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London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Wandsworth
 Cats Back, London SW18 (Harveys)
86-88 Point Pleasant SW18 1NN
T 020 8877 0818
Open 1200-2300 (2400 Fri-Sat, may close 1430-1700 Mon-Thu). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (Harveys), Other beer 12 bottles (Harveys), Also 17 wines.
Food Imaginative enhanced pub grub, Outdoor Rear terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Seasonal events, live music, functions.
For many years the Royal Oak in Borough (p61) enjoyed the distinction of being the only pub in London tied to Harveys of Lewes. That changed in May 2012 when the Cats Back, only a stone’s throw from the river at Wandsworth, reopened under the banner of the well regarded Sussex brewer. Tucked away in what was formerly an industrial area around the confluence of the Thames and the Wandle, this former free house had previously enjoyed a reputation for live music and eccentricity, with a junk collection led by a full sized vintage petrol pump installed outside. Meanwhile the surroundings mutated into the Wandsworth Riverside development, with luxury flats overlooking the riverside terraces of rather bland-looking bars.
The petrol pump and the deliberate eccentricity have now gone, but in compensation a thorough restoration indoors has brought taste and gravitas to a lovely old building. Heavy wooden benches and tables cluster round a central servery downstairs, with a wall full of vintage photos of other Harvey’s pubs, while a pleasant first floor room adds to the space. A surprisingly extensive beer terrace and garden is down a few steps at the back. Friendly new tenants Stuart and Natalie serve up a short, frequently changing menu that might include smoked salmon and scrambled egg, sausage and mash or rösti with spinach and rocket. The beer offer demonstrates there is more to Harvey’s than the ubiquitous Sussex Best, with seasonals and specials on cask, and the complete range of the brewery’s noteworthy bottled beers, including strong stuff like Elizabethan Ale and the benchmark Imperial Russian Stout.
National Rail Wandsworth Town Underground East Putney River Wandsworth RQ Cycling NCN 4 20, CS8, NCN+ 37 Walking Thames Path, Wandle Trail
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southwest London: Brixton and Stockwell
 Crown and Anchor, London SW9 Contemporary pub, specialist (Jolly Butchers)
246 Brixton Road SW9 6AQ
w www.crownandanchorbrixton.co.uk tw crownanchorsw9
Open 1630 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2400 (0100 Fri-Sat, 2300 Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 7 (Unusual, often local guests), Other beer 13 keg, 50 bottles, Also 3 real ciders/perries, some specialist spirits.
Food Gastroish daily changing menu, Outdoor Benches on street, Wifi.
Turning decaying pubs with a fearsome local reputation into decent and successful drinking (and eating) houses through the medium of craft beer has become something of a trend in the London licensed trade. One of the early pioneers was the Jolly Butchers in Stoke Newington (p158) and now that pub’s owner Martin Harley is working his magic south of the river. When originally researching my guide I struggled to find recommendations in Brixton, so Martin’s reworking of the Crown and Anchor is particularly welcome. Admittedly it’s a little outside the town centre, among a rather ragged parade of shops, but it’s still a welcome addition to this diverse community.
It’s a big Victorian boozer with some heritage, claiming amongst other things to be the home of London’s first rock’n’roll club, but its original interior has long since been effaced and knocked through. The new owners have wisely stripped it back to big plain glass windows, bare brick and pillars offset by arty light fittings, but the old bar counter has been preserved and restored and there are a couple of unusual arches at the back. The pub adjoins Slade Gardens, a little known but rather pretty park, opening up opportunities for al fresco drinking.
Seven changing cask handpumps line up by style and strength from light to dark and strong, with local suppliers like Ascot, By the Horns, Redemption and Windsor & Eton joining craft beer favourites Dark Star and Thornbridge. BrewDog and Camden Town get two keg taps each, and Huyghe’s politically incorrect strong ale Delirium Tremens is a regular feature, joined by Brooklyn, Paulaner, Schremser and changing guests. Regular British mass market brands are conspicuously absent. The bottled list combines Londoners like Brodie’s, Camden Town, Kernel and Meantime with US and Belgian classics – don’t expect serious rarities but there may be a few surprises. The food menu is shortish, imaginative and changes daily – beer battered monkfish, broad bean and goat cheese risotto and German sausage platters are typical choices.
