Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Newcastle – Premier Inn Newcastle Millennium Bridge

    Newcastle – Premier Inn Newcastle Millennium Bridge

    This Premier Inn is a short walk from Newcastle city centre and was also very reasonably priced. They’ve changed the check-in time across all Premier Inn hotels to be after 16:00 to give them time to clean the rooms, but they were all ready just before then when I turned up.

    The room, which was all clean and sufficiently modern. The television is quite large for a hotel room and it let me cast my phone so that I could watch Britbox on the large screen. The blackout curtains are very effective, I decided to catch up on sleep (not least because I’ve got an overnight coach to London later today) and my alarm woke me at 09:00. Usually before then the sunlight would flood in, cleaners would clank about or other guests would fall over or something outside my room, but none of that happened here.

    As an aside, I wasn’t planning to eat at the restaurant at the hotel, but I liked that they’ve included a menu in the room. Some hotels seem to have chucked all of their paperwork out and blamed Covid, which isn’t ideal if they haven’t provided any QR alternatives or similar.

    The view from my room and I could see the River Tyne which was a little bonus. To be fair, I didn’t spend long looking at the river and car park view, but it was better than just having a view over air conditioning units or the like. The windows in this hotel also open and aren’t hermetically sealed as some locations seem to think is helpful.

    I asked for a few extra milks and the helpful staff member obliged   🙂

    I had a little look at the reviews for this hotel, which aren’t universally positive, but it’s above average. The majority of the complaints are about the lack of air conditioning (although at least a large fan was provided) and the behaviour of other guests, with the problem for the hotel it seems of stag and hen groups. I didn’t have any problems in that regard, although I was pleased to find myself at the end of a long corridor.

    The whole stay was faultless and it’s starting to become clear that Premier Inn and Travelodge have been able to have the strength to power through this Covid situation, whereas chains such as Accor seem to be positively falling apart. Very friendly staff, a clean room, a quiet location and a reasonable price, all really rather lovely.

  • Newcastle – Mean Eyed Cat

    Newcastle – Mean Eyed Cat

    As I’m in Newcastle for the day, I thought that I’d visit a few of the pubs in the Good Beer Guide and I started with this micropub near to the Haymarket metro station. When I went in it seemed to be quite busy internally and externally, but there was a friendly welcome from a member of staff who said that there was space in the rear garden area. That sufficed me as I wasn’t sure that I could get in at all on a Friday evening.

    The friendly staff member told me to have a quick look at the beers at the bar and she’d then come and take the order. I took one look and decided instantly, it had to be the Cherry Trifle from Brew By Numbers. A cherry imperial stout is one of my favourites and I’m a fan of Brew By Numbers and have been working steadily through their beers, as well as having visited their taproom in London. There were a range of beer styles there though to cater for most tastes, all nicely balanced and thought out.

    As it was a walk by photo this is a bit blurred unfortunately, but there were some cask options as well which looked tempting. As I wanted to meander around a few pubs, I had decided just to have one drink here, but not because of any shortage of options. The decor was sufficiently quirky to make it interesting and the whole atmosphere felt inviting, somewhat different to its previous use as a newsagents.

    The rear garden wasn’t the most salubrious of environments if I’m being honest, but they’ve made it bright and colourful. The beer was good, not quite as rich as I had expected, but it didn’t taste its 10% with the flavour being sufficiently moderate. The cherries were there though in some form, with a bit of vanilla in the taste as well. I was perfectly pleased with this smooth and slightly decadent beer, but I wanted a slightly more powerful punch from the cherries.

    Anyway, back to the pub itself. Not being inside meant I couldn’t quite get the same experience of understanding how the regulars interacted and the like, but I always felt welcome and the environment was on-trend without trying to be. The beer selection was thought through, the staff were friendly and I’d most certainly visit here again. Indeed, a few of us have decided a trip to Newcastle in November 2022 will be a really good idea, especially as the Head of Steam and Brewdog here are currently closed, so a revisit is required. This pub is though a quite worthy addition to the Good Beer Guide in my humble view.

