The Bishops Finger

Back on the Boris bike (what a great way to get around London!) and heading over Blackfriars past the pub of the same name, and onwards towards Farringdon.  Today’s destination The Bishops Finger, located on the edge of Smithfield Market.  Smithfield Market is the largest meat market in the UK and the best time to see it is early in the morning before 7am.  If you do that make a day of it and have a huge fry up with the traders later on and finish your day at the Bishops Finger.  

A Shepards Neame pub, and an excellent example of one too!  With awenings outside covering some circular tables there is a sense of the Parisian cafe culture and the day I visited was warm so plenty of people were outside enjoying the evening.  The nice thing about the outside is that it is not on a busy road so you won’t get so much smog from London buses.  Inside there are some sofas on the left as you enter, and some of the higher tables in the middle make good use of the space around the bar.  The walls were nicely decorated with interesting pictures and items as well some Shepherd Neame advertising.  I quite like the Shepherd Neame advertising it’s pretty funny but not everyone likes it.  You have to see the funny side of it’s tongue in cheeky humour.  They had a load of bunting up in the pub as well so the Great Britain vib was in full effect.  

They have both been satisfied by a bishops finger.

 
All the beers were well kept and they had the full range of Shepherd Neame beers with several ales on tap and the lagers they have like Orangeboom which is a beer that has always held a place in my heart as it was (and still is) the lager served at my first rugby club. 

The other good thing about the evening was we had dinner at the pub too.  We all went for the sausages and mash which was pretty good.  They had a big list of different sausages to chose from.  Can’t go wrong with sausage and mash, good hearty pub food done well is always a winner.  It was a little bit pricey but not too bad.  

Overall a good pub well worth its place in the GPG.  I’ll go back again sometime.  

Cittie Of York

Ben a mate of mine from when I spent three months in the wilds of Argentina honing my thirst for the perfect pint was in London so we went for a beer.  As a quick aside in Argentina we were drinking Quilmes Bock in the big one litre bottles they do out there.  I’ve seen Quilmes over here in London regularly recently but not seen the dark lager version anywhere. 

Anyway the pub we went to was the Cittie of York on Chancery Lane.  The pub is in an amazing building like a beamed medieval hall.  It has to be one of the most spectacular pub interiors in London.  Along one side of the room is the bar and opposite are wooden panelled booths.  When we got there it was pretty packed in the main hall but there is another room around the corner which isn’t quite as cool as the first room as it is more modern in appearance but it has comfortable seating so was good enough for a while.  

The beer is Sam Smiths so as usual you can get some cheap beer on tap which for London is always a bonus.  The beer isn’t the best however from the taps but Sam Smiths do make bottled beer well so if you are looking for a good pint go straight for the bottles of IPA or the Stout.  Food is cheap as well, Ben had some and whilst the portions were decent it didn’t look amazing but for £10 you can’t complain really. 

Later on in the evening we managed to get a seat in one of the booths in the main hall of the pub.  Worth waiting for as it’s a great pub to sit in and take in the architectural styles of the place.  I read that it’s not actually that old and definitely not medieval more I think it was built in the 1920s as a wine bar.  

Overall a good pub worth visiting for the interesting pub interior first and foremost and also for cheap beer if that’s something you are looking for.  I’d go back but it’s not the sort of pub I’d want to spend a whole afternoon in.  Like the Cheshire Cheese the main hall does not have a relaxed feel to it and there is a lack of natural light as well that can distort your sense of time.   

Great British Beer Fesitval - Guest Blog

It’s the morning after the night before. I wake with a sorry taste in my mouth and a thirst that would struggle to be quenched by drinking the contents of a reservoir. The discomfort is all worth it though, for the previous afternoon we (i.e. James and I) had been unleashed at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF). More than 700 real ales, ciders and beers all under one roof - I can’t think of many better ways to spend a Friday afternoon.

We met at 13:30 at Bodeans (an American restaurant) in Tower Hill - to line the stomach and have a cheeky beer to get the ball rolling. Bodeans is a great place to eat and drink – the beer menu is generous and the food is fantastic. We both went for IPAs – James opted for the Goose Island and I went for the Moosehead. Both were served with frosted glasses to keep them cold, something neither of us had experienced in the UK and we were very grateful for them too. The beers were fantastic, as was the food.

We arrived at the beer festival at 15:00 and were met by the usual CAMRA stewards on the doors. Apparently CAMRA are keen to attract more young people but they need to shake-off the stereotypical ale drinker image (especially on the front door). After passing through the gate we headed for the first bar – both of us went for Yorkshire ales. I went for the Wold Gold from the Wold Top brewery and James went for the Rudgate Jorvik Blonde. We both tested our taste buds to see if we could pick out any of the flavours marked in the book. Needless to say we failed miserably. Both beers were very pleasant though I must say.

I can honestly say that every beer we had we would have again. The only one I struggled with was the Fuller’s Vintage ale 2008. The 8.5% ABV was a bit too strong after drinking mainly 3.5%-5% beers throughout the day. I would imagine it would be a very nice beer to accompany a nice, rich meal though – all the same, not really one for the casual half-pint.

