The Good Pub Crawl

Time is ticking and having had a few quieter months July was going to have to be the time to pick things back up again.  My friend John, a rugby player not unfamiliar with all day drinking sessions piped up and declared he was free all day on Saturday.  Having not been to any of the pubs on my list so far I felt I better show him what he had been missing out on.  What better way to do that than embark on a pub crawl.  

I had originally decided that the maximum number of pubs on my list I would review in a day would be two because things can get a bit hazy after my minimum quota of two pints in each pub.  However with the pubs on my list now being spread further apart as I’ve ticked them off and with the plan of a pub crawl in mind I scratched my rule and planned three pubs on my list for the day.  Also with time slipping away I thought I better get on with it. 

We decided to go for an early afternoon meet up to make the most of pub hours and with a vague plan of getting back to central London to either make our way home on the last train or carry on drinking into the night.  John is very much of the ‘go big or go home’ school of drinking so I knew it could get messy.  

We started the day at the Fox and Hounds pub in Battersea.  It was a really sunny day so we sat in the pub garden.  Pub gardens in London are always a huge bonus when you find one and also if you can get a seat outside if its nice out.  The pub was pleasantly busy with couples and friends finishing lunch and chatting and a few blokes at the bar having a pint and chatting to the staff.  Outside were some families and two black cats which seemed to live there.  My opinion of families in pubs is still mixed but the kids were well behaved so it was fine.  It’s a nice pub inside with a medium sized square bar.  They had four ales on tap, two from the Sambrooks Brewery, Tribute and Summer Runner by Trumans.  John is a lager drinker and enjoyed some Italian beers in there.  The Fox and Hounds is definitely cashing in on the prosperity of the locals as the beer wasn’t cheap.  I liked the pub though, it had a good atmosphere and it looked like a good pub to have a few pints in with some mates or the girlfriend.  I wouldn’t think it would be great for a big drinking session as I think being loud and raucous in there might be frowned upon.  Not that I should be encouraging that of course drink aware and all that.  The food in there looked good too, gastro pub food at gastro pub food prices.  Who ever invented the phrase gastro pub food must be gutted he or she didn’t own it because the trade in gastro pub food had certainly kicked off big time in the last few years.  I for one am all for it as long as its good quality and not massively over priced.  

The Fox and Hounds Battersea

Having had a few looseners in the Fox it was time to move on.  The next destination on the list was The Cross Keys in Chelsea.  We got the bus over the river (although it would have been just as quick to walk) and found our way to the pub.  The outside of the pub looked interesting and inviting.  There was a huge 8 foot high statue on the façade.  Once inside the pub was pretty quite but it was about 3-4 in the afternoon, between the lunchtime drinkers and the evening crowd.  The bar was also, for me, a bit disappointing with only Doombar on tap.  They did have one interesting feature which was a large table with pour your own beer taps which I can imagine would be a popular choice for the rich young professionals of Chelsea.  Unfortunately they were not able to use it when we were there due to some licensing issues.  Still its good to see some initiative and thought being put into pubs.  The main bar is in an atrium area with a restaurant upstairs and out the back.  The pub was clearly looking to make the most of the opulent surroundings in Chelsea and was pretty much glamming up to attract attention.  There was even a leopard print sofa upstairs!  Being a fan of the more traditional style pub I wasn’t overly keen on the decor or what they were trying to do with the pub.  The owner was clearly more interested in trying to be popular and have a Michelin star than run a good pub.  Overall I’m not entirely sure why the pub is in the guide.  

The Cross Keys

The manager (middle)

Having said that about the Cross Keys however the bar man was excellent and when we mentioned about my blog and my plan to visit all the pubs in the year he introduced us to the gentleman at the bar.  We got chatting to these chaps one who was a former publican and had run several pubs in the Chelsea area and one who was the manager of the Cross Keys and had been a publican at a number of pubs in the area previously.  We had a long discussion about pubs and what makes a good pub.  Also about how to make money from pubs and how to keep the police happy!  These two chaps and seen it all and done it all before.  It was great chatting to them and listening to their stories about being a publican.  Eventually we told them where we were headed next, the Star Tavern in Belgravia.  They said well if you want to visit some good pubs on the way let us write a list for you.  Well we couldn’t turn that down so they obliged and we went on our way with list in hand.  

