London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
West London: Fulham and Hammersmith
Paulaner display at Fest, London SW6
678 Fulham Road SW6 5SA
T (020) 7736 5293 W www.octoberfestpub.com
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat).
Cask beers None, Other beers 9 keg (mainly German), 40+ bottles (German)
Food Bavarian-style pub grub, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Fri/Sat Oompah band, regular poker, pool, German/UK big screen sport, parties & functions
This outpost of the Bundesrepublik in deepest Fulham also goes by the name of the Oktoberfest or, in curiously Anglo-German spelling, Octoberfest, but I’ve listed it under the name it proclaims in suitably Gothic script above the door of its shop front site. Most German-themed bars in London, with the exception of Zeitgeist (p113), are party venues that unashamedly revel in Bavarian-style carousing, and the Fest too marches to the oompah tune, though in this case trailing an impressive selection of great German beers behind it. Staff are German, but owner-manager Paul Bisset describes himself as an ‘Irish Kiwi’ with an interest in German beer that takes him on regular sourcing trips, so some of the bottles are otherwise rarely seen in London. It might just about be the best German beer list in London for consumption on the premises, and certainly much more varied than you’d usually find in the Fatherland itself.
Helles from Löwenbräu and Paulaner, pils from Krombacher and Warsteiner, Paulaner and Franziskaner wheat beers and a dunkel are on draught; the bottled selection reaches to Andechs, Augustiner, Fischer, Göller, Keesman, Jever, Pyraser (the new hoppy Hopfenpflücker pils), Schlenkerla, Tegernsee and others, and the Fest lives up to its name by acquiring annual stocks of all six bottled Oktoberfest beers. It’s a friendly, informal place even when quiet, with plain tables laid out Bierhalle-style under an arched ceiling, a preponderance of blue and white check and a menu that unsurprisingly includes pretzels, Wurst platters, schnitzels and Schweinebraten at quite moderate prices given the area. TV sport dominates a little, as you’d expect at the London base of the FC Bayern München supporters’ club.
Insider tip. Look for the little wood-panelled snug behind the pool table, complete with illuminated Paulaner display case.
Underground Parsons Green, Hammersmith (for bus) Bus Fulham Road (220 Hammersmith) Cycling LCN+ 38 & Hammersmith link, link to NCN4 Walking Link to Thames Path
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