The Harp and The Lord Moon of the Mall

Making the most of the long Easter break I had the pleasure of meeting up a mate of mine from university, Dr Alex Beaton.  Meeting up with the Dr was cool because it reminded me how sociable visiting pubs was and how my little quest was allowing me to see friends who are not always that available. 

I lived with Alex for three years so we know each other pretty well, plus both being from London originally and both enjoying pubs and real ale I knew it was going to be a good evening.  We did the usual meet up at Charring Cross and went down to the Princess of Wales for a pint before deciding where to go first.  I never realised how often I go to the Princess of Wales before till I started this blog!   

On arrival Alex announced that he had brought with him two bottles of the home brew he had brewed.  My initial thought was I hope I liked it because I wouldn’t want to be rude and have to pretend to like it if it was no good.  But my fears were unfounded, the double fermented beer was really good.  Alex had been aiming for a dark winter warmer type beer and had well and truly succeeded.  The strength of the beer around 6%ABV was perfect for a cold winters evening.  The chocolate, molasses flavours with hints of raspberry and oranges finished off with a subtle bitterness made for a thoroughly drinkable pint and by far the best home brew I’d ever had.  It was as yet unnamed (Alex let me know if you have named it yet).  We drank the beer sitting in Trafalgar Square and moved on down into Whitechapel to the The Lord Moon of the Mall.  

Alex and his home brew

I’d been talking up this beer trip over the evening and telling Alex about some of the good pubs I’ve been to so far this year so I may have got his hopes up quite a bit.  As we approached the Lord Moon we started to notice subtle signs that set the alarm bells ringing.  The writing seemed familiar and we jokingly said ‘I hope its not a Weatherspoons’.  No signs outside advertised the Spoons brand but as we entered Alex spotted the J.D.W initials on the door frame.  I immediately received the justified comment from Alex ‘I’ve come all the way up to London to go to a fucking Weathersoons?’.  There was not much I could do other than apologies and get a round in.  The building which used to be a bank has been given the usual Spoons decoration.  I felt it was looking a bit tired when we were there, its a big space and with the few groups in there it felt pretty empty and lacking in atmosphere.  The usual Spoons smell of poor people and gravy pervades the pub.  

Lord Moon of the Mall

Turning our attention to the bar we looked over the list of beers on tap (the only saving grace).  At least Spoons pubs have a decent number of ales on tap.  The beer was decent and I stuck to my self made rule of having a minimum of two pints in each of the pubs on my list.  We spent most of the time discussing how bad Spoons pubs can be and how we did not feel the need for the ‘double up for £1.50’ signs plastered around the pub.  Needless to say we didn’t stay long and swiftly made an exit, I would not recommend this pub at all.  There are better pubs around and to prove it we took a five minute walk back over the otherside of Trafalgar Square to the The Harp.  

The Harp (not my pic)

The Harp is a pub I had been looking forward to visiting for a while and I’m glad we went there second on the day as it more than made up for the terrible Spoons.  The Harp is an outstanding central London pub.  It currently holds the very high accolade of CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2010\2011.  The accolade is well deserved, as soon as we entered we knew we were in for a good evening.  We had both been to the pub before a few years previously when the Harp was the London Cider Pub of the Year so we knew roughly what to expect, even those expectations were surpassed. Entering we found ourselves in a pub with a convivial relaxed atmosphere decorated with fine art and hand pump labels around the bar.  I like pubs where they use the handpump labels as decoration.  The other pub I know that does that is the Market Porter in Borough Market.  Pump labels are art in themselves and displayed together are interesting collages.  

The bar

The pub, on the evening we were there was perfect for what we were looking for, the eight ales on tap added to the experience and we wasted no time in getting stuck in.  There is not much point listing the beers they have as they have such a broad range with some regulars such as Sambrooks, Dark Star, Harveys and Twickenham Ales (plus I forgot to write them all down).  We got a seat at the small bench tables just past the bar and soaked up the atmosphere, whilst sampling all the beers they had on offer.  I recognised the bar man as having worked in The Chandos  just up the road he’s not moved far but has definitely gone up in the world.  All the staff in there were quick to serve and most importantly knowlegable about their products! 

