Pubs then

[poodlefaker]

Did a bit of Christmas shopping in Islington yesterday then walked along the canal to the Wenlock for a couple of hours. Lovely Sunday afternoon vibe - football team playing darts, a few hipster types, the old couple from the flats who've been coming in for 50 years, a carpenter fixing the  door. Some Captain Beefheart playing. Five Points Derailed Porter and strong dark mild. One of London's finest battle cruisers.

[shiftwork2]

The Wenlock Arms is so good it's like you're having a dream about a pub that couldn't exist.

[shoulders]

Looks alright... for LONDON

[Fr.Bigley]

London pubs are shit. Full of cunts n tourists.

[thelittlemango]

There's a few really nice pubs in Islington, also a big fan of The Earl Of Essex.

It's tucked away down a peaceful side street, has an excellent and frequently changing beer selection and a cosy outside area (and good benches out front to sit and greet passing dogs and watch the world go by in summer).

[Fr.Bigley]

But if its in Islington, the immediate area with be populated by cunts who presumably will also be the patrons of said pub.

[thelittlemango]

That's why I like The Earl Of Essex, it's hidden away enough that it seems to be a destination for people rather than just the general wankers of Islington, good for pre-gig pints if you're seeing comedy at The Bill Murray and can't handle how madly claustrophobic it usually is by the bar there.

[Fr.Bigley]

I think I got the worst cold of my life after seeing a show at the Bill Murray, you're right about the claustrophobia.

[shoulders]

That Earl of Essex seems a nice enough pub, but there are rather a lot that look very similar around London suburbs. Quite stark with its blues and modern lighting, definitely fits in with a recognised Contemporary Ale House aesthetic that has been ruling the roost for a while.

Having been to "The Big 6" in Halifax just yesterday, my current threshold is unreasonably very high though, that has to be close to a Top 10 neighbourhood/suburban pub.

Let's see...just suburban ones though, not too central:

Trumpet, Bilston
Fagans, Sheffield
Strugglers, Lincoln
Victoria Inn, Durham
Nags Head, Fitzrovia
Beacon Hotel, Sedgeley
Cardigan Arms, Leeds
Fox & Goose, Hebden Bridge
Peter Kavanagh's, Liverpool
Blake, Sheffield
Elm Tree, Cambridge
Barrels, Hereford
Albion, Chester
Free Trade, Newcastle
Mayflower, Rotherhithe
The Swan, York
The Pheonix, York
Golden Ball, York
Victoria, Beeston
Peveril of the Peak, Manchester
Orchard Inn, Bristol
Smugglers Den, Morecambe
Anchor, Digbeth

... The Big 6 was easily as good as any of them. I'm pretty sure I had to walk through the next door neighbour's back yard to get to the entrance for christs sake.

[phes]

Sad to report that for the second visit running the beer in the brudenell social club has been shit. It was only ever one part of what made the place great, but it's still a shame. It feels like following the pandemic he's lost interest in the beer or/and pivoted to things that are reliable and convenient. One cask line on which was Tetley's, all craft keg now the weaker offerings of Sierra Nevada, kirkstall etc. And fridges with a small, uninspiring selection of craft beer. Just one decent cask beer or properly decent craft keg is not a lot to ask for in a place that has like ten lines.

[Fr.Bigley]

Brude beer has been shite for ages though. They even had the carling folks in because they were flogging substandard barrels of mysterious origin. Short of being an institution, its in a hole of an area and frankly is a touch depressing sans bands.

[phes]

Quite a fall from 2011-15 when you could guarantee three varied cask, Kernel, Odell, Ska, Sierra Nevada etc on keg and fridges crammed with craft beers. Can totally understand why things change but absent a single good cask beer on a weekend is kind of unforgivable. I've tried the kegs that are now regular lines and they're rubbish

[shoulders]

Yes, I haven't been much since before Covid but was clear it had taken a downward turn for beer offerings (while still pretending to be top notch). Huge venue though and they must have been haemorrhaging cash in the last few years for refunds and maintenance and not seeing much coming in return. Makes a degree of sense to build back at low risk, although I would advise them to get at least 2 cask lines on so one isn't Tetleys*, the stupid fuckers.

*although it is greatly improved these days, its reputation is still mud. I have had real trouble getting anyone, even trad cask drinkers to even try it

[king_tubby]

I've not drunk anything there that wasn't a can from the fridge for years now, probably 2015 like @phes  says.

Of course, back in the day you'd go in with a four pack of Baltic or Superboss from the Thornville Mini-mart hidden in your bag.

[Johnny Foreigner]

The Blake, Sheffield, was my regular when I was living there. Massive beer garden and a fine quiz. Late at night, I would always stumble home through the park and count the foxes. Good times.

I was in a Fuller's pub not far from the Tower of London last summer. Had a nice pie and some porters there; there was a Samuel Pepys quote painted on the outside wall. 'The Hung, Drawn and Quartered'? Might have been. Memory like a sieve, me.

[shoulders]

I've not drunk anything there that wasn't a can from the fridge for years now, probably 2015 like @phes  says.

Of course, back in the day you'd go in with a four pack of Baltic or Superboss from the Thornville Mini-mart hidden in your bag.

For a while they had a mild brewed especially for them by Kirkstall called Black Rose. It obviously wasn't working out which is a shame as it was only a few quid and bloody drinkable.

