Sloe down

Pub 243. The Sloe Bar, 16th December 2013.

A sectioned off corner of Euston Station, tucked right of the way near platfom, the only passing trade must be on the way to the station's 30p a time toilets.
But despite that it was rammed - I actually had to stand up to enjoy my John Smith's Keg-flo.

Like the new All Bar One nearby what attracts people to a place a like this? Even the Britannia is still inside the station so you can keep an eye on your departures, and that place has proper beer.

Perhaps people like the strong whiff of deisel fumes in there, or perhaps the novelty of drinking in the only pub in Camden that doesn't have its own toilets.

But to be fair, for what it is, it isn't that bad.

All Bar Me.

Pub 242. All Bar One (Euston), 16th December 2013.

Hooray - there's a new pub in Camden. Boo - it's an All Bar One.

And on this occasion it was rammed. All the nice pubs near here and everyone's in here. Maybe they're the type of people who actually like All Bar Ones, paying £4+ for a pint, and sitting in a noisy glass box with less charm than a skip full of empties.

What do they see in such a place... and all the time good pubs - or even just plain old 'proper' pubs are closing left, right & centre, and this place is raking it in. I don't know.

Bean and gone

Pub 241. Henry J. Bean's.

Now it's a touristy highly-stylised themed restaurant, it's easy to remember that there was once a touristy highly-stylised themed pub here. Henry J. Bean's was an supposedly American style pub, but as I recall once inside it was about American as an All-Bar-One. In fact, as I recall, it was just like an All-Bar-One. All blond wood and blond lager.

We used to go there after work when I worked nearby, and would either look out for or be accompanied by minor celebs from MTV. I can't really remember - such celebs are wasted on me, as are pubs like this.

It closed maybe 10 years ago now.

The Lion sleeps tonight

Pub no. 240. The Lion.

The Golden Lion, then the King's Cross Social Club (which I'm sure wasn't a social club at all...) and then back to the Lion. But in all that time I never managed to venture in. The last couple of times I went there as Lion it was closed. Once for that most annoying of things that a pub can do - "closed for a private party".

Now I believe it's closed for good. "Closed for private residences" you could say. Too bad.

Great West-End Railway

Pub 239. The Railway, 16th November 2013.

Run by The Original Pub company, the Railway is just like 100s of other pubs in London.

Busy, loud, rugby on, youths starting a Saturday night with a drink, grown-ups finishing their shopping with a drink. Decent ale though, and the unoriginal food you can think of - the "hand-battered cod" they seem rather proud of though. Probably worked out it's not worth investing in a machine to dip their defrosted cod fillets into a tray of factory-produced batter mix.

But round these parts of the Borough you're grateful for what you can get.

Czech mate

Pub 238. The Czech & Slovak Bar 16th November 2013.

 Hiding away behind a big hedge is a pub for our Czechoslovakian brethren. Or Czech & Slovak as we must now call them. I always assumed they didn't get on, but here they all are in a pub specially for them. An odd pub, feeling like a house converted to a hotel and then converted to a social club, but I suppose a 'pub' it is, in practice.

Clearly the only English chap in here, it was none the less very calm, relaxed and friendly - as far as I could tell.  The one nice thing is that although two rooms full of people chatted intently around their tables with funny looking food, and a telly was on, you could hear yourself perfectly. Why? No intrusive jukebox and good old wallpaper and carpet. English landlords take note...

Lilly the drink

Pub 237. The Lillie Langtry, 16th November 2013.

A pub with a flat-roof, even though the roof is perhaps 8 or 10 floors above the pub, but it's still a flat-roofed pub so we know what we're going to get. And we get just that, so like it or lump it. Loud music, plenty of sports, no ale and local locals all having a good time at just after 4pm.

The main problem with a pub like this is that you don't half feel conspicuous taking photos, and my bloody camera-phone reverted to it's often annoying habit of putting the flash on, and the problem with this is with the flash on my camera-phone produces photos that are almost totally black.
I'm sure I caught the eyes of the two chaps behind the bar, so I supped my lager and left.

Some notes of possible interest from the internet:

"Kilburn’s residents will also be pleased to see that while the pub has undergone an amazing transformation, the old pub sign remains – a reminder of the origins of its controversial name.
Originally the Princess of Wales, the pub was renamed the Lillie Langtry in 1969 after the site was redeveloped. In Victorian times, Lillie Langtry was the mistress of the Prince of Wales and, as the NW6-blogger Ben Fordham puts it, it was a case of “down with the nation’s princess and up with the local mistress”.
In 2007, the pub changed its name back to the Cricketers, but the old Lillie Langtry pub sign stayed.
"


So there you go. Definitely called the Lillie Langtry now though.