  • Edinburgh – Bow Bar

    Edinburgh – Bow Bar

    It’s been a little difficult visiting the local pubs in the Good Beer Guide, as many of them have been closed or are operating on heavily reduced hours. It transpired that Bow Bar has only just reopened as well, due to a staff member having Covid-19 last month, which must have been a blow after they were finally allowed to open. However, they certainly seem to have been honest and open about the situation, and everything is back to normal now for this bar.

    There was a very friendly welcome from the staff member at the door, she was conversational and welcoming. I did wonder whether this small bar might be a little cliquey, but it absolutely wasn’t, there was a nice relaxed atmosphere inside.

    There’s an interesting decor in the bar. I would normally meander around and take a couple more photos, but under the current situation, that wouldn’t be sensible.

    I don’t drink whisky as it’s too, er, powerful in flavour, for me. I like beers that have been in aged whisky casks, but the whisky itself does nothing for me. There were some tempting options here in the whisky month that the pub was running, with I note numerous flavours similar to those that can be found in beers. There were some very decadent options as well, so I can imagine Richard might well have been tempted by them (especially the expensive ones). It’s great to see such a wide selection available for whisky drinkers though, a few customers were drinking through some of the options on this list.

    There is a beer board, but it’s at the other end of the bar. The enthusiastic staff member checked whether I was a whisky or beer drinker, before carefully explaining all of the different beer options. I have a problem that I can’t remember a list of options, I just stop the staff member when they tell me a beer that sounds interesting. I liked the enthusiasm of the staff member as well, she must have to repeat the beer list a lot, but she remained helpful and willing, seemingly to genuinely want people to get a drink they’d like. Never scripted and never routine, I like it, although I did wonder whether it’d be easier to just have a print out of the beers they had. But, it was a good way to allow the staff member to engage, so all was well.

    My new drinking partner who spent the entire time ignoring me and looking the other way. I have some friends like this to be fair and it’s very annoying when I want to tell them about craft beer. The bar has put these giant teddies on some seats to aid social distancing, a really nice idea. Non confrontational and adding to the atmosphere, rather lovely. I did name the teddy, but I won’t put the name here….

    The beer that I chose was the Mochaccino Stout from Pilot, which is a micro-brewery from Leith, in Edinburgh. It had a rich flavour and had a smooth chocolate and coffee edge to it, although the aftertaste seemed to dissipate a little quickly. A really pleasant beer though and for some reason, it seemed appropriate for the bar that I was drinking it in.

    Looking at the reviews, the bar certainly seem to be doing something right as they’re nearly all very favourable. There are a few really idiotic comments levelled at the bar and they do sometimes reply in quite a punchy manner. I like that, genuine complaints treated with respect, but idiocy dealt with accordingly. Like the person who felt appropriate to leave 1/5 as they wouldn’t let his 17 year old daughter in, even though that is what the bar’s licence states.

    And someone who complained that they didn’t serve Guinness. I love the bar’s answer:

    “I see you have edited your review to now complain that we don’t serve Guinness. If we wanted to serve something that tasted like Guinness, we would serve Guinness. However, we support smaller independent breweries, and we have an alternative stout for the dark beer drinkers. If you don’t like it, that’s not our fault, and I don’t see how you can get so upset over it. It’s just beer at the end of the day.”

    Someone also complained that they paid £5 for a pint. The bar’s response was moderate, adding “PS, we are not Wetherspoons” at the end. Fair play, there’s a place for JD Wetherspoon as far as I’m concerned, but there’s even more of a place for brilliant little independent bars like this who focus on great customer service and beer from small, local breweries.

    I really liked this bar, primarily because the service was personable, pro-active and simply welcoming. This is certainly one of my best pub experiences of the year so far that isn’t in a chain (well, in a Brewdog) and it absolutely deserves to be in the Good Beer Guide. It’s in a touristy area of Edinburgh, so I imagine they get a real mix of locals and visitors from further afield, but the welcome seemed authentic to all. All very lovely.

  • Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Given that I’m working my way through all the Brewdogs in the UK, it’s probably about time that I started visiting some of their Scottish outlets, given that’s the country that they come from. They have two outlets in the centre of Edinburgh, but I started with this one as it’s the only one of the two which offers unlimited chicken wings on a Wednesday. The other Brewdog is in Cowgate and has a menu similar to the one that we had in Clapham a couple of weeks ago, offering food such as pizzas and cheese boards (Richard would be pleased).

    I was seated near to the bar, in what I considered to be a rather good location since I could see what was going on. The welcome seemed genuinely friendly and the staff members were always polite, but they weren’t pro-active in talking about the beers in a way that some other Brewdog bars have been. But Brewdog set themselves a high bar in terms of their engagement, so there was nothing wrong here, just other venues in the chain have their staff talk about the beer in quite a natural way even when customers have already ordered it via the app.

    This is the rear of the bar, which they’d closed off when I visited as they didn’t have sufficient customers to need it. This is a large Brewdog outlet and they also have a fair amount of space outside, so finding a seat is usually not a problem most of the time.

    The beer fridges.

    Indeed I did….. Actually, this reminds me that I booked 16:45 because 17:00 was unavailable. I’m not sure I understand Brewdog’s logic here, since they had no more customers in at 17:00 than they did at 16:45, as can also be noted from the closed off rear area.

    I went for two drinks, just getting thirds of each as usual. This is the One Day Maybe Never from Verdant Brewing, which was a little disappointing as there was nothing particularly exciting about this beer in terms of flavours or the depth of taste. The brewery is from Cornwall and I’ve had a few of their beers before, including the Even Sharks Need Water, Bloom and Maybe One More PSI, but this was the blandest that I’ve had from them in terms of the flavour.

    I then followed this up with Cosmic Raspberry from Overworks, which is Brewdog’s own brewery. This beer didn’t hugely excite me either, it was just tart, without much smoothness to it. The taste of raspberry wasn’t unpleasant, but I had expected something a little more sophisticated.

    I’m not helped here either by having nearly run out of different Brewdog beers to try, I might have to put a gap in between my next visit so that they can rotate the guest beers that they have to choose from. They do change their guests relatively frequently, but the guest beer menu in Edinburgh was similar to what they had in their London bars.

    I went for the unlimited chicken wings again, since I haven’t had them for two weeks. Served at the usual very hot temperature where I have to let them sit for a few minutes, they were different in shape to other Brewdog outlets, which slightly surprised me as I wasn’t sure that there were many different options in this regard. I didn’t let it bother me….

    And more…. And quite a few more that I didn’t take photos of. The service was always efficient and I was never left waiting for long, so the whole bar felt well managed. it was well staffed, indeed to the point that I wondered if they’d been expecting more guests.

    Anyway, obviously there’s a limit to how unique Brewdog bars are when comparing them to each other, but this was a perfectly pleasant experience. I was never rushed and I liked the engagement from staff, with complete compliance with the current Covid rules. It wasn’t overly busy, although they were getting a steady flow of customers, and the bar is genuinely pretty well reviewed. So, all fine for me and no issues.

  • Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    The Good Beer Guide hasn’t been able to achieve much for me today, as every pub in it that I tried to visit was shut, including those which were meant to be open. I’m moderately confused by this, as Edinburgh is busy and other pubs seem to be doing well. Anyway, that meant an opportunity to just try some other pubs and see what I could find. The Conan Doyle takes its name as it’s near the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born at Picardy Place on 22 May 1859. For reasons unknown (or at least, unknown to me), the home of his birth was demolished in the early 1970s.

    The pub is Nicholson’s, so arguably I could have just stayed in London as they have no shortage of venues there. The set-up is the same, although I’ve had to download a different check-in app, as the one I’ve been using is created by NHS England. There was a staff member at the entrance to guide me through the process, all efficiently managed. I didn’t have to fight to use the app here, they didn’t seem to object to me using technology rather ordering through them.