The main reason we were there was to attend the ‘Master Brewers Tasting’ after James had received two tickets from Henrietta as a gift. It is here where I offer my warmest thanks to James for offering to take me and also to Henri for buying the tickets in the first place. The tasting basically consisted of 100 real ale fans sitting in a room tasting 6 beers from 3 breweries (2 from each) whilst the master brewers from each one spoke about the beers and their breweries. They also took questions. The breweries being represented were Youngs and Wells, St. Austell, and Amber Ales. While it was good to hear from master brewers at the two larger breweries I, personally, found it more enjoyable listening to Pete from Amber Ales as he was sat in the room as a listener 5 years prior, and had been inspired to start his own brewery. 

Beer of the day came from the Thornbridge Brewery – the Jaipur IPA. With its citrus-honey flavours, it’s very pleasing on the palate, and at 5.9%ABV it’s not to be taken lightly. Its quaffable nature mixed with the strength means it has all the ingredients to fuel a monster hangover, although it is a hangover I wouldn’t mind sampling (I’d very much like to spend a Saturday afternoon in a pub which serves this beer – cue James to arrange a visit to Cask Pub and Kitchen, Pimlico).

Bar of the day was the ‘Young and Upcoming Breweries’ bar, which was sponsored by J.D. Wetherspoon. For all the bad words people have to say about Wetherspoon pubs (and rightly so in some cases) you can’t fault them for their promotion of real ales. Walk into any ‘Spoons pub and I guarantee they’ll have at least 3 random ales on tap. Whether they’ll be well-kept or not is a different matter but at least they’re trying. James and I both had a couple of beers from this bar, my favourite being the Flack’s Double Drop, from the Flack Manor brewery in Hampshire. James went out of his way to break my rule that we should only have one stout each (rule put in place as we’ve had our fingers burnt by awful stouts on numerous occasions at previous festivals). I’m glad he did break the rule though because the Dark Peat Stout from the Raw brewery in Derbyshire was a tasty drop.

All-in-all, the day was fantastic – certainly one of the best beer festivals I’ve been to. It certainly put my faith back into the GBBF as well, as in previous years I’ve thought it to be a bit too commercial. This year there was less presence from some of the bigger breweries and more beers from smaller breweries. As mentioned briefly earlier, CAMRA have got some work to do if they want to attract younger members but it certainly seems they’re doing something right. I’d also like to thank Pipers Crisps for having constantly topped-up bowls of complimentary crisps – they went down a treat in between beers. A perfect day all-round and we weren’t even too drunk to make it home before midnight.

 WOODY

Jerusalem

A place of pilgrimage for many devote followers...of good beer.  The Jerusalem Tavern in Farringdon is worth the trip or pilgrimage if you will.  Being the only St Peters pub in London (another holy reference) makes it all the more special. 

The Jerusalem Tavern

Entering the pub and passing the drinkers outside I could immediately tell I was going to like it.  The pub inside is small and having not been there before I asked the bar man if what I could see was the whole pub, he chuckled and confirmed it was.  Both bar men were nice blokes, friendly and willing to chat about the different beers.  People were reading having a nice pint, chilling out, or chatting with mates.  I was early as usual so shared a table and waited.  It was nice to have a moment to have a look at the pub for a while.  The wooden mismatched tables, and benches give an air of time worn charm.  There is a raised platform with some seat up near the bar which would be a cool place to sit if you can get it.  It’s a real historic pub interior with none of the piped music, posters or curly writing of other pubs.  

The pub has a few of the beer on tap if you want to buy those but the bottles were the best bottled beers I’ve had in a pub in a long time.  The pub sells all the bottled beers from the Suffolk brewery and I didn’t have one I didn’t like all night.  The classic oval shaped bottles stacked up around where we were standing outside.  People spill outside the pub and even across the street. 

It was a great visit and a pub well worth making the pilgrimage to drink the holy beer of St Peter.  I’d recommend this pub highly and look forward to my next visit.  

Pilgrims

Old Bank of England

The usual suspects Woody, Ed and I met at Old Bank of England on a Thursday evening (the traditional city drinking day).  Located near the Inns of Court on Fleet Street you can not fail to miss it.  The pub has flames outside it and a huge pub sign.  Up some stairs to a tiled entrance way and you enter the pub.  The pub is similar to several other of the fullers London pubs like the Barrowboy and Banker and the Counting House off Bishopsgate.  A huge central bar rises up out of the floor surrounded by the oval shapped bar.  The central area behind the bar is really impressive rising up at least 30ft like a giant tower cake of mahogany.  Each cove contains a different drink or some advertising.  I don’t think my photos do it justice as I took them from a balcony that overlooks the whole bar.  We went up there to get a table.  The whole décor of the pub is decadent and rich.  Burgundy wall paper, huge oil paintings, and golden chandeliers cover the pub.  

The Bar

This pub may well be the flag ship of this form of fullers pub design because it seemed to have that little bit extra given to it in the way of detail than the other two pubs I mentioned previously.  It’s pretty spectacular for a pub in many ways.  

The beers on tap were the usual Fullers range and we stuck mainly to the Seafarers that evening.  We also had a pie each.  The pies in there were not bad.  I’d not say they were great but they certainly did the job of filling me up. 

Service in there was decent even when it was really busy.  I’d go here again if I was in the area.  I can understand why it made it into the guide as it is a spectacular pub.  The location is also strong for city workers and tourists so it must get a lot of trade.  The only other point I would make is that if you are closer to either of the other pubs I mentioned you’ll be just as well off going in there.  Any one who has been to two of these or even all three will see what I mean as its like going into the same pub.  Still it’s a good formula and I commend fullers for doing a good job.