Underground Stockwell, Brixton Bus Groveway (numerous Brixton, Oval) Cycling Link to CS7
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Other locations – Bermondsey
 Kernel Brewery, London SE16 Brewpup, bar (Kernel)
11 Dockley Road Industrial Estate SE16 3SF
T 0775 7552636 w http://thekernelbrewery.com f kernel.brewery tw kernelbrewery
Open 0900-1500 Sat (closed other days). Children welcome.
Cask beer None, Other beer 3 keg, 6-8 bottles (Kernel).
Food None but adjacent arches sell cheese, charcuterie, baked goods, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Informal brewery tours.
The Kernel brewery is the most notable recent success story of London brewing. Its superbly crafted and award winning products are winning a whole new audience for fine beer, and inspiring numerous would-be London brewers. Kernel’s practice of throwing open its doors every Saturday as a makeshift bar and off license has only added to its reputation. Customers can meet brewery staff (founder Evin O’Riordan is often in attendance), view the scale and craft at first hand and understand more of the story behind the bottles with their stylish minimalist labels. The brewery is part of a small community of specialist food and drink suppliers once connected with Borough Market, all of whom sell direct to the public in this way, so Kernel’s beer is claiming its place beside other products – cheese, charcuterie, bread, coffee – which are perhaps better known as potential gourmet fare.
At the end of March 2012 Kernel relocated with many of its former neighbours to a different set of railway arches a little further down the North Kent railway line into Bermondsey, a move partly spurred by lease issues that also created much needed extra space to satisfy a swelling order book. Thankfully the open Saturdays have continued in the more spacious surroundings, although the arrangements still look delightfully improvised, with benches and tables built from planking, cardboard boxes and kegs – the public area is used as a workspace at other times. Kernel’s excellent pale ales and a changing selection of specials are served fresh from the conditioning tanks on keg under light pressure, and there’s always an interesting range of bottled beers to drink in or take away, including some that are hard to find elsewhere.
There are no formal tours but if you show an interest you may be offered a look at the brewhouse. The only disappointment is that the yard around the arches, with its patches of grass and trees, is off limits to drinkers due to licensing restrictions. Well worth a wander down the side streets of Bermondsey and an essential stop on the beer tourist’s itinerary. For more about the brewery see p273.
Underground Bermondsey Cycling Links to NCN 4, LCN+ 22 183 Walking Link to Thames Path, Jubilee Greenway
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast: Camberwell, Dulwich and Peckham
 Draft House Lordship, London SE22 Bar, specialist (Draft House)
21 Lordship Lane SE22 8EW
T 020 8299 3511 w www.drafthouse.co.uk f drafthouseuk tw DraftHouseLL
Open 1200 (1000 Sat)-2300 (2400 Thu, 0100 Fri-Sat, 2230 Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 3 (Sambrook’s, Dark Star), Other beer 14 keg, 50 bottles, Also Some specialist spirits, bottled ciders and perries.
Food British/diner menu, Outdoor Small terrace on street, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Quiz, beer events.
The latest addition to the Draft House chain opened in April 2012 in up and coming surroundings at the top of Lordship Lane where Peckham meets Dulwich, round the corner from the Blake mural and a shortish step from Peckham Rye Park. The narrow but deep space, which began as a shop, until recently housed a well loved local cocktail bar. It’s decked out much like the other branches in fresh looking wood with furniture and panelling painted a cheerful green shade. There’s a small but pleasant street terrace, a front drinking area and a food-oriented space with padded benches at the back. Food is the standard Draft House combination of cheerful British, light hearted American and solid German-inspired heart health-challenging fare, like gourmet burgers and hot dogs, brunches, “meat bombs” involving Bolognese encased in melted cheese, and rich veggie macaroni gratin.
All the Draft Houses pitch themselves at a broad audience with a decent but accessible craft beer list – casks from Sambrook’s and Redemption, a choice of good but easy drinking keg lagers and pale ales from the likes of Camden Town, Kaltenberg, Palm and Stiegl, and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, Great Divide Yeti and Redchurch Hoxton Stout alongside the kitsch likes of Pabst Lone Star in the fridges. Menus come complete with beer matches and recommended bottles are divided into Everyday and Extreme – it’s refreshing to see Left Hand Milk Stout listed as an everyday beer. The place still needs to evolve its own character, but remains a local asset, and there’s a decent Antic pub, the East Dulwich Tavern, only a few doors away.