The list was six pubs long!!  Being several pints down already this seemed like a good idea.  The first pub was the The Phene.  On entering we noticed something strange… The whole pub was full of women.  Not one bloke was there in the whole place.  I went to the bar and noticed all the beer taps had glasses on them indicating they were empty.  I asked for a beer, ‘Corona, Becks or wine is all we have’ the bar man said.  John came back from the bathroom and I said ‘We’re leaving’.  Not the best start to the list. 

The next pub was The Surprise.  We took a place at the bar and ordered some pints I had Knight of the Garter a well kept pint of bitter.  The bar man with his corn row hair cut looked like a football player.  The manager came in and she wasn’t remotely interested in talking to us.  The pub was really nice though.  Some nice touches like a jug of virgin mary on the bar and a selection of cheese and pickles were on offer.  The locals seemed to be very rah.  They were proper Chelsea types talking about the latest shoot and the new carpets at ‘the Club’.  Some old bloke walked in with a younger looking lady.  John leaned over to me and said quietly ‘Is that the lead singer of ACDC?’.  I had no idea so we did a quick google search and it turned out it was.  Being a bit drunk now confidence was high and John asked for a photo.  Brian Johnson was good sport and had a quick chat with us.  He started by saying ‘Can I give you lads some advice?  Never trust anything that bleeds longer than a week’.  This is possibly one of the strangest things anyone I didn’t know had ever said to me but he was a member of rock royalty so it was cool.  Meeting Brian Johnson certainly made Johns day.    

The Surprise

Brian Johnson (lead singer of ACDC) and John

We skipped The Coopers as we were still aiming to get some beers in at the Star and we wanted to keep moving.  Plus I think we needed the walk.  Then we were at the second pub of the day called the Fox and Hounds.  This pub was a lovely small pub owned by Youngs.  The inside was covered in framed pictures mainly of hunting scenes.  It was a quality small pub with a good barman behind the tiny bar.  There was a really good atmosphere in there and similarly to the previous pub I’m surprised it was not in the Guide.  I’d like to find my way back here sometime.  

Fox and Hounds

Recollection of my day out begins to get hazy at this point.  I have photos from The Antelope where we sat at the bar and had a beer.  I liked the quote on the bar area saying ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’.  I’ve got to be honest I don’t remember much else from that pub other than they were cleaning up while we were there and decided it would be a good idea to spray cleaning up liquid on the bar where we were sitting which pretty much gassed us out of the pub.  Not impressed with that.  

The Antelope

Beauty is the eye of the Beer holder

We did then go to the Duke of Wellington and I’ve got no idea where it was from the top of my head or what it looked like really.  I do remember all the bar staff were French which seemed odd.  Even the manager was French and he seemed a bit of a nob.  He kept yelling at the other staff in French.  John who can speak French fluently was translating for me.  The two younger bar staff were nice though and chatted to us while we sat at the bar (probably trying not to fall off our stools).  The only note I have on the pub was that it smelled like gravy.  This pungent smell of gravy is not one I think does any pub favours and is one I usually associate with the lower end scale Weatherspoons. 

Finally we made it to the Star Tavern we’d drunk a hell of a lot of pints by this point into double digits for sure.  The Star was a beautiful looking pub down a cobbled street with hanging baskets brimming with flowers.  The well presented exterior was matched by the well presented drinkers outside the pub in their chinos and boat shoes.  Belgravia is a particularly well to do part of London and you could tell by the locals.  The bar inside was well divided up into rooms with high ceilings.  It is a fullers pub, not the first of the day.  We ordered some pints and some pork scratchings.  The pork scratchings were rough.  We got the dregs of the jar along with all the pig dust, John didn’t mind them but I thought they were disgusting.  I don’t feel like I can give the most objective report of this pub as I was absolutely smashed by this point.  I remember only a few things from this pub it is quite big, has lots of wood, it has the usual range of fullers beers.  I remember also that we chatted to two blokes who were there playing chess as  some part of a local pub chess league.  John had the idea after meeting Brian Johnson earlier in the day that everyone could have been a former rockstar so he proceeded to ask the chess players if they had been in a band.  I think the room was spinning too much at that point for me to contribute much to the conversation.  I also remember we were talking about the Michel MacIntyre joke about posh people saying they were drunk and how you can use almost anything.  So rather than saying ‘I was absolutely smashed’ you may say ‘I was absolutely trousered’.  We went through a number of these. 

