London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London – Clerkenwell & Smithfield
Old Red Cow, London EC1
Contemporary pub
71 Long Lane EC1A 9EJ
T (020) 7726 2595 W www.theoldredcow.com tw oldredcow
Open 1200 – 2300 (2400 Thu-Sat). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (Local and unusual guests), Other beer 10 keg, 32 bottles, Also wines
Food Imaginative pub grub, “English tapas”
Sat acoustic music, Sun quiz, occasional Meet the Brewer events and launches, pub for hire
The next venture from the people that brought you the Dean Swift in SE1, this “local ale house” reopened following refurbishment in April 2011 and quickly established a keen following. Well located by the southeast corner of Smithfield Market, within sight of the Barbican and in an area rapidly developing a dense population of good beer venues, it is obviously cut from the same cloth as the Dean but adapted to a different space and location. The small bar downstairs has the cask pumps and high stools around tall communal tables; upstairs is a keg-only bar and more space, with smaller tables and long padded benches.
Big mirrors, old German beer posters and quirky wallpaper create a pleasant environment in which to enjoy drink and food that also follows the Dean’s lead. The cask taps pull local ales from Redemption and Sambrook’s, with BrewDog and Dark Star also popular choices. There’s a good choice of German and Austrian kegs including Maisels Weisse, Schremser, Stiegl and Veltins, plus Camden Town and changing Belgian and US guests. Highlights of the well chosen bottled menu are Brooklyn East India Pale, Odells 90/-, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Harviestoun Ola Dubh, Hirter Privat Pils and Trappists from Chimay, Orval, Rochefort and Westmalle. Imaginative food might include gourmet sandwiches with chips, Welsh rarebit soldiers, whitebait, mussels in cider, premium burgers and sage dumplings in tomato sauce.
National Rail Farringdon Underground Barbican Cycling LCN+7, 39, Angel Walking Link to Jubilee Walkway
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