Smuggled away

Pub 236. The Smuggler's Tavern. 10th October 2013.

Not so much a smuggler's ketch but more like the Marie Celeste today. Nothing suggested the business had closed and it's not like pubs round here to shut during the day.

But why the Smuggler's?? Not much contraband would have been landed here back in the days of the Jamaica Inn. But until the 60s it seems to have been called the Marquis / Lord Cornwallis - much similar to this place on the other side of Bloomsbury. And interestingly the bare-chested chap in the red trousers seems to have a brother, here at another nautical sounding battle cruiser.

 Maybe we'll catch it open one day, but the internets says it wasn't all that great anyways.

***5th June 2014***

I happened to be strolling by today and was pleased to notice that we have a pub that's reopened in the borough!

So it would've been very rude not to pop in to sample their wares. From the outside not much as changed but on the inside it's all very pale blue. Very sea-sidey... you can almost hear the seagulls and smell the landing of today's catch. Or perhaps that was just the "Bap & Pickle Pop Up Restaurant" that seems to be very permanently painted on walls & windows here & there.

Doom Bar and Adman's Explorer on offer, the latter going for £2.10 a half. No wonder people are turning to smuggling!

Anyways, it all seems very nice and calm and quiet on a weekday lunchtime. But any publican that manages to resist the call of redevelopment and reopen his boozer, well... I like the cut of his jib! Best splice the main-brace, the sun's over the yard-arm, ahhhh jim-lad, many tots of grog to all jolly jactars. Etc.

Good Charlotte

Pub 235, The Draft House. 10th October 2013.

I wasn't even sure what this place called at first. I thought it might have been "The Charlotte" or the "Draft House" perhaps? They should have just left it as the Northumberland Arms, given that from the number of cool old photos inside they seem to want to portray a sense of history. But no, it's apparently the "Draft House Charlotte", I think. Catchy uh? Part of chain apparently.

Anyways, it's very stripped back. And pretty hip. The kind of place that thinks it's in New York. Why can't seating be cushioned?!

But the barman was very nice, and the big windows looking out onto a very busy junction make it great for people-gawping.

But the best thing is the beer - they apparently always have one cask ale on £2.75. This week it was the Prima Donna from South London somewhere, and it was very nice. I reckon this makes it the cheapest boozer on the manor. In all of central London... all of London perhaps!? (Not counting special offers, like at the Earl of Camden). Unless you know different...

Marlborough Man

Pub 234. The Marlborough Arms, 10th October 2013.

Tarted up Victorian splendour. Standard pub grub made sound to posh, but I'm sure it's very tasty. And it's one of those places where you can't order food if you haven't got a table number. Computer says no! The Five Points Pale didn't leave me much change out of £4, and was drinkable but not overly lip-smacking. But first pint of the day and I've never had before and over-hopped beers are all the rage these days, so who am I to comment??

I don't really see the need for so many high-tables. And where I was sat, by the window, the effect of the canopy outside flapping in the wind made it seem as if I was sitting under a strobe light.

Nice if unremarkable, but at least the music was quiet. And I learned that Winston Churchill was one of descended from THE Marlboroughs. I wonder if he ever came here? They should have his "I have taken more out of alcohol..." quote up somewhere.

An institution

Pub 233. The IoE Student Bar, 24th September 2013.

An odd one this as it's a students' union bar but as it's open to the public it must be treated as any other bar. I suppose.
Unlike the student bar of my own youth ("The Black Hole", Hudds poly) this one seemed very low on ale. But as it was a very warm day I went for a pint of gassy cooking lager (£2.70), and then spied the bottles of Speckled Hen in the fridge. And the single clipless hand-pump tucked away at the far end of the bar that was serving up Doom Bar. Oh well.
I took my pint outside, and was shortly joined by the group of young students, unsurprisingly. A mix of Americans and Brits. The started discussing the Brits' peculiar taste for warm flat beer, and decided that not even most Brits liked it, as we all prefer lager apparently.

I drank my lager and sloped off.

Slattery will get you anywhere.

Pub no. 232. Slattery's, 19th September 2013.

 The most no-frills pub in Camden possibly? The aroma is one of a warm & welcoming carpet. The big screens have The Chase on. Old man smoking just inside the door - well, it's almost outside and it's raining so that's ok. Friendly landlady - we had a bit of banter over some questions in The Chase.
No ale, so Guinness it is... when in Rome eh??

It could be worse really. And this is the only place I've seen offering Sky 3D, I'm sure they'll be getting rid of such a silly gimmick soon - so catch here while you can!

My friend Stan

Pub 231. The Lord Stanley. 19th September 2013.

