Windmill W1

Windmill, London W1

London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Westminster, Victoria and Pimlico

Traditional pub (Young’s)
6 Mill Street W1S 2AZ
T 020 7491 8050 w www.windmillmayfair.co.uk f tweetiepieW1 tw tweetiepie_w1
Open 1100 (1200 Sat)-2300 (1700 Sat, closed Sun).
Cask beer 8 (Wells & Young’s, 5 often local guests), Other beer 3 keg, 10+ bottles, Also 40 wines, 28 whiskies, speciality soft drinks.
Food Home made pies and bar snacks, enhanced pub grub, Outdoor None, Wifi.
Monthly live music, beer tastings, pie club.

Just past the north end of Savile Row, famed for its exclusive bespoke tailor’s shops, stands one of central London’s most inviting Young’s pubs. With its wood panelling, deep crimson decor, padded benches and decorated glass, it offers a decidedly traditional, though friendly and welcoming, environment that feels like it’s been around for donkey’s years. In truth the pub was created in 1988 by knocking together a nightclub and an escort agency, and the distinction between the two formerly separate spaces is still apparent in the layout of the decently sized bar area.

The Windmill shares management with another well known Young’s pub, the Guinea, nearby, which is famous for its steaks, but at the Windmill the focus, or rather the obsession, is pies. The pub announces itself as “the Institute of the Pie”, labels its two additional dining spaces Pie Rooms, exhibits pie videos and operates a pie club which boasts several thousand members.

Good beer is promoted as an ideal accompaniment to these pastry topped delicacies, with matching suggestions on the menu, but thankfully also in its own right. The pub has long held special dispensation to stock a wider range of cask ales than is usual in Young’s pubs, and now that the pubco no longer has a financial interest in the beers that bear its name, this seems to be developing further.

Bitter, Special and Well’s Bombardier are present and correct, but they’re joined by local beers from Sambrook’s and Twickenham, and from generally better known brewers like Caledonian, Sharp’s and St Austell. There are several Meantime keg and bottled beers, keg Pilsner Urquell and decent Wells & Young’s bottles like Special London and Double Chocolate.  Choice is promoted through selling beer in thirds and “tasting paddle” selections.

Insider tip. Evident care extends to the home made bar snacks, such as house Scotch eggs and delicious fresh cheese straws.

Underground Oxford Circus Cycling LCN+ 50, links to Hyde Park and Soho Walking Links to Jubilee Greenway, Jubilee Walkway and Green Park paths