This pub is the complete antithesis of the other pub we had been to and I would highly recommend this pub to anyone. This pub is perfect for anyone who loves good pubs, good beer, good conversation. Alex and I both very much enjoyed The Harp and will certainly be going back someday.

The Windsor Castle

I was thinking that this next pub might be a bit of a disappointment after the Churchill Arms had been so good.  How wrong I was!  The Windsor Castle is a really fantastic pub.  Again on entry the mood and atmosphere of the pub hits you and you feel immediately at home.  The dark wooden tables, bar and wpartitions give it genuine traditional pub feel.  No wonder it is in the national heritage pub inventory.  I’ve not got into the historic pub thing too much yet but I totally appreciate what they are doing as this type of pub is amazing to visit and could never be replaced by a horrible soulless air port lounge style Slug and Lettuce pub.  I’d always rather drink in a pub like the Windsor Castle than any other.  We got a seat by the door to the garden.  We didn’t see the garden on the day though as it was dark and cold.  

Pic off their website

My picture

Pub sign

The pub had a good range of ales and lager.  The lagers were all decent looking and they had the likes of Leffe and Aspalls Cider on tap which is a nice touch of class.  On tap they had White Horse Porter, which I had and it was a very good beer and I hope the brewery grows in size and is successful.  Also on tap was Sambrooks Wandle and Liberation Ale, which seems to be doing the rounds at the moment.  I’d not seen it till a few weeks ago.  

We sat in the pub for a few beers and enjoyed every moment.  Again this is well deserved of being in the good pub guide.   I will be going back to this pub in the summer to see the garden.  I thought it was such a fantastic pub.  I’d travel a long way to have a pint here.  As it turned out it was an easy winner for our favourite pub of the day!

Greenwich Pub Crawl

Having been a bit unhappy with the Cutty Sark we thought it would be rude not to have another pint.  The Stoat had to make his way back to the market for some cake so we took the river path back to the The Yacht.  The pub is owned by Youngs and has been given the usual Youngs pub make over.  But even Youngs can’t spoil the view and The Yacht has made really good use of having such a good view with big windows all along the river side.  The tables up by the window were full so we sat by the fire like old men warming our cockles.  The usual beers were on tap like Old Speckled hen, Doom Bar and Youngs Gold.  Just the one pint of Youngs Gold was had before we moved on.  

There was not even time to put the gloves and scarf on before we arrived at the next pub, the Trafalgar.  The Trafalgar has really improved in the last few years and it was great on the day we visited.  The atmosphere was just what you would look for in a pub, warm and friendly with the enthusiastic buzz of punters having a good time and a good pint.  The beers available on the day were the best we found on the day Adnams Old Ale which was very nice, Adnams Bitter, Doom Bar and Sharp's Own and Slaters Queen Bee. 

The Trafalgar is a good pub in the heart of Greenwich, I’d recommend it.  It’s also got the best views of any pub in Greenwich. 

Starting to feel the ale now we were keen to hit more pubs.  

The Gipsy Moth was the next venue.  The pub has been designed to attract the young and beautiful of Greenwich so is more of a bar style.  It’s a good place for a night out and some drinks.  The have some good beers like Sambrooks Wandle, Doom Bar, London Pride and Liberation Ale.  When we were there though it was a bit like a crèche, children were everywhere screaming and shouting!  The Stoat needed his cake so we saw the back of our pints and went to the market.  

After cake we made one last stop off at the Coach and Horses in the market.  It’s quite a small pub with an ‘L’ shape design.  There are some good beers on tap like Adnams Old Ale, and Doom Bar and Sharp's Own.  Looks like Adnams and Sharps have got some good sales people in Greenwich.  We got a seat by the door and looked over at the people sitting by the fire in the deep comfortable looking leather sofas, sipping herbal tea.  Hold up, yes that is right herbal tea!  I can moan about the huge coffee machines taking over good bar space till the cows come home but I can at least understand the need to meet demand.  People like to have coffee after a meal but herbal tea!?  The Stoat and I were not happy about that.  Pubs don’t need to serve herbal tea.  If tourists want to come to pubs they can have a pint or a soft drink or even at the worst and I say it through clenched teeth a coffee but if they want a herbal tea they should go to a sodding tea shop.  This led to all sorts of chat and Le Stoat even made the controversial comment questioning the place of wine in a pub.  I think that may have been due to the seven previous pints.  