National Rail East Dulwich Cycling Links to LCN+ 22 23 25
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Southeast London: Bromley
 Barrel and Horn, Bromley BR1 (London) Contemporary pub (Fuller’s)
206 High Street, Bromley BR1 1PW
T 020 8290 2039 w www.barrelandhorn.com f BarrelAndHorn tw BarrelAndHorn
Open 1200-2300 (2330 FS, 2230 Sn). Children very welcome until 1900.
Cask beer 3 (guests, sometimes local/unusual), Other beer 7-12 keg, 18+ bottles, Also 1 real cider, Bourbons and a few other whiskies, quality tea and coffee.
Food Imaginative pub grub, Outdoor Small rear yard, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Mon quiz, Thu open mic, Fri-Sat folk and acoustic music.
It’s a Fuller’s pub, but not as we know it. Formerly saddled with the rather naff name Tom Foolery, this shop front site reopened in November 2011 as a venue capable of attracting a younger and less traditional, but still discerning, audience while still satisfying real ale drinkers. Fuller’s beers are by no means a fixture – casks might come from Adnams, By the Horns, London Fields, Skinners, Thornbridge or Windsor & Eton, while besides Honeydew the kegs include Budweiser Budvar, Innis & Gunn and Meantime Stout. Most of the bottles are better known craft brands – Anchor, Goose Island, Little Creatures, Meantime – but there’s no doubting manager Mike’s passion for beer.
The deliberately quirky décor is accomplished well enough to be endearing, with a retro feel that extends to a whole alcove furnished like something out of a 1950s Ideal Home exhibition, ukuleles on the wall and pots of basil on the tables. Delightful hand drawn cartoon menus list intriguing delights, while big picture windows open in good weather onto the High Street. If the council proceeds with its ‘Bromley Boulevard’ plans, the environment will improve still further. A more traditional Fuller’s pub with an excellent cellar, the Partridge, is only a few doors down in an impressive converted bank (194 High Street BR1 1HE).
National Rail Bromley North, Bromley South Cycling LCN+ 22 27 75
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
North London: Kentish Town
 Camden Town Brewery Bar, London NW5 Brewpub, bar (Camden Town)
55 Wilkin Street Mews NW5 3NN
T 020 7485 1671 w www.camdentownbrewery.com/brewery-bar f CamdenBrewery tw CamdenBrewery
Open 1600 (1200 Sat)-2000 (2300 Fri, closed Sun-Wed). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 1 (occasional), Other beer 9-12 keg, up to 20 bottles.
Food Rotating popup street food, Outdoor Front terrace, Wifi. Disabled toilet.
Brewery tours.
Camden Town was already one of the most dynamic and ambitious of London’s new crop of breweries. Now it’s reaffirmed its place in London’s beery consciousness still further by turning over one of its arches under Kentish Town Overground for a showcase brewery bar, another tactic borrowed from US craft brewers. Nine keg taps dispense the brewery’s regulars Hells (both filtered and unfiltered), Ink, Pale and Wheat, plus various specials and seasonals. Guest taps may occasionally be given over to fellow London or imported US brewers. Cask lines are absent – the brewery produces very little in the format, but one-off casks may appear occasionally on the bar. All the house bottled beers are available to take away as well as drink in, with plans to add ‘growlers’ for take away draught beer and a second fridge for guest bottles.
It’s a great use of space – the arch is painted clean white, with simple bench seating and shelves and beer posters for decoration. A glass front looks out onto an outdoor courtyard where rotating popup food providers ply their trade, and a park beyond. On a late afternoon in good weather the whole place proves a surprisingly effective sun trap. It’s popular not only with keen beer hunters but locals who’ve found it a pleasant place to install themselves for a few hours. Free brewery tours are best booked in advance. For more about the brewery see p268.