    There’s apparently usually a wide selection of real ales, but at the moment it’s limited to just Nicholson’s Pale Ale or Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. I got my 25p off half a pint, making the price £2.20, which isn’t unreasonable given the location. The beer was all that a pint of Landlord could be, it was entirely adequate and well kept, but not really anything more. The surroundings were relaxed and the pub was relatively busy, although it was never full when I was there. Unlike the Nicholson’s pubs that I’ve been visiting in London over the last couple of weeks, this one seemed to be serving a fair amount of food.

    I did look at the menu on-line (although I was saving myself for Brewdog food) and thought frickles were some local speciality. They’re actually stocked throughout the Nicholson’s chain and I’ve just never noticed, but they’re beer battered gherkins and that is something I’d very much like. I might e-mail Greggs, they need to stock decadent products like this. There is though some localisation, as the pub stocks haggis, neeps and tatties, as well as the dishes of Stovies and Balmoral Chicken. They also have the dessert of Cranachan, which I’d never heard of until Andrew ordered it when we were in the Isle of Skye a few years ago. As an aside, one customer complained that they weren’t happy with their small portion size of haggis (I would have been, I don’t like haggis) and the pub replied in a review they would have been give more free if they had asked. Handy tip for anyone visiting in the future…..

    As a pub, this was all fine, as it was clean and comfortable. Nothing exceptional, but the environment was welcoming and there were a few customers sitting on their own, usually a sign of an accepting environment. I had a little look through their reviews on-line, which are broadly positive. I quite liked the one from last year:

    “Obviously you get the odd ignoring while waiting at a bar for service wherever you are, but this was just blatant. I must assume it was because we were English, as the bar was full of Scottish indy stuff. Bit ironic as I fully support the Scottish Nationalists”.

    I’m a bit bemused by that one, as I’m not sure that staff in a pub in central Edinburgh are going to turn against anyone who sounds a bit English. I also didn’t see all the Scottish independence stuff that is mentioned, just a sign for Scottish malts. The pub didn’t bother replying to that review.

    Drifting off the subject somewhat (but I’ve become judgemental reading these reviews), a customer complained that they were given an unsuitable wonky table for two and asked for a larger one which was more convenient for them. The pub reply was “this is standard practice as you would know, having visited so many restaurants before”. I’m not sure it is, I’ve seen very many venues sacrifice larger tables to please their customers, thereby avoiding the negative review that this pub ended up with. The pub has a few negative reviews similar to this one, but there we go….

    I did though like the pub’s reply to a customer who complained that he was patient whilst waiting for his beer, but was then charged over £5 for it. The reply was “unfortunately in Scotland this doesn’t entitle anyone to a change in the price. You have yourself a wonderful day!” and that seemed a most suitable response.

    I was also amused by an angry Canadian who was furious he had to go to the bar in the pub to order and then carry the drinks back himself to the table. I’m not entirely sure that he got the spirit of pub culture in the UK. Anyway, I’ve now got entirely distracted from my initial aim of writing a few comments about the pub. All was fine, but nothing exceptional, but it’s nice for Sherlock Holmes fans to visit.

  • London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    I needed to get to Edinburgh this week and I looked at numerous different options. Annoyingly, it was just as cheap to fly, but it’s not very environmental to fly domestically and so I decided against that given there were alternatives. There were some cheap fares to get between the two cities, but then I remembered the sleeper service which operates from London Euston.

    The concourse of Euston railway station. Fun fact, this dreadful station was actually designed to have no seating to prevent people from loitering. Welcome to the world of British Rail customer service. This decision was later reversed and seating has been installed, but there isn’t much for what is a substantial mainline station. Anyway, I’ve digressed already.

    The handy thing I discovered is that the sleeper service can be boarded over an hour before its departure. The platform number was announced, so I thought I might as well board. I’m always early for flights, trains, coaches and indeed everything, so this was all quite handy.

    Here we go, departing from platform 15.

    The train looked modern and clean. I hadn’t realised that the service didn’t operate for a couple of weeks in June due to a strike over staff pay. I’m not getting involved with commenting on that, but that’s a very disappointing state of affairs that must threaten the viability of a service like this moving forwards.

