The Bar Towel

I'm going to London, England in May. Can any one recommend good pubs, beer stores, etc?

I can recommend The Lamb at 94 Lamb's Conduit
St close to the British Musuem in the Bloomsbury area of London. The closest tube station is Russell Square. The Lamb is a Victorian pub owned by Young's Brewery and Young's bitter, Triple A, Special and seasonal beers are on tap. Have a good time!

If you don't make the trek out to the White Horse, Parson's Green, you've practically wasted your airfare. Terrific English ales plus interesting continental fare, as well as usually something really obscure from the US. (Last time I was there they had an Alaskan beer on tap.) And I'd warmly recommend the Star Tavern and the Nag's Head (Kinnerton Street) in Belgravia. And on a nice day the walk along the river from Hammersmith Bridge (stay on the north side of the river on Upper Mall) to the Dove is about as good as it gets. The Dove is a lovely old Fuller's pub. Actually it's a pleasant walk from the Dove to the White Horse. Follow the river back toward central London until you get to Craven Cottage, the old Fulham football ground, at which point you should have a map.

And if you like a walk, the trek from the Holly Bush in Hampstead across the Heath to the Flask in Highgate is well worth doing. bon voyage.

Nick

I would actually have to disagree with Nick about the WHoPG. Most of the English selections are ho-hum, while the imports are almost all commonly available in the US. It's not a bad spot, but for the experienced North American beer hunter it's a lot of the same old stuff. You really are wasting your airfare if you go all the way to London to drink beer you could have bought in Buffalo.

For finding great beers that you can't get over here, a long lunch at the Lowlander and a full and proper session at the Wenlocks Arms definitely fit the bill. Both places have tons of unknown, yet excellent beers.

Hi Peter,

There's quite a few recommendations in this thread:

http://www.bartowel.com/board/viewtopic ... 76&forum=7

One pub I would add that isn't in this thread is the Jerusalem Tavern (near Farringdon tube, I believe). It's the only St Peter's tied house in London. A very cozy and tiny place.

I typed up a list of London pub recos a couple of weeks ago which I'll try to dig up and post.

Here's something I typed up for my mom when she went to London last month:

PUBS IN LONDON

Best

White Horse
1 Parson’s Green, Parsons Green tube
One of the best beer selections in London. Large pub with tables and couches. Serves gastropub-like food, but pretty pricey. Gets very busy and smoky in the evenings. Be sure to try the taps as the brands they have are probably only available here.

Cheshire Cheese
145 Fleet St.
A frequent haunt of Dickens, Johnson, etc. Be sure to go downstairs as far as you can go – there’s lots of little rooms deep underground. Serves some cooked snacks. Mostly Samuel Smith beers.

Cittie of York
22 High Holborn
Head all the way to the back – there are very high ceilings and neat booths. Serves some cooked snacks. Mostly Samuel Smith beers.

Jerusalem Tavern
Britton St., EC1, Farringdon tube
This is the only tied house in London to the St. Peter’s brewery (the green gin bottles). Full bottled line with 4-6 draughts. This is a tiny pub with cool inside balcony. No food served, just crisps.


Good – British Style

The Archery
4 Bathurst St., Lancaster Gate tube
Good basic English pub.

Lamb
94 Lamb’s Conduit St., Russel Square tube
Another good basic English pub – they have privacy screens at the bar.

The Bloomsbury
New Oxford & Drury, near the British Museum. Only London pub tied to a particular English microbrewery (can’t remember the name).

Churchill Arms
Not sure where this is – Notting Hill I believe. Lots of Fuller’s beers.

Good – Non-British Style

Mash
19-21 Great Portland St., off Oxford Circus
Modernly decorated brewpub. About 4-5 house beers, all quite good.

Bunker
41 Earlham St., Covent Garden
Large brewpub, décor feels Swedish with lots of wood. About four house beers.

Belgo
50 Earlham St., Covent Garden (across the street from Bunker)
Decent Belgian restaurant with lunchtime food specials. If Belgium wasn’t only two hours away I would probably like it more.

Bierodrome
67 Kingsway
Belgian-themed modernly decorated bar. A good selection of Belgian taps and bottles.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Cass on 2004-03-29 09:43 ]</font>

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions.

The Cittie of Yorke was the featured pub in this month's What's Brewing. The pictures of both the inside and outside of this pub are awesome! The article mentions that there has been a pub on this site since 1430, but however medieval the Citte of Yorke may appear to the untrained eye, it is actualy a quite recent constuction, being built in 1923-1924. Apparently in the late 19th and early 20th centuries there was a revival of Tudor architecture.
The only real ale is Sam Smith's Old Brewery Bitter which I found was an enjoyable pint but could use a bit more bitterness. I paid 1.25 pounds for a pint for this at Sam Smith's brewery tap The Angel and White Horse in Tadcaster four years ago. This was the cheapeast pint of my trip and if all Sam Smith's pub sell this beer for a reasonable price you may be able to get a pint of real ale for less then 2 quid in London. The hours are 11:30-11:00 every day but Sunday when it is closed. Food is served lunch and in the evenings and the tube stop is Chancery Lane.