National Rail Kentish Town Overground Kentish Town West Underground Camden Town, Kentish Town Cycling LCN+ 6A
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
East London: Hackney
 The Fox, London E8 Contemporary pub (Independent, small group)
372 Kingsland Road E8 4DA
T 020 07807 217734 w www.thefoxe8.com
Open 1600 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2400. Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 4 (changing often unusual guests), Other beer 10 keg, 30+ bottles, Also 3 real ciders/perries, 12 decent wines, specialist spirits.
Food Imaginative pub grub, Outdoor Sheltered roof terrace, benches on street, Wifi. No disabled toilet but some flat access.
Occasional DJs, parties/functions.
On the margins of one of London’s trendier areas, the Fox, a big and potentially loveable Victorian pub on Kingsland Road, is some way from Shoreditch and not quite in Dalston and has struggled in recent years through several unsuccessful makeovers as would-be gastropub and style bar. In February 2012 it reopened under the same ownership as the rather decent Howl at the Moon (p102) in Hoxton, this time as a fully fledged craft beer pub. The large open interior has been rigorously stripped back to bare brick and exposed girders, with the usual motley collection of furniture and a pretty alcove off to one side that can be curtained off for small private parties.
Bar staff are friendly and informed about the beer range, which starts with a changing range of guest casks supplied by breweries like Bristol, Castle Rock, Dark Star, Oakham, Redwillow, Saltaire, Thornbridge or Williams Brothers. A choice of three unfiltered Bernard lagers from the Czech Republic, including a dark, is a highlight of a keg range that also includes several well known US craft brands, Harviestoun from Scotland and Duvel-Moortgat’s Maredsous abbey blond. Delaware brewer Fordham makes a notable appearance among a mix of British, US and Belgian bottles, alongside Bear Republic, BrewDog, Bristol, Kernel, Maui and Westmalle. There are also home prepared bar snacks – wild mushrooms and gorgonzola on sourdough, cheeseboards, a potted mackerel of good repute – and main courses like lamb stew, grilled whole bream, squash pie and a Sunday roast with a vegan option.
Insider tip. The full sized photo machine – perhaps the only such example in a London pub – has proved a hit with customers, but the real hidden treasure is the upstairs outdoor terrace that makes excellent use of a flat roof at the rear, with sheltered tables among leafy planters.
Overground Haggerston Bus Middleton Road (various Liverpool Street, Dalston) Cycling LCN+ 8 10, Regents Canal towpath Walking Jubilee Greenway
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Westminster, Victoria and Pimlico
 Quilon, London SW1 Restaurant, bar (Taj Hotels)
41 Buckingham Gate SW1E 6AF
T 020 7821 1899 w www.quilon.co.uk f TheQuilon tw TheQuilon
Open 1200 (1230 Sat-Sun)-1430 (1500 Sat-Sun), 1730-2300 (2230 Sun). Children welcome if dining.
Cask beer None, Other beer 20+ bottles (GB, international, vintage), Also 180+ wines, 60 whiskies, specialist spirits and cocktails.
Food Michelin starred south Indian, Wifi. Disabled toilet in adjoining hotel.
As the birthplace of the gastropub, London has plenty of pubs with strengths in both kitchen and cellar, but if you want to enjoy top notch cooking and service in the more formal surrounds of one of the capital’s excellent restaurants, the general rule is great wine and rubbish beer. Almost alone among honourable exceptions is Quilon, opened in 1999 as part of Indian-owned luxury hotel 51 Buckingham Gate. Chef Sriram Aylur’s food is rooted in coastal southwest Indian cooking but with a contemporary twist, featuring an array of fresh ingredients and light and interesting flavours, including plenty of vegetarian options. And though oenophiles won’t be disappointed, beer fans will be delighted to find that fine beer, and not just bland British-brewed but Indian-branded lager, is promoted as a preferred match to this delightful cuisine.
Choices include Anchor Liberty Ale, Brewsters Pale, Camden Town Hells, Pietra from Corsica, Sam Smith’s rarely seen Yorkshire Stingo, Sharp’s Chalky’s Bark, Williams Brothers Ceilidh Lager and several examples of aged Fuller’s Vintage Ale. There’s even a five or eight course tasting menu matching beers to such delicacies as lotus stem chop, grilled scallops with mango and chilli, cauliflower fry with yoghurt, lamb biryani and coconut with asparagus and snow peas. Prices for dinners and tasting menus are pitched at luxury levels and you’ll inevitably pay a premium on the beer, but the set lunches are some of the best bargains in London given the quality on offer.
