas I was busy this weekend and as such this weeks review is a bit of a cop out.  I only managed to walk over Blackheath to have a decent pint of Moreland Original.  The beer hardly amazed my taste buds,  it was well kept but there is something about it which just didn’t excite.  Morland is owned by Green King and it is likely you will be more familiar with their other brew, Old Speckled Hen.

More about the beer later,  the pub itself is a well designed cozy pub with lots of nice wooden furniture and wooden flooring.  They allow dogs and I think there were three in there when I was there on Saturday night.  The pub has a warm friendly atmosphere.  It is a little outside the main heart of Blackheath and that lends to a nice crowd who are willing to go that little bit further to enjoy a nice location for the drinks and the atmosphere rather than just for getting drunk.  The O'neills down the hill has that covered on a Saturday night.  The crowd seemed a nice mix of people with some arty looking types in there.  One bloke was sporting a cracking multi coloured beret.  I was only in there for a cheeky pint so didn’t have any of the food but it looks like the standard fare and has had some good reviews on other blogs.  The Blackheath Bugle has a review of some of the food and seemed to think it was decent.  The pub has been refurbished since their review so don’t be misled.  The decor is now very tasteful .  The Greenwich Phantom has also made a trip there and they seem to be wine drinkers.  As mentioned I do not profess to know anything about wine so I will leave it to your own judgement on that one.  I believe that since that review the refurbishment has taken place and they have improved the wine list.

The pub has the usual mix of Green King beers, the IPA the Abbot, the Hen and a few lagers and wines to keep everyone happy.  I also had a bottle of Leffe which is a decent but not outstanding Belgium beer.  I think it is a shame when good beers get mass produced and lose some of their original quality.  I’m not against mass production of beer by any means as long as quality is kept.  Its a bit like how before InBev took over Hoegaarden  in 2005 it was a really good pint (or litre) but it seemed to lose some of its flavour and quality when taken over by a by a big company.   The best Hoegaarden in my opinion now is the Grand Cru.

Got a bit off topic there... The Hare and Billet is certainly worth a visit if you are looking for a nice friendly pub in the Blackheath area.  I can see why it is not in the good pub guide.  Being owned by Green King does seemed to have stifled it somewhat.  The generic template of Green King pubs is still too evident in this nice village style pub.