The Star Tavern

 Before leaving we noticed a sign by the door that said ‘NO DRINKS BEYOND THIS POINT’.  It is a note I wish we had listened to.  End evaluation of the Star is that it is probably a good pub and seemed nice of the day we were there.  I think I’ll have to go back to this one but for now it’s going to get crossed off my list.  

The pub crawl ended there as far as this is concerned. For a start neither of us remember what we did next. We know from receipts that we ate a large amount of pizza express and also McDonalds and went to another pub somewhere in London before getting a cab home. Good times…NO…Great times!!!  

Borough Pub Crawl

Bring on the weekend!  What better way to start than with a good old pub crawl!  Even better a totally unplanned one at that.  We made our way to a favourite drinking spot of ours the Lord Clyde.  The Lord Clyde is a pub that I have been meaning to do a proper review of for sometime and I think I will leave a full review for another blog post but this pub will be on my list of pubs that should be in the good pub guide.  It is a great pub with real natural charm, good beer and a great atmosphere.  I would definitely recommend this pub.  We started our pub crawl with a pint of Hogsback T.E.A and a pint of Doombar standing outside the Clyde. 

Next pub on the crawl was a short walk past Borough Tube station to the previously reviewed (LINK) Royal Oak.  Beer at the pub is always good and well kept.  Being the only Harvey’s pub in London we stuck to the Harvey’s beers.  Unfortunately the porter was off on this visit which Ben was disappointed about.   Feeling the need for a bit more atmosphere with our Friday night out we made our way on to the next pub. 

Dave had been to the The Roebuck before and assured us it was a good pub.  He wasn’t wrong.  It was exactly the kind of lively atmosphere we had been hoping for after the quietness of the Royal Oak.  Looking around it was clearly a pub for the young and trendy of Borough.  They had two ales on tap both from the Purity Brewing Company, Ubu and Mad Goose.  I quite like both of these choices but they could do with two more ales on tap and I moved on to have the Budvar dark for my second pint in there.  They did have a good range of beers with Liberty ales and a few different lagers and ciders too.  The lads I was with spotted a good ‘z’ list celebrity in there, the singer from brit pop band Republica.  Rain delayed the move on to the next pub but we eventually decided to go to George Inn.  

The Roebuck

I’ve reviewed the George Inn locate just off Borough High Street already for this blog and this visit was good too.  We got a seat straight away inside as it was raining and tucked into the ales on tap.  Still well kept as ever.  It’s a cracking pub and it rounded up the crawl nicely.  We’d been out since work ended at 5 and several pints and no dinner were beginning to take effect. 

If you are going to do this crawl I’d recommend grabbing a bite to eat half way somewhere and then carrying on to the Market Porter in Borough Market.  That’d be a cracking end to the crawl.  All in all a good route with really good pubs and good beer.  

The Royal Oak

I’ve finished my sporting commitments for the year so will be getting on with my pubs quest.  I wanted to get one in over the weekend if I could so I went to The Royal Oak on the corner of Tabard Street in Borough.  It was a Saturday afternoon so not prime time drinking and the pub was about half full.  Most of the tables were taken by people sitting around chatting.  The pub is owned by Harveys of Lewes and is their only London pub.  I told the bar lady about my pub quest and she recommended a pint of the mild to start with (I don’t know if that was out of concern for my liver or not).  

The Royal Oak

The pub is located in the backstreets off Borough High Street and is almost everything you would hope for in a classic backstreet pub.  Inside it is split in half by the bar which dominates the centre of the room.  A large ornate section at the back of the bar made of carved wood cumulates in a big clock.  The range of beers is good with almost all the Harvey’s offerings being on sale.  They also have a guest beer and fullers London pride.  It was clear that the pub has a good reputation with ale drinkers of London, two of the blokes in there were wearing real ale tshirts.  I found the beers to be exceptionally well kept and the porter I had was very good, with its smoky, charcoal, flavours and sweet caramel and bitter coffee notes.  