National Rail Victoria Underground St James’s Park, Victoria Cycling LCN+ 38, link to NCN4, LCN+ 6A 50 Walking Link to Jubilee Greenway, Jubilee Walkway
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Shoreditch and Hoxton
 Strongroom Bar, London EC2 Bar (Independent)
120 Curtain Road EC2A 3SQ
T 020 7426 5103 w www.strongroombar.com f strongroombar tw strongroombar
Open 1000 (1200 Sat-Sun)-2400 (2300 Mon, 0100 Thu, 0200 Fri-Sat, 2200 Sun).
Cask beer None, Other beer 7 keg, 25+ bottles, Also A few wines, specialist spirits.
Food International main courses, salads, burgers, Outdoor Benches in yard, Wifi.
Wed,Sun live music, Thu-Sat DJs, occasional big screen sport, table football, seasonal events, beer festivals.
Shoreditch’s current status as one of London’s most youthful and creative districts owes much to the Strongroom, a recording studio established in 1985 in a former furniture warehouse on a courtyard off Curtain Road, in surroundings that were then a tangle of poor housing, decrepit workshops and a traffic choked one way system. The studio shared space with designers including Jamie Reid, the iconographer of the punk era, notorious for his image of the Queen with a safety pin through her lip. A bar, originally known as the Weary Traveller, was added in 1997, becoming a mainstay of a burgeoning local scene.
Still under the same ownership as the studio, the Strongroom Bar, as it’s now called, is well worn in, friendly and much less painfully trendy than some of its neighbours. Proving that plenty of punks were hippies at heart, it chills out over two floors, with distressed sofas, Reid artwork and psychedelic mandala celings. Recently it’s been strengthening its beer offer, with quality imported kegs from the likes of Paulaner, Rothaus and Stiegl, a stout commissioned from Hepworth, occasional UK craft guests and a fridge featuring Kernel and Windsor & Eton alongside Belgian abbey and fruit beers. There’s no regular cask, but occasionally the lovely leafy courtyard outside hosts beer festivals, sometimes focusing on London beers. Informal international food is suitable for hungry musicians – char grilled halloumi and stuffed vine leaves, broad bean and ricotta fritters, veal and beef meatballs, burgers and breakfasts at reasonable prices for the area.
Pub trivia. Clients of the adjacent studio have included John Cale, Nick Cave, Dido, Kasabian, Moby, Olivia Newton John, Orbital, Placebo, Santana, the Ting Tings and the Who. Imagine all of that lot on stage at once.
National Rail Underground Old Street Overground Shoreditch High Street Cycling LCN+ 9 10, link to 0
London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London: Shoreditch and Hoxton
 City Beverage Company, London EC1 Shop (Independent)
303 Old Street EC1V 9LA
T 020 7729 2111 w http://citybeverage.co.uk
Open 1000 (1100 Sun)-2130 (2230 Fri-Sat, 1900 Sun).
Cask beer None, Other beer 50+ bottles (London and other craft beers), Also 1,000+ wines, whisky, gin, sake, specialist tea and coffee, cigars.
Food Gourmet packaged snacks.
Monthly wine and beer tastings.
This independent drinks specialist has been operating locally since 1982, long before the area became the hub of urban cool that it is today. The original small wine shop and separate tea and coffee store have since merged to create something of an Aladdin’s cave of potable liquids, stretching a long way back from busy Old Street. Wine is the mainstay, with exclusive imports and en primeur offerings, but thanks to the personal interest of manager Graham, a developing range of fine beers goes some way to plugging the gap left by the departure in 2006 of the Pitfield beer shop and brewery round the corner. Pitfield beers are on sale, including several historical brews, alongside a choice of London beers from Kernel, London Fields and Sambrook’s and other British craft brewers like BrewDog and Moor. The rest are Belgian classics and US imports, the latter including some lesser known specialities from better known brewers like Anchor, Brooklyn, Goose Island and Sierra Nevada. And if your drinking interests run further than beer, you should find much else to tempt you.
National Rail Underground Old Street Cycling LCN+ 9 10, link to 0
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