Pubs then

[Johnny Foreigner]

I think Café Royal is currently closed for reasons unknown; there was a note on the door. The adjacent Guildford Arms is open. Usually thronging; you might have to wait for a table, especially if social distancing is back.

[Johnny Foreigner]

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.

I liked it when I lived nearby six years ago. They also did very cheap but edible pub grub.

[Fr.Bigley]

You've all missed the Jinglin Geordie, I think one of the best pubs in Edinburgh. You can keep yer grayfriars boaby, I like my pubs like Plucknett and maclaine did, all dark and gloomy, with a set of steps that will kill a drunken punter with one false footing. Great boozer, honest.

[shoulders]

Looks quite well lit from the photos. Have they redone the place?

[Fr.Bigley]

About 4-5 years ago, last time I did a fringe.

[thelittlemango]

It's almost the end of the year, time for people to nominate the best pub they've been to in 2021 (old or new) that's helped bring light to an absolute shiter of a 12 months...

[WhoMe]

Thanks for those suggestions all

[shoulders]

Here are the best pubs and bars I went to for the 1st time this year. In a rough order of quality, though they were all good, the ones near the top were absolutely awesome.

1st time visits (Pubs)

Dick Mack's - Dingle
The Gravediggers - Dublin
Tigh Bhric - Ballyferriter
The Trumpet - Bilston
U Blahovky - Brno
The Big Six - Halifax
Ye Olde Vic - Stockport
U Zrzave Mary - Ostrava
Kurnik Sopa Hospoda2 - Ostrava
Nags Head - London
Beacon Hotel - Sedgeley
Peter Kavanagh's - Liverpool
The Elm Tree - Cambridge
The Barrels - Hereford
Prager Frühling - Berlin
Bag O Nails - Bristol
Foxy John's Hardware - Dingle
O'Donoghues - Dublin
Toners - Dublin
Kehoes - Dublin
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem - Nottingham
Peveril of the Peak - Manchester
Dadalie - Raby
The Victoria - Beeston
The Castle Hotel - Manchester
U Toulave Pipy - Pardubice
Frau Krause - Leipzig
Roscoe Head - Liverpool
Ship & Mitre - Liverpool
Orchard Inn - Bristol
The Olde Ale House - Truro
King Charles I - London
Smugglers Den - Morecambe
Schanzenbräu Schankwirtschaft - Nuremberg

1st time visits (Bars)

Mydlo - Brno
Blues Bar Traubka - Brno
Trelkovsky Café - Kraków
E&M Leydicke - Berlin
Bei Schlawinchen - Berlin
The Chintz - Falmouth
Konich Heinze - Leipzig
Café Bajer - Pardubice
Balalaika - Frankfurt
Rote Bar - Frankfurt
The Troubadour - London
80daysbierhaus - Hull
Grayston Unity - Halifax
Victorian Beer Café - Halifax
BillHart - Leipzig
Zwille - Leipzig

[shoulders]

In terms of my all time favourites I visited this year, these are the best I managed to get to:

Pubs

U Hrocha - Prague
U Cerneho Vola - Prague
Schlenkerla - Bamberg
Grogans - Dublin
U Kudeje - Olomouc
U Sadu - Prague
Fagans - Sheffield
Blue Bell - York
Robin Hood - Cragg Vale
Cambridge Blue - Cambridge
U Jelinku - Prague
Keimling - Furth
U Zlatého Tygra - Prague
Blake Hotel - Sheffield
Albion - Chester
U Prasivka - Prague
Wellington, Shakespeare's, Fat Cat, Red Deer, Gardners Rest, Rutland - Sheffield
Lion & Key, Fretwells, WM Hawkes, Hop & Vine- Hull
Swan, Phoenix, Golden Ball - York
Princess Louise - London
U Rotundy - Prague
U Vodoucha - Prague
Hostomicka Nalevarna - Prague
Mulligans - Dublin
Apfelwein DAX - Frankfurt
Cardigan Arms, Whitelocks - Leeds
Brauerei Neder - Forchheim


Bars

Alchemia - Kraków
Eszeweria - Kraków
Yorckschlösschen - Berlin
Gordons Wine Bar - London
Mleczarnia - Kraków
Singer - Kraków
Posledni Lec - Brno
Prvni Pivni Tramvaj - Prague
U Vystřelenýho Oka - Prague
Zly Casy - Prague
Citadela - Olomouc
Peppi Guggenheim - Berlin
Retro Pivnice - Olomouc
Klapper33 - Frankfurt
Grosse Freiheit - Nuremberg
Dschungel - Berlin
Bierwerk - Nuremberg
House of Trembling Manchester (x2) - York

[thelittlemango]

I knew you'd deliver, even more frustrated my December Krakow trip fell through now I've seen your bar list.

[Johnny Foreigner]

I know Schlenkerla in Bamberg. I was a semi-regular at The Rutland Arms in Sheffield; we once held our office Christmas party in there.

I'll be in Forchheim next week and look for Neder.

[shoulders]

I know Schlenkerla in Bamberg. I was a semi-regular at The Rutland Arms in Sheffield; we once held our office Christmas party in there.

