Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Hackney (Borough of)

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Fourth Visit)

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Fourth Visit)

    I perhaps need to stop coming here, but this bar is a constant delight to me. I won’t repeat all the stuff I’ve mentioned in my previous three visits (all of which I’ve written up, to ensure people can be surprised and delighted with my ramblings). I booked a table for tonight, and they dealt with that helpfully by e-mail, although I didn’t really need to book as it was very quiet. I was offered a choice of table (as in pretty much any table in the entire place), but I sat at the rear bit for the first time, next to some of their brewing equipment.

    Some more of the decor…. The service was, as ever, engaging, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. For a central London bar to be this consistently reliable is an achievement in my admittedly slightly irrelevant opinion.

    In London, and in other Tier 2 areas, it’s essential to order a substantial meal with any alcoholic drink. So, I ordered buttermilk chicken strips and they were delightful, a light coating which was soft and not overly crunchy, with tender chicken. The BBQ sauce added flavour and richness, the spring onions some extra texture. The staff member explained that they’ve reprinted the menu to show which dishes are classed as substantial meals and it’s evident they’re staying firmly within the rules and the spirit of the rules. They don’t class chips as a substantial meal.

    But, putting the food to one side, I’d had my eye on one beer all day, which was the Big Trouble in Little Gateshead from The River Brew Co. up in Gateshead. The reviews were very positive on Untappd, although I was nervous about a 14% stout, as too much alcohol can be just too rich and hide any flavours. This one was decadence in a glass, and I shall do my flowery words again which likely go too far. But, there were different flavours, an initial creamy taste, rich in body, but with sweet afternotes and that ABV didn’t hide anything. It remained a powerful drink though, one that allowed me to sip it for the best part of an hour. All a third of a pint of it. Perhaps I need to get out more.

    As a bonus, the drink was £5 for a third of a pint. To my delight though, Amex have started to operate another Shop Small, so I got £5 off the bill. So, thank you very much Amex for funding this rather beautiful stout. And Goose Island didn’t disappoint me at all. I think I might go back. Again.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Old Street Craft Beer Co

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Old Street Craft Beer Co

    This is the next outlet of the Craft Beer Co that I’m working around, which seemed to me to have a frontage that didn’t shout out classy crafty beer. It’s in an on-trend area, well sort of, near to Old Street and WhatPub note has previously been called the Canvas Bar, Nelson’s Retreat, Gluepot and the Murphy Tavern. It seems a challenging location to make work, but I suspect the Craft Beer Co can make something of this.

    The interior of the bar is minimalistic, retro and also very slightly exciting with those beer pumps. In the past, the left-hand side has been a kitchen area, but it’s all been opened out now.

    A sweet little niche area at one end of the pub. The staff member was friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable, with the environment being comfortable and relaxed. I can’t say that there were many other customers, although a few more trickled in as the early Friday evening progressed. They don’t do food themselves here, but they can order pizzas in and I think that’s a decent compromise.

    But, this is why I visited, for the beer choice. The glass looks quite empty here, but this is a third of the 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout from Westbrook Brewing Co, with my previous beer from them at the Beer Merchants being spectacular. This one, which was slightly cheaper, was again beautiful, with a richness of flavour and competing tastes from the pecan and vanilla. OK, I’m getting over-excited again, but this really deserved to be called decadent, smooth, full in flavour and soothing. My friends Gordon, Steve and Bev will mock these words, so I hope they don’t read them, but what do they know about beer……

    So, another way above average pub and I’m delighted to see that it’s in the 2021 Good Beer Guide. Indeed, with one exception, every single pub in the chain is in the guide, so I’m delighted that CAMRA has recognised just how good these pubs are. They have a large number of bottles and cans here, but the main selection is so well thought out that I haven’t needed to go looking into that option.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Third Visit)

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Shoreditch – Goose Island (Third Visit)

    This is my third visit to Goose Island this year as I think this might be my pub of the year and I need to ensure that I’ve made the right decision…… It might necessitate a fourth visit if I’m being honest, just so I’m entirely sure.

    The tap list behind the bar, but it’s also available on-line. Table service is offered by knowledgeable staff members, with the friendliness here being high, always welcoming. The staff seemed disappointed that the pub was quiet, but these are challenging times and London is in Tier 2. I suspect that in usual times that this pub would be full on an early Friday evening in central London.

    This is the pub’s new menu, from Nanny Bills and it’s primarily a burger menu. Interesting, although I’ve got my dining options sorted for the evening.

    The bar, all clean and organised.