    I must admit that I found all this quite exciting, probably evidence that I need to grow up. A member of staff met me at the end of the platform just to check that I was in the right place and they then directed me towards a steward. He checked my ticket and then guided me towards where I needed to go on the train.

    I had just booked a seat rather than a cabin, as I’m not made of money…..

    One of the carriages with seats, which in normal times might feel a little packed. There was a policy though of having just one person per row, and no-one directly behind, which made arrangements feel really rather spacious.

    I was pleased to get the front seat as that had quite a sturdy little desk arrangement. There was a guide to the service on the table, as well as a little amenity pack.

    Some instructions on how to get to sleep. I’m not sure about this avoiding heavy food, avoiding alcohol, avoiding coffee and avoiding phones is useful, I’d rather just stay awake.

    There is an eye mask and ear plugs included in the pack. There wasn’t really much noise in the cabin, although a couple of English football fans going to Carlisle were politely told to shut up by the steward. He didn’t actually say that directly, he suggested that they go and sit in the buffet car, but it had the required effect.

    There’s a safe above every seat, although they’re not particularly spacious. I just shoved my bag on the floor, it’s currently so heavy that anyone trying to pinch it would just assume I’d padlocked it to the ground. The carriages are professionally fitted out, there’s been some considerable money spent here over the years. The quality of the interior was better than I had expected, so although it’s not Amtrak, it’s really not too bad at all.

    A steward (that’s the name they use, not one I’ve decided to describe them by) came by to offer everyone a menu, with the pricing seeming to be quite moderate.

    I don’t normally feel the need to take photos of toilets on trains, but on this occasion I thought that I would.

    I slept reasonably well and woke up to discover that we were in Carlisle. A few passengers alighted there and I don’t think we picked anyone up. I suspect that I would have been quite uncomfortable if the train had been full with passengers, as there isn’t really enough space to stretch out (not that I ever worked out the reclining function, since I don’t use it). Covid-19 doesn’t have many advantages, but this is one of them.

    This is, I believe, the River Sark, which is the border between England and Scotland. I was quite pleased to be able to get this photo as the train does move at quite a speed.

    There was a screen in front of me informing me of the train’s progress. Carstairs is a relatively small location, but it’s where they faff about doing something with the train and it heads back out in the other direction. The train operates on the West Coast Mainline, although it can also be diverted to the East Coast Mainline if engineering works require.

    As we approached Edinburgh, a plan of the railway station appeared on the screen. I thought that this was really quite useful. I understand that it’s possible to stay on the train for an extra hour or so, to allow for some extra sleep if required, but I had the need to find some snacks at the railway station.

    And safely in Edinburgh Waverley, with an engineer jumping out to fix something (or just to have a play on the track for all I know).

    That was really quite lovely as an experience. The price wasn’t the cheapest, at just over £60, although it meant that I didn’t have to get any accommodation for the night. As is usual, because I’m never in a rush I was hoping that the train might be 30 minutes late into Edinburgh, as then I’d have got half my money back. Unfortunately not though…..

    The service was professional throughout, the stewards were helpful and the train was on time in and out of every stop. I’m sure that the cabin option is much more comfortable (but it’s also much more expensive), but I got sufficient sleep and would use the service again. I just hope they sort out this strike action, as if staff keep going on strike (for whatever reason) then the train is perhaps in danger of being withdrawn forever. As it stands, there are just two sleeper services in the UK, the other one is the Night Riviera which goes down to Cornwall. Anyway, I’m very pleased that I tried the service.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    My modern day football knowledge isn’t great, but since Ross had popped down to London for the day (and his football knowledge is rather more substantial) we thought we’d pop into the UEFA football village which is located by Tower Bridge. It’s free to get in and there are places to watch matches (other than the England match, which isn’t shown here), get food and drink, look at a giant ball and numerous other experiences that I didn’t really entirely understand.

    The aforementioned giant ball.

