The George Inn

Pubs in the city are best to visit in the week when the hard working citizens of London make their way out from the daily grind to enjoy a well earned break meeting friends and having fun.  

As a hard working citizen of London I like nothing better than to join the masses and have a pint after work.  The main night for pubs in the city is Thursdays and Fridays.  With this pub I had the luxury of visiting twice in a week.  I work near Borough Market so after work on Monday I met my friends Woody, Ed and my brother at the The George Inn on Borough High Street.  AND then I went there again on Friday night with Ben from work.  

The George Inn

The George Inn would fall into the category of good pubs that have a real character and history to them.  The pub follows on nicely from my visit to the Fleece Inn as the George Inn is also a National Trust owned pub.  The George occupies one side of a courtyard that you enter into from an alley way off Borough High Street.  It used to be a coach house and would have at one time been around all sides of the court yard.  Now it is the only galleried original coach house left in London.  This is another pub that mentions Dickens drank there, he seems to have been quite the drinker!  As I like a bit of the history it was cool to see the old rooms such as the first on the right as you come in the pub.  The court yard now no longer is filled with horses but instead filled with pub benches.  Much better in my opinion.  

George Inn Ale, London Glory, Sam and Woody looking happy

Going on a Monday allowed me to see the pub when it was not full of people and get a good look around the historical pub interior.  It’s a cool pub to go to in the summer as the benches outside make up way more space than is inside.  On the Monday there were still not many spaces left out there as it was the first warm evening of the year.  When I went on the Friday it was rammo.  I like pubs when they are busy though.  I enjoy the buzz of a busy pub full of happy people.  The pub has done a good job of making the most of its history along with its city location.  One weaker point however is the bar which is not as in keeping with the historic sections of the pub.  It would have been good if they had built it keeping with the historic interior.  I’m not sure why they didn’t do that.  The bar is also not that big but even when it was busy the bar staff were fast and most importantly knowledgeable. 

The beer on tap is all from the Green King Brewery.  The nice touches however are the specialist beers from Green King, the pub has its own brew. The George Inn ale is an IPA style hoppy pint with a good nose and citrus notes.  Also the London Glory is a darker beer with fruity notes and is very easy to drink.  Also on tap were the standard Green King beer like Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Green King IPA.  The guest beer was from Brew Dog and was eminently drinkable.  The usual other bar drinks were available too. 

With the court yard being so open to the street you may have a few encounters with the ‘street’ coming into the pub.  On Monday we had three people begging for money, which can be annoying and on Friday Ben was amused (secretly enjoyed) to find a copy of Mayfair in the gents open to the middle spread... 

Overall the George Inn is worth its place in the guide and from experience this pub is definitely best in the summer when you can stand outside.  

Friday Night at the George Inn

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