What makes a pub great? The beer is cheap, the atmosphere and the people around are nice, it is near where you live, it is open till late? According to me, a great pub has all these merits, or at least most of them. But more importantly, a great pub has to be unique and to lure you in every time you pass by. So let me present to you a great pub that I discovered recently and which I believe anyone will enjoy drinking in. The name of the Pub is The Dove, by the river Themes just next to the most beautiful bridge, the Hammersmith Bridge.
Now, I don’t venture as far out as Walthamstow (zones 3-4) very often, but when a friend had a big birthday, and promised roasting marshmallows and a bonfire I found myself out of excuses to avoid getting on the Victoria line. And I’m very glad I did. Not only was the party a triumph (I would suggest that everyone with their own garden invests in a fire pit!) but the pre-party drinks at The Castle pub just down the road were a success too.
Although it only offers three ales we were not entirely a real ale group so we found everyone was nicely accommodated. The ale drinkers were happy with the Young’s and the rest very pleased with the range of lagers and wines. Only one of us ate, as the rest of us were planning to eat at the party, but he was more than happy with his burger, which was tasty and very reasonably priced. The rest of us were equally happy to help him with his chips!
Relaxing, chilled atmosphere
The main strong point of the pub is its relaxing, chilled atmosphere. The book-lined interior and the smallish beer garden are genuinely welcoming and it was busy but not over-crowded on a warm Saturday night. For the lone diner or the smaller group there was a good selection of books and a few board games such as scrabble, chess and monopoly, though nothing as exotic as Mah jong sets UK pubs have really taken on board how delightful a late Sunday afternoon that stretches into early evening can be with a few pints, some snacks and a great game of Risk with some friends. The Castle is definitely once such pub.
So, The Castle: It’s a bit far out of the way for regular visits, but if I lived nearby I’d count myself lucky to be a local, and if you have any friends nearby then I’d suggest a visit!
The Castle Pub, 15 Grosvenor Rise East, Walthamstow, London, E17 9LB (about ten minutes walk from Walthamstow Central tube and overground station)
Located on Oxford Street in London’s Marylebone, the Metro Night Club not only offers a nice, eclectic mix of drinks and music, but it offers a true rock club experience.
The Metro is not a trendy hipster club (though you will find loads of hipsters there – thankfully the crowd is diverse so you may also see those people are in teaching English jobs there.). Metro’s dark, almost dingy interior might be a little off-putting, but you don’t go to More
Near the Covent Garden Tube Station in London’s Leicester Square, Octave is a popular jazz venue that is a laidback, modern environment perfect for drinks, food, and music. Octave’s live regular jazz evenings means that you will always have chill music to accompany your eats or drinks.
Octave is open for lunch, afternoon drinks, dinner and cocktails. Speaking of cocktails, Octave offers more than 70 cocktails on its menu. The cucumber cooler is a refreshing cocktail, and for those who More
Near the Covent Garden Tube Station in London’s Leicester Square, Octave is a popular jazz venue that is a laidback, modern environment perfect for drinks, food, and music. Octave’s live regular jazz evenings means that you will always have chill music to accompany your eats or drinks.
Octave is open for lunch, afternoon drinks, dinner and cocktails. Speaking of cocktails, Octave offers more than 70 cocktails on its menu. The cucumber cooler is a refreshing cocktail, and for those who More
Situated off Mill Road – probably the most culturally diverse streets in the city – The Empress offers up a surprisingly spacious area and a few other secrets besides…
Walking down Mill Road, past cramped houses and a steady stream of people, the last thing you expect as you turn onto Thoday Street is a decent-sized pub with room to spare. But that’s exactly what you get, and that’s not all – out the back is a well-kept secret that only a lucky few know about!
That’s right, this pub has everything, including a number of resident pigs. Hanging out in their pen in the beer garden out back, you can check out their curly tails over a pint and then head inside for a game of Pool if that’s your bag!
Inside the pub it’s dark wood all round. Nothing new, apart from the furnishings, which have recently been upholstered. The sister pub of The Emperor in the heart of the city, The Empress is comfortable, always friendly, and run by some of the nicest people around. Not only that but the food is exceptional and every singe week they run pub quiz’s and all kinds of other entertainment, including but not limited to live music.
Hanging out in their pen in the beer garden out back, you can check out their curly tails over a pint
Another thing which The Empress does is make you feel cosy and at home – not the easiest thing to do for a large pub with a big outdoor area containing a large Connect 4 game and a maize of picnic tables bent out of shape from years of drinking. And this is one of the guests'favourite aspects, I suspect. It’s not something which you can engineer but rather something which is either there or not.
Finally, The Empress wins on one very important point – possibly the most important there is: the drink. While they serve all the popular mainstream beers they also have a discerning selection of quality local and special brews. As Lenny from human resource software says after he’s drunk half a bar full of Old Speckled Hen, “That’ll do me, my friend!” (And let me tell you, if it’ll do Lenny they it’ll probably do you as well. Lenny hates pubs which don’t conform to his strict quality control measures, and he makes this point know at every opportunity, including in the morning when I get in, in the afternoon, and also on the way home. I really need to learn to run faster so I can get away from Lenny’s wrath…)
A friend of mine lives in Colliers Wood in South West London, it’s right down near the bottom of the Northern line on the tube after Tooting Broadway. An interesting little place that seems to be largely dominated by trading parks with a massive PC World, TK Max and Argos. There is also a significant number of billboards and advertisements, a place I imagine a discount displays homepage is here site would do very well.
After spending the day with a number of clients discussing fuel management, I met up with some of my friends and we went out for a beer. We began talking about beer and which ones we thought was the best. One of the ones that made the cut was “Fuller’s London Pride Premium Ale”. Here is why.
This beer comes in what we call the traditional beer bottle shape and has been around for over 160 years. It is More
As my friend and I were looking at banner stands for an upcoming trade show he began telling me about a local bar called 69 Colebrooke Row. He wanted us to go there on the weekend so here is what he told me about the bar.
69 Colebrooke Row is a bar located on the side of a quiet street in London. The bar is very convenient with an agreeable number of seats and was once called a symbol of More
Now my friends and I went on the town somewhat on Saturday, all because I was about once again click for strike solitaire on my computer, and I was encouraged to try a drink called Bellini. Wow what a drink, I just had to know how to make one for myself.Here I share my version.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"/>
A Bellini is a refreshing, sweet cocktail made from peaches and champagne. Invented in Italy, and named after an More