    The large screen and there were football fans from numerous different countries watching the match. It was a convivial environment and there were lots of volunteers around to help and assist visitors. It wasn’t a large space and there were a limited number of tables, but there was social distancing and it was carefully laid out.

    This is a real person dressed up, all adding to the occasion. Anyway, nice atmosphere and a pleasant place to walk around, all a good idea to add some excitement to the Euros.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    A few weeks ago, I went to Hard Rock Cafe on an offer with The Fork (who annoy me, but we won’t go there today) which gave 50% off the food and £20 to spend at another restaurant. I was sceptical whether that £20 offer would actually arrive, but it did and I decided to spend it at the Manjal Indian at Canary Wharf. I also forgot that Richard was coming down to London for his decadent purposes, which made things more confusing but, fortunately, nothing that the restaurant couldn’t handle.

    The view from the restaurant. Indian cuisine is one of my favourites and I’ve had a long-running project of visiting an Indian restaurant in every country that I’ve been to. Unfortunately, I haven’t added many restaurants to my list over the last couple of years as travel has been just a little impacted. I’ve decided that India do the best Indian food, which is not really a revelation that I will send to a local newspaper….. The United States and Poland also manage to deal with Indian food very well. Anyway, I digress.

    The entrance is a little fiddly as there’s an Italian restaurant on the ground floor, which has to direct customers to the Indian one upstairs. Perhaps they’re jointly owned, but the signage really isn’t entirely clear here. When diners get upstairs, there’s a seating area (see above photo) for those waiting for their meals. The welcome from the staff member was polite and he was able to understand my exacting requirements of £20 off for me and charge Richard what they like (I didn’t put it like that, but that was my priority).

    The interior of the restaurant, all clean and comfortable. They also had a private dining room which had glass doors facing the main part of the restaurant, although this wasn’t used when we were there.

    The mango lassi, one of the better ones that I’ve had. Very mangoey (is that a word?). Richard had a cocktail. I didn’t like to ask why.

    Richard’s food is cluttering up my photo here, mine is the peshwari naan on the left, pilau rice and chicken chettinad. Richard had a cheese naan as it makes him sneeze, more rice and some egg curry thing. My naan and rice tasted as they should, although there was perhaps a little too much rice (but not enough for us to have shared one). The chicken in the curry was thigh meat, which was tender and rich in flavour. The curry had a depth of flavour and comprised of yoghurt, turmeric (which is where the restaurant name of Manjal comes from) and spices, with a decent amount of heat behind it. I’m sure that Bev would moan that it wasn’t very authentic, but I liked it.

    The reviews of the restaurant are broadly positive and that’s what gave me confidence to book it in the first place. Service was efficient, but we were never rushed and I was delighted to get a little chocolate at the end (I always feel the need to mention these little touches) because I’m easily pleased. The restaurant also managed to give me my £20 reduction without any issue, so my meal cost £5 including the service charge (which they added automatically and without advance notice), which I thought was very reasonable. I’d merrily recommend the restaurant to others, which must be struggling at the moment given the reduced number of people currently coming to Canary Wharf.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – St. Stephen’s Tavern

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – St. Stephen’s Tavern

    In a similar vein to our visit to the Red Lion down the road, we visited St. Stephen’s Tavern to take advantage of the reality that we could actually get in to see it without it being full. The team member at the entrance offered us a seat outside, but fortunately Richard is in agreement with me that inside is a better place to be. No dangerous wasps or nasty car fumes outside….. It would have had a good view though, it’s located opposite the Houses of Parliament, so visitors could look at Big Ben (well, they can normally, it’s covered in scaffolding at the moment).

    The rear of the pub, which has apparently been visited by Prime Ministers including Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan. I suspect it has been visited by many more Prime Ministers and, no doubt, also by thousands of other politicians and hacks over the decades.

    The building was constructed in 1875 and has operated as a pub since then other than for a period between 1988 and 2003 when it shut and looked like it wouldn’t reopen. There was an expensive restoration funded by the owners Hall & Woodhouse, with English Heritage providing advice on how to retain its historic integrity, which they deserve credit for. Fortunately, the pub fittings had been kept, so there’s still an authenticity to the place and something of a Victorian feel.