 The Lord Stanley is lovely. I used to live just a few doors away, but hardly every came here. Don't know why. I should have - it has one of those things that is sadly so rare in pubs these days... no music!! Although the two women playing each other videos of crying babies kind of shattered the peace a bit. So did Pete Doherty attempts to cure his hiccups. But the Marston's EPA was nice, so it's all ok really. I should come here again I suppose.

Sao Paulo ale house

Pub 230. The Newmarket Ale House, 19th September 2013.

On a rainy day like today anywhere is welcome - even an ale house that doesn't sell ale. A Guinness will do - £4 a pint... ouch. Some obscure tennis on the tinsel festoon telly doesn't attract anyone's attention. The only people here are playing pool in front of a mural of giant bamboo. There are 4 people behind the bar. One of them explains to me the concept of banana pizzas - very popular in Brazil apparently. It's trying to be Brazilian pub you see, sweet pizzas and a pile of Brazilian newspapers and bingo, you're Brazilian.

Crowning glory

Pub 229, The Crown. 13th August 2013.

Good old Sammy Smiths - you know exactly where you are with Samuel. Even when the OBB is electrically dispensed the quiet and calm surroundings of a Smith's pub are always very pleasant.
The only annoying thing was the fellow who decided to wander off from his friends and stand right by me to make his phone call. Why don't you just go outside to the huge drinking area??? 

Half a Crown

Pub 228, The Old Crown. 13th August 2013.

 What an awful place. Tediously over-styled. Surly barman. The McMullen's AK was undrinkable. It was even an effort just to figure out what it was called.

Whippet out

Pub 227, The Holborn Whippet. 13th August 2013.

I'd never even seen this place before... it's one of those trendy new craft ale places. I can't remember what a chose from the blackboard now but it was nice enough. The barmaid was also very nice. Important to note the niceness of the barstaff I think.

I nipped to the loo and asked a chap next to me to watch my beer, and it just happened to be at the same time a WPC came in to chat to said barmaid. I wonder if I looked suspicous like an Arfur Daley type sloping off at the first glimpse of a copper? Probably not.

A Machiavellian treat

Pub 226, Old Nick. 13th August 2013.

A hidden gem if ever there was one! Seemingly only known to the legal eagles of the nearby Inns of Court everyone else is missing out on a right treat.

The Badger beer was lovely - I sampled the Hoppy Hare on the recommendation of the barmaid. And then found myself in such engaging conversation with other barmaid, working only her 2nd shift, that I stayed for another two. Although why the place is named after Niccolò Machiavelli no-one seemed to know. Nor why the alley next door was called Three Cups Yard. So many mysteries!

Load of bull

Pub no. 225, The Bountiful Cow. 13th August 2013.

What an awful place. Anywhere that has to remind you on the outside that it is really a pub doesn't really deserve to be called a pub. The Hophead was past its best, the barmaid's manners were perfunctory and the loud chat of the go-getter businessman to his mate at the bar incredibly annoying. I'm sure their steaks are lovely though.

But what annoyed me most was this sign.

The police do not enforce NO DRINKING OUTSIDE. A controlled drinking zone means that they can ask you not drink if they want and take your booze off you if they want and arrest you if you don't comply if they want. This is not the same as NO DRINKING OUTSIDE. If the proprietors of the Bountiful Cow should read this, they may wish to also read this page which explains it in very simple terms. And perhaps ask themselves why they are telling their punters NO DRINKING OUTSIDE while at the same time providing tables & chairs outside. So the smokers can sit down and enjoy their ciggie - or are they for people consuming lemonade...? Stupid pub.

Square pig

Pub 224, The Square Pig. 13th August 2013.

 The Square Pig or the Square Pig and Pen - I'm not quite sure it is or which they prefer. I thought I wasn't really going to like it, mainly because it looks nothing like a pub. And I didn't really, although just for that reason. The barmaid was charming, and the beer was nice. I can't remember what it was but it wasn't their own brew "Trotter Ale" as they'd not put the ABV on the pump clip so I was registering my annoyance by avoiding it.

A lady came in with a huge bunch of flowers that apparently her son and daughter had just got because they'd just got engaged, and didn't want them. So she gave them to the barmaid. For a giggle I insisted that she hand them over to me so I could give them back with a bashful "For you...!". And oh how we giggled.

A porpoise in life

Pub 223, The Dolphin Tavern. 13th August 2013.

A lovely pub - quite a rarity to find something completely unspoilt in the middle of town like this.
It was nice and quiet, just me and the landlord, when I went in - very relaxing. Until a load of Scottish football fans piled in with their own personal little music player and shattered the peace with Runrig and Big County or Simple Minds or some such "pish" as I believe their vernacular would have it.

The Woodford's Wherry was obviously the first of the day, I don't think it could normally taste like it did.