Back in t' day, I was more of a £1.50 Theakston drinker, sad how quickly the prices rose then the whole idea of it having prices and wares on the range of a working mans club got abandoned altogether a few years back and everything is in excess of £3. Businesses used to help students out but now they just rinse them for all (and far more than) they're worth.

[turnstyle]

Just been to the pub. A Sam Smith's off Oxford Street. £5.20 for two pints (Taddy) during happy hour. Nice.

I will fight all of you.

[shoulders]

Just been to the pub. A Sam Smith's off Oxford Street. £5.20 for two pints (Taddy) during happy hour. Nice.

I will fight all of you.

Didn't realise any Sam Smiths did a Happy Hour. Wonder which one that was. Chandos?

[buttgammon]

Happy hour = you're allowed to make eye contact with other patrons as a treat.

[the science eel]

Make a pub for yourself and your mates in your cellar, like they do in Germany. Fill it with piss

[Fr.Bigley]

Sam smiths pubs have gone to the dogs. The Angel in Leeds is the only passable one in the city by my reckoning. They still have the same patronage of old stinking pissheads, marginalised dole dossers and out of towers aghast that you can get a pint for 2.75, I hate the whole chain and what it represents. I like how the no phone rule was supposed to propagate conversation, but the conversations I hear are so depressing you need to sink 10 pints to evade the black dog yourself.....perhaps that the business strategy...works, if so.

[shoulders]

I haven't been in The Eagle Tavern and Red Lion in a while but they were borderline for me. Could be alright at times.

Obviously the Duncan and General Elliot were/are shitholes, actually quite scary too. I went in General Elliott a couple of times as it has an unusual format of being pretty much only standing room downstairs, a really fucking old fashioned ale house / knajpa type set up. I really liked that, and there's some craic in there too to be fair, it can't be described as soulless, the lady who runs it is one of Humph's elite squad, Sam Smith's Stormtroopers if you like. She has seem some shit and she takes no shit. Basically a foster parent.

Duncan I will always remember for having toilet roll hung outside rather than inside the toilet door, meaning if you are ever in such a state you need a shite in there you have to sort of predict how much wiping will be required.

The problem as you say, with being ultra cheap is you attract people who talk about prison, rape and stabbings a lot, which is a problem without music or more civil conversation to drown it out (and even now you occasionally hear p*ki, albeit muttered).

The Angel is good when there's a total mix from shunned carnival freaks to students, to local businessmen, but doesn't take much for the balance to be upset. Definitely sit in the bar room or upstairs, not in the lounge with the dribblers and fruity addicts. At least with the phone ban you don't have to listen to someone's fraught conversation about a kid they have access to 2 days a week but got cunted the night before and oh god sorry and when is Danny being released he's a good guy really, he just needs straightening out

[shoulders]

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/the-general-wade-memories-of-a-strangely-shaped-leeds-pub-3119296

Anyone ever go here? By the looks of it I might not have even been born when it closed.

[Fr.Bigley]

I went in as a kid, it's now on been replaced by Arnold's restaurant adjoining the hotel. Back o Merrion centre.

[amateur]

Sam Smiths hold zero appeal for me now, given how high they've put the prices in London.

[shoulders]

Sam Smiths hold zero appeal for me now, given how high they've put the prices in London.

It is sad that another budget option has disappeared, but given how high the prices are in London in general I'm surprised it makes a difference. Cittie of Yorke and Princess Louise are pubs I'd happily sit in even if they were charging the prices of The Connaught Bar.

[WhoMe]

Any essential pubs in and around Edinburgh town center? Old school or crafty, I'm fairly easy.
Booked in at the Sheep Heid Inn for a post-walk meal but wouldn't mind a few names to keep an eye out for.

To contribute to the thread - met up at the Forest Tavern, formerly the Railway Tavern, in Forest Gate recently. A bought-out and retrofitted gastropub. The loos reveal its Carling-or-Stella past life, haven't been touched by the refurbishment yet. Bit of a weird vibe, like the local area doesn't quite know what to make of it. Quiet for a Friday evening. Slightly eyebrow raising prices, more what you'd expect in zone 1 or 2 for standard London craft stuff. It's a subtle 'no work boots' sign isn't it, as is the mid-week live Jazz billboard. 'Gate is one of those areas that's teetering on the edge of full gentrification, and this pub is a harbinger of that I suppose.

[Johnny Foreigner]

The Sheep Heid is good but has been somewhat bistroified menuwise.

Everybody likes The Oxford Bar, of course; you can now even pay by card.

There is Dirty Dick's on Rose Street.

The Starbank Inn (Belhaven pub) by the water in Newhaven.

On Pleasance, up the hill on the other side of the railway station, stands The Auld Hoose. No children, but dogs welcome.

The Artisan on London Road.

The Beaten Docket in Portobello.

The Scottie beside Piershill cemetery, if you don't mind sports TV.

[king_tubby]

The Beaten Docket? Seriously? I've got mates who live within sight of that, it's as grim as fuck.

FAKE EDIT: Oh, looks like it's been done up quite a lot since I was last there.

[shoulders]

From what I gather, these pubs and bars out there are nice:

Kay's
The White Harte
Bennetts Bar
Leslie's
The Dagda
Canny Man's
The Doghouse
Oxford Bar
Panda and Sons
Captain's
Sandy Bells
The Bow Bar
Café Royal
The Guildford
Tolbooth
The Doric
Halfway House