I'll be in Forchheim next week and look for Neder.

It's right next to Hebendanz, another small family brewery and trad pub. While you're there I can recommend Stadtlokal Forchheim for grub and their amusingly named kellerbier Mauerscheisser which is god damned delicious.

If you want one of the cheapest pints you'll ever get in Germany, I think Josef Greif brewery tap Helles lager is still sub €2 for 500ml.

[the Fallen]

there was this noise when me and this other older man locked eyes together, as if thieves in trade, when the durhhhh HHHERRkLDMMMUummmdeep____________BASSS RUMBLE

That's a barrell situation innit

Down there

The eyebrows  raise

heartens me

[WhoMe]

Following our trip, I'd add The Black Cat on Rose St and St Bernard's Bar in Stockbridge to the list of decent Edinburgh drinking holes. The latter run by an eccentric landlord with furnishings to match, speakeasy tucked away upstairs and a turntable spinning good music. Wouldn't be a regular haunt as the quirkyness could become grating, but as we kind of fell into it it was an interesting experience.

[shoulders]

I definitely like the look of the 2nd venue, thanks for the recommendation.

[Ferris]

Following our trip, I'd add The Black Cat on Rose St and St Bernard's Bar in Stockbridge to the list of decent Edinburgh drinking holes. The latter run by an eccentric landlord with furnishings to match, speakeasy tucked away upstairs and a turntable spinning good music. Wouldn't be a regular haunt as the quirkyness could become grating, but as we kind of fell into it it was an interesting experience.

Stockbridge Tap also a nice boozer, and you can have a walk around Dean Village before which is always a bonus. I like Cloisters on tollcross as well, and the Norwegian place on Leith walk (I want to say... PJ Harvey's? But surely it's not called that).

Edit: it's Swedish and called Joseph Pearce. Memory's going.

[shoulders]

https://twitter.com/RFCider/status/1478442368869318659?t=KMYNIQyI5ObfcspyA5g3uA&s=19

How's about that for a pub?

[seepage]

The public have been warned, so you've only got yourself to blame.

[itsfredtitmus]

i like the spoons by the bus station in liverpool

[Fr.Bigley]

I play the spoons by the bus station in Liverpool.

[Blue Jam]

dr beat and I are currently in London for the snooker and in search of a good pub near Euston that isn't The Euston Tap, or any pub near Ally Pally that might be frequented by Mark Williams. Any suggestions welcome. Cheers.

In the meantime, this place is rather nice:

https://www.restinghare.com/

[shoulders]

Bohem Tap Room ain't that far from Ally Pally, looks like. Can recommend. Tiny Czech-run brewery tap with nice staff.

Always found Euston area crap for pubs, sorry, I don't think I can help, they are different shades of mediocrity.

[Ferris]

Went to a nice boozer in that part of London, checked my phone photos only to find it was the Euston Tap (and the arch one around the corner) so you're on your own as far as I'm concerned.

[shoulders]

Didn't really see the appeal of Euston Tap, either. Drink outside right next to one of the busiest, ugliest and most polluted areas in central London for a very high price. The appeal of London being well connected to me is precisely not having to settle for those places.

[greencalx]

Went to look up the place that was handily between the Euston Tap and the hotel I used to stay in when visiting London.  Turns out it was the Resting Hare....

[kalowski]

I play the spoons by the bus station in Liverpool.

I like to spoon by the bus station in Liverpool.

[dr beat]

Went to look up the place that was handily between the Euston Tap and the hotel I used to stay in when visiting London.  Turns out it was the Resting Hare....

Yeah Resting Hare is ok.  Good selection of beers reasonably priced for Central London, and that area is a bit of a desert for decent boozers.  It was however quiet for a Friday, and they called last orders very early, around 9.30.

[seepage]

The pub where I first met my-father-in-law-to-be, The Royal Mortar in Colchester, is now "temporarily closed" due to allegedly dealing drugs over the counter. At the time they'd not paid their [drinks] supplier so only had a very limited selection of booze from the cash & carry.   

[Blue Jam]

Edinburgh's Cask And Barrel (Southside) is under new management and now called The Resurrectionist:



Nah, not really. The new name and new signs are there because it's being used as a filming location for series 2 of Good Omens:

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/best-in-edinburgh/edinburgh-pub-transformed-filming-amazon-22701843

Here's a pic I took last night when it was all lit up for filming:




Sadly I didn't spot David Tennant or Michael Sheen or HAMM pretending to enjoy a fake pint, but here's someone else's video of Michael Sheen walking past Ladbrokes:

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/good-omens-actor-michael-sheen-22716718

Apparently the crew have also been spotted filming in Stockbridge so maybe The Stockbridge Tap, another picturesque pub, will also feature.

[Ferris]

The one round the corner from sainsburys on Clerk street? Second ever date with my wife in there, she used to rehearse at the dance studio right by it. Quite a nice pub if memory serves.

Days are gone.

Fake edit: got quite sad "walking" around toll cross via google maps. I miss it more than I thought - it's the only part of the UK I'd move back to, Edinburgh is a really beautiful city. Must visit soon.

Anyway.