    And my choice of beer, the Bangalore Breakfast from Goose Island themselves, a decadent milk stout. I limited myself to half a pint of this and despite someone else on Untappd saying it wasn’t very milky, I thought it was milky and smooth. Not quite as full a flavour as I’d been expecting, but suitably sweet to be moreish and sufficiently
    Epicurean. Although it was delicious, I did think that half a pint was probably enough, the sweetness did eventually become ever more apparent. It’s the same feeling that I get after accidentally eating two sharing packs (which is a stupid term, who shares them?) of Randoms.

    My friend Nathan gets annoyed that I keep saying just how good the Hop and Vine is (although it is), but he won’t mind me saying just how good this place is (he will be very slightly annoyed I’ve come here again though). Bearing in mind this is a relatively big bar in central London, the service element is perfect, the atmosphere is welcoming and the beer is delightful. Nicely beguiling, I’m happy here.

  • London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    London – Hackney (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Beer Merchants Tap

    This is another recommendation from Nathan and he’s on a roll with these now…. This craft beer bar in Hackney Wick looked exciting from its selection on Untappd and it has a sizeable can and bottle selection. It’s a reminder of what can be done with a couple of fridges and some beer knowledge.

    The welcome was friendly, the pub was clean and the reviews are all positive. The pub is using Untappd as its menu system, which made things much easier, with food also being available in the form of toasties and cold platters. There’s an on-trend feel to nearly everything going on here.

    But, the most exciting thing about the visit for me was that they had Mexican Cake from Westbrook Brewing Co in the United States. This is a delightful stout with an array of flavours which almost fight for attention in the aftertaste, and, yes, this is a ridiculous statement, but I’m going with it. The taste of habanero peppers is there, along with chocolate, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, biscuit and I think that’s it. Decadent and delightful, I can see why this is one of the best rated stouts in the world. I only had a third of it, namely because that’s all I could afford, but that was sufficient as it was rich and smooth. Or, in short, this was bloody lovely.

    I don’t feel I’ve written enough about this beer yet. To have tastes which are subtle make a beer more delightful, but it’s easy for one to over-power the other. I now feel I need to go to South Carolina to visit their tap room, I get the impression that I’d very much enjoy that.

    So, all told, this was an excellent bar and this is one of the best beers that I’ve had. Right, I’ll shut up now.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Hackney Wick – Lord Napier Pub

    This makes for quite an impactful sight, the former Lord Napier pub in Hackney Wick. Opened in the mid-1870s, it was just a typical back-street pub until it closed in 1995. It then became known for graffiti, raves and adventure. I say adventure, but I have no idea what would have gone on here as raves aren’t quite my thing.

    There were plans announced last year to turn it back into a pub, although I can only imagine that it’ll need a complete refurb inside both structurally and design-wise. Given the rise of craft beer pubs in the area, I imagine that it will do well, although there’s no sign of work having started yet. It has become regularly used by graffiti artists, as in the professional ones who do decent work, so there was talk of somehow allowing that to continue in a measured way.

  • London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    I’ve pinched this exterior photo from my first visit to Goose Island, but the rest are from my second visit. I went as I had a voucher for a free drink, so thought this visit would be a marvellous idea after arriving into London Liverpool Street railway station.

    The tap list, which had a wide range of different beer styles including from Goose Island themselves and also guests. And, this is what I have to say annoys me a little about other pubs. I don’t expect country pubs to have this spectacular array of drinks, but it’s a shame that some make nearly no effort other than to offer some bland mass-produced IPA. Especially given a lot of this stuff is also available in cans, making it easy to store and with long best before dates.

    It wasn’t overly busy.

    The service was exceptional and the barman knew his stuff about the beers, which was a delight in itself. It’s rather lovely when the staff don’t just name beers, but also really engage about them. I know a barman in Norwich who was moderately good at doing this, but I won’t name him here….. The health requirements were well managed and one customer who came in and didn’t want to use his phone to sign in, instead wanting to write his name down, was refused entry.

    I went for the Eric by Brewski and the Forty Watermelons from Goose Island themselves, being rather delighted that one was free. The other drink isn’t a gin or tonic, it’s a water since I picked two different beer types and wanted something between them.

    The Eric by Brewski was decadent, a word I’ve been using too much recently, but absolutely appropriate here. Rich, smooth and a flavour of coffee and chocolate running through, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. The Forty Watermelons was a bit complex with its strong flavours of watermelon and mint, being rather quite sour, although that’s not a bad thing since it is a sour. Not quite as packed with flavour as I had expected, but still very drinkable and a nice contrast to the imperial stout.

    The bar is doing money off food and soft drinks at the moment, 25% off and this is a continuation of the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. I didn’t eat today, although I know from my previous visit that the food is excellent. Anyway, this is a quite beautiful bar and it’s another place which is on-trend not because that’s how they’ve designed it, but because others are following this sort of style. The staff members were knowledgeable and helpful, so this was another pretty much perfect visit.