Catching up with old friends in the Smoke
An intriguing Adventure Lab Cache (ALC) in London. The best heritage pubs of the West End. Will I agree with them? Will you?
For the uninitiated and ALC is an online treasure hunt. An app is used to navigate to a location and a question must be answered. I cannot resist the combination of psycho-geography and letting someone else do the planning for a day out.
Before I get started - and I've not nowhere else to put it in the blog - a new Good Beer Guide Tick at London Bridge.
Down a little alley and a tonic to the madness that is Borough Market, is the Old Kings Head.
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| Discreet but well advertised |
A 10:30am opener with four real ales on. Missed out on Harvey's Sussex Best (I'm sure that can be fixed by the end of the day) and a Proper Job is a fair compromise. Must study both sides of the bar before committing.
Cricket on at a volume that misrepresented the sport. I liked the windows and the art work detailing the history of the area.
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| Lovely way to spend a Saturday Morning |
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| Art work lining the walls. |
Onto the ALC.
Pub 1 and one that needs little introduction to anyone that knows their beer and London Pubs.
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| You know it's The Harp at Charing Cross. |
If you go - and are really lucky - you might get a seat on a high stool at the fully opening windows... one of the great spots to sit and watch the world go by. I do not recommend trying to perch at the shelf just opposite the pump clips. Unless you like apologising every two minutes to someone else who has bumped into you.
There is another oasis of calm, provided you have a head for heights. A narrow staircase leads to a quiet room where you can admire CAMRA's sense of inclusivity. The Harp wins London or National Pub of the Year in years that are an even number. Odd number years, they let someone else have ago.
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| Didn't take long to get my Harveys Sussex Best |
Another classic old friend next - The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden.
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| Another small, yet perfectly formed pub |
Dating back to 1772, with a history of bare knuckle fighting that gave it its nickname "The Bucket of Blood". More history? Mentioned in Oscar Wilde's novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". More? John Dryden, a C17th Poet was attacked in the little alley to the right hand side.
It's another "jostler" of a pub, that again, has a narrow escape route to tranquility upstairs.
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| No, there wasn't a sale on. |
My next two recommendations have been blogged before. In the interests of time and the fact that there is a notable omission, these are excluded from today's itinerary. The Salisbury and Dog and Duck are gorgeous, ornate Gin Palaces. They should be not excluded from your itinerary.
A similar fate almost awaited De Hems until I noticed that it was relatively quiet and unlike everywhere else in the West End, I had a chance of getting something to eat.
Who wouldn't want to visit an 1890 cafe and oyster house built by a Dutch Sea Captain?
A window seat, a Duvel and a power point to make sure Chiltern Trains can see my return ticket. Bliss.
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| A chance to relax |
The menu is authentically Dutch and initially, I thought very reasonably priced. Beef stoofvlees with chips for £13 in central London? Lets just say delicious but small portions.
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| Lunch - Fit for a (Dutch) Sea Captain |
And next time, I will remember to check out the upstairs Shell Room - decorated with 1000s of Oyster shells.
That's the ALC over. Anywhere you would add?
No trip to the West End is complete for me unless I go to Norman's Coach and Horses. No need to repeat myself, my reasons are blogged here.
Delighted to report that it is exactly as I found it in the late nineties..... but the cask beer (and toilets) have improved immeasurably.
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| Sunny afternoon in Soho |
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| The coach and Horses will Never Die |
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