    As another interesting fact (well, I think it’s interesting), CAMRA note that:

    “Very close to this spot the world’s first traffic light was installed in 1868. It was a splendid gas-lit contraption showing red and green lights and with semaphore arms, and was designed in Gothic style to match the then-recent Parliament building opposite.”

    The team member said we could sit anywhere we liked and by chance I sat at a table which had a photo of this politician above it. How rather lovely.

    There were three different real ales, nothing overly exciting, this was the Tanglefoot from Badger Beers. Nothing wrong with it and it was well-kept, but it’s not something that I’d rush to order again. The beer is brewed by Hall & Woodhouse, who also run the entire pub as part of their estate. There is food served here, although not during our visit, with the menu being small and not unreasonably priced given its location. I liked the venture down to the toilets in the cellar (although the toilets could have been cleaner, but that’s not really of much relevance here), imagining which politicians had walked down those circular stairs. The magic of political history…..

    All told, I liked the environment and the political heritage, although the beer was uninspiring and that would perhaps explain why the pub isn’t in the Good Beer Guide. The team members were all friendly and engaging, so the environment was comfortable and relaxed. Richard ordered another of his ridiculously decadent gins, so I think the team members thought that he was really quite wealthy. I doubt they thought I was with my half pint of Tanglefoot.

    The reviews are a little mixed in places, although are broadly positive. Anyway, this is an ideal time to visit this pub given it’s a peaceful and quiet place at the moment. This isn’t an ideal situation though for the pub owners, but I suspect that some sort of normality will return here next year.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Red Lion

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Red Lion

    Not a very good photo I accept, but it was dark (obviously) when we visited the Red Lion pub on Parliament Street in Westminster. This is one of those pubs that I haven’t visited in a long time as it’s always so busy, being just a short walk from the Houses of Parliament. It’s often frequented by MPs and there’s even a division bell inside the pub to alert them that a vote is about to take place.

    The staff member was clearing the external tables away when we arrived, so I thought they were closing just before 22:00. He welcomed us in though (I was with Richard, who is in London for more of his decadent purposes) The pub wasn’t busy, there were a grand total of three people in it.

    The decor is interesting and the pub has a nice and welcoming feel to it, with it being hard not to find the political element quite fascinating (unless you hate politics, in which case I imagine it would be quite easy). I wonder what deals, gossip and underhand tactics have taken place here over the years. That remains the magic of this pub to me.

    The pub is now run by Fuller’s and there’s a history on the wall, something I always think is a nice extra touch. This pub mentions that Charles Dickens visited the building, although it doesn’t note that it was a different building as the current structure dates to 1890 (although it does retain some of those Victorian features). It does have some heritage though, it’s known that Edward Heath, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee have all visited it, along with hundreds of other politicians over the years.

    The photo includes Richard’s ridiculously decadent gin which cost the same as a house in Sheffield. I went for a rather more moderately priced ESB from Fuller’s, which is a beer that I think is better than the reviews on Untappd suggest. A perfectly drinkable beer in a comfortable environment, with the football being shown (Switzerland vs France) not really being distracting and actually being mildly interesting. I’m not going to call myself a football fan, but I quite like a match with some drama.

    They usually serve food during lunch and the evening, although I can’t imagine that there are many takers for that at the moment given how quiet central London seems to be. There’s a cellar and a first floor area though, so they can seat a fair number of people in more normal times. The reviews of the pub are generally really quite positive, it’s clearly a well-run pub. One of the difficulties they have with having a common pub name is that a great chunk of the reviews seem to be for different pubs, which isn’t really an ideal situation.

    Anyway, really pleased to have visited here and for anyone interested, Richard said that his decadent gin was delicious. It’s not listed in the Good Beer Guide (there were three real ales, but nothing exceptional), but it’s worth visiting for its political heritage for anyone who is vaguely engaged in that.