I had a look at the menu which had to be one of the most classic examples of British pub grub I’ve every seen.  Loads of simple, comforting food and by the looks of what other were getting good portions too. 

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting there on a Saturday afternoon with my girlfriend enjoying some good company, good beers and a pack of dry roasted nuts.  However I felt that I wanted to check out the pub during a more prime time slot. 

The following Friday with a few blokes from work I went back to the Royal Oak.  All the pubs on the way were rammed, we got to the Royal Oak and….. it was empty again.  Well there were a few tables taken but we walked straight up to the bar where the bar man put down his paper and served us.  So the backstreet location off the main thoroughfare along with the classic pub interior of with no music doesn’t make it the liveliest pub in the area.  That would be my only negative observation as the one thing it did seem to lack was a bit of atmosphere.  I really do not understand why Harvey’s have not bought a more centrally located London pub, they could do better in my opinion. 

Overall if you are looking for a quite drink and a very good pint of real ale then this is the place to visit.  It is let down by its location which is a shame as it is a beautiful well managed pub.  If only it had a bit more atmosphere it would be much better. 

The Dog and Duck

On a warm Friday evening a few weeks ago I went to The Miller over near where I work.  The work lads like to go there as the nurses from guys hospital go there after work, not that I’ve ever seen any of them actually talk to a nurse.  It’s a pub that’s gone for the trendy approach to pub life and it seems to be doing well.  After a pint there I went over to London Bridge to hop on a Boris Bike, they are easily one of the best ways to get around central London.  They cost less than the tube or a bus and you don’t have to cram on with lots of sweaty Londoners.  I’d recommend them but don’t drink and cycle of course!  I cycled up to Soho and parked the bike. 

Soho is a vibrant and busy part of London with lots of bars and restaurants.  There are plenty of good pubs as well as the more modern wine and cocktail bars as well as the unfortunately inescapable eye sores of pubs like a ‘Slug and Lettuce’.  In terms of pubs, there must be 100 pubs within 10 minutes walk of Soho Square.  There is a good website that has mapped all 48 of the pubs within the Soho area, it’d be one hell of a pub crawl.  

The Dog and Duck

My destination for the evening was the The Dog and Duck on the corner of Frith St and Bateman St.  My mates were drinking outside on the pavement so after saying a quick hello nipped inside, crossing the interesting mosaic of a dog and duck to get a pint.  I’d never been for a pint in this pub before and from the outside it looked like a good establishment.  I had my suspicion that it might have been a Nicholsons pub and on entering my suspicions were confirmed. Not that it is a bad thing by any means, they always have a good range of interesting beers. 

The pub would certainly fall into the historical pub interior section.  It is certainly old, the note on the website made me laugh though saying it was ‘famous for serving John Constable, George Orwell and Madona’, I wouldn’t exactly put Madona into the same historical figure list as the previous two.  It’s not very big inside and the bar is particularly small.  The three bar staff behind the bar were whirling around in the non choreographed dance of the bar staff, always just managing to miss one another.  They were doing a good trade but the queue went quite fast and I got a decent IPA style beer.  I am generally a fan of a Nicholsons pub and this one had been done well in my opinion.  The back area of the pub where the tables were looked like it could have done with a bit of work to smarten it up a bit but least there was somewhere to sit if you wanted to.  We were happy enough outside and we had bumped into a school mate of ours.  Our mate ‘Coogs’ was working the crowd and came to say hi for a while.  I told him about this blog and asked his opinion of the pub.  “More Duck less Dog” was the reply, a slightly cryptic message but one that at the time when a few pints down I somehow completely understood.  

Overall I thought it was a good pub.  It had just enough to make it stand slightly above other pubs in the immediate area.  I’d definitely go there again for a beer or two.  As far a recommendation I’d say its worth going to if you are fan of historic pub interiors, the etched glass, wooden panelling and interior features are worth a look.  If you are looking for a real ale then you are guaranteed a good one here.  If you have time I’d suggest exploring the area a little and trying other pubs in the area too as many of them have a lot to offer.