After this session several points about this journey have been made clear.  The question of strategy of reviewing pubs and when to visit them is interesting.  Pubs will often change greatly in character throughout the day and this could have a major impact on my view.  Also is a pub crawl an effective method of pub review.  I think that this crawl showed it is not because we got drunk and lost focus unsurprisingly.  It was really good fun though! So if a pub crawl is used I’ll go to the important pubs first, by that I mean the GPG pubs.  

All in all Greenwich has some good pubs that are well worth a visit and with so many in such a small space they make a really good pub crawl route.  

The Stoat

The FIRST pub

Of all 59 excellent sounding pubs how could I choose which pub should start my year long journey.  I was thinking about this for a long time reading reviews, researching histories, thinking I could start with the newest and finish with the oldest but in the end I decided to go start with the Greenwich Union.  The decision was simple, its my nearest 'good pub guide pub'.  I'd been to 'the union' on a number of occasions and even celebrated my 25th birthday there.

The pub is in such a fantastic location being close to Greenwich Park and Greenwich Market it was nice to have a short stroll through the park first to work up an appetite.  The pub is always popular and can be tricky to get a table but we managed to get one fairly quickly.  The place is clearly popular with the young professionals of Greenwich who have young children.  Even though I'm only 26 I have been known to be a bit of an old man when it comes to children in pubs.  I personally don't find it conducive to have chat with my friends and enjoy a nice beer with lots of children screaming around me.  Also breastfeeding just freaks me out.  However I guess being 26 and not having any kids I may change my mind when I want a pint if I ever had any.  The crowd changed after lunch and so did the atmosphere, what I would call a more usual pub atmosphere took over.  The pub is well set out for a pub of that size.  There is a garden which is great in summer.

Being aligned with the Meantime brewery means that the selection of beers is exemplary.  The staff also seemed knowledgeable and even if they weren't the beer menu is probably the best I've ever seen with great descriptions of types of beer.  They've even added in their own inventions for new types of beer like their London Lager described as 'a brand new style  created by Meantime' (there I've mentioned lager).  The pub also stocks a great range of beers from across the world that are good examples of different beer styles.  On the day I enjoyed a nice pint of Brugge Zot from the Halve Maan Brewery in Bruge (which incidentally offers a really good tour if you can ever find your way over the channel).

I couldn't visit a Meantime pub and not have any of the well tended Meantime beers.  Starting off with the London Stout was very enjoyable and a great pint for a cold winters day.  The London Pale ale however was a slight disappointment and did not have as much flavour or bitter finish as some of the better English Pale Ales out there such as a the Marston's EPA.  Not a problem though as it was more than made up for by the Meantime Winter Ale at 5.4% with great colour aroma and taste.

As mentioned I'm a big fan of real ale and have been a member of CAMRA since I was 18.  So I moved on to see how well kept the beer on tap was.  I had two excellent pints, the first, keeping with the London theme a pint of Sambrooks Junction followed by Dark Star Hophead which was my favourite of the day.  It went very well with the Alfred Stubbs pork scratchings they serve behind the bar.

The pub design is modern and my friends and I were lucky enough to get the window seats at the front.  The Union is located next door to the Richard I pub which has a more classic pub style if that is what you are looking for.  Personally I find the Richard I a better pub for general pub outings, its a Youngs pub and have well kept beers on tap.

The food at the Union was pretty good too.  We tried some of their burgers and the fish and chips which were all good, better than most pub food and priced fairly reasonably for London.  

Overall if you are looking for a great choice of beers then the Union is the place for you.  I love beer more than most so I have to say I was very pleased with the choices and quality of the pints.  However I still feel like the Union is lacking something in terms of character.  With great beer a  good location and good food this pub will continue to flourish so if you are ever over in Greenwich pop in and try some of the locally brewed beers.