Help me for a Real Ale trip in London...

You will be able to find a copy of the Good Beer Guide in many high street book shops (Waterstone's, Sussex Stationers, WH Smith, etc) when you get here.

so I

The Market Porter, Borough Market, near London Bridge station has a wide range of real ale, and is a must-see for the visting beer drinker. Not sure about food.

If the Market Porter is too busy for you, the Young's pub almost next door usually does a decent pint while you wait for it to quieten down

The Royal Oak isn't too far away from by bus or foot.

The Head of Steam (though it may or may not now be called the Doric Arch), at Euston Station usually has a good range, but the food isn't great.

The Wenlock Arms - but take a map!

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street is a great building to visit, although the Sam Smith's beer is nothing special (though their bottled beers are good, but expensive)

Sam Smith's also have some other good buildings, like the Princes Louise, Holborn, well worth a look if you like pub architecture as well as beer.

Pubs serving Young's or Fuller's beers of varying standard can be found almost everywhere in London. If you want cheap "soak up the beer" food then the various Wetherspoons pubs are generally cheap, if not exactly the finest dining experience around ...

I quite liked these pubs on a recent visit. One modern and one old.

Bridge House, 218 Tower Bridge Road, Tower Bridge, SE1 2UP. Modern and stylish with restaurant on the Tower Bridge approach.

Island Queen, 87 Noel Road, Islington, N4 8HD. Built in 1851. Mostly unchanged since then. In a relatively quiet area.

Il Mon, 02 Jan 2006 11:31:46 +0000, mentre ero intento a sorseggiare una pinta della mia lager autoprodotta, Arthur Figgis, balzando fuori da un cespuglio, ha attirato la mia attenzione esclamando:

Oh yes, for sure I will buy the CAMRA guide when in london, but with only 4 days (and 2 friends coming for the first time in london...with many places to see...) I prefer to have an idea of the pubs to visit before the being there :) The CAMRA guide will be an interesting "PLUS"...

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Ohhh thanks a lot !!!!! There's so much to drink in your list ! I hope I can eat something too in these pubs... I remember from my past visit to london that usually pubs serve food until 9 or 9:30, is it right ? Here in Italy, when we are out, we usually have dinner later :)

Oh, I heard about the wheterspoon pubs from some friends...they say that the quality is very goog for the price you pay...oh, yes, it's the same f@#kin' american style food with steaks, burgers, some mexican, fish and chips and jacket potatoes, but they said It wasn't so bad, and it's possible to have dinner till late :) I think it's something like the henry J beans at chelsea, I went there once in may and I found it cheap and with quite nice food for that price...but only beers like fosters or stella artois...stuff I can drink at home when I want :(

Oh, surray !!!!! I've got a friend at university of surrey, guildford, for a PhD. I've been there for a couple of days and I found it a very nice place !!!

thank you ale

Market Porter does food lunchtimes only [not Saturdays], reasonable selection in their restaurant, limited menu at the bar. Of the pubs Arthur mentions the Royal Oak is the only one that serves good value proper food in the bar area [limited opening on Saturdays and Sundays].

For the best pint of Young's in the capital, try the Buckingham Arms on Petty France, SW1. Other pubs worth seeing out are the Nag's Head, Kinnerton Street (Adnam's), the Dog & Duck, Bateman Street (where you will get a good pint of Taylor's Landlord) and the Ship & Shovel, Craven Passage (not necessarily in the same class as the others, but it does sell Badger beers).

Watch out if you want to eat in a pub in the evening - the majority of London pubs do not serve food in the evening, even if they do at lunchtime - or will be so busy it may be impossible to get a table. Of those listed, the Royal Oak serves a range of traditional English-style meals at good prices - I believe the last food order is

8.45pm, and the Buckingham Arms sells quite basic (but good quality) food such as home-made burgers, egg & chips, bacon baguette, up to 9pm.

It is cheap, yes! To be honest I don't eat "proper food" in pubs much these days, so can't really offer much help. Lunch at the Market Porter was alright when I went about 3 years ago :-)

oh, yes, it's

Burger and chips, steak and chips, fish and chips etc are pretty much standard pub food, along with meat pies and chips and various interpretations of curry.

'Spoonses have real ale, but on a quick visit they are mostly only worth visiting to eat something before going to a better drinking pub.

I'm near Croydon... in zone 5, about 15-20 min by train from London Bridge station, and less nice. In Croydon, Beer Circus is well worth a visit, along with the Dog & Bull, Royal Standard and the Claret Free House (reached by tram to Addiscombe, perhaps not worth it on a quick trip to London!).

Il Mon, 02 Jan 2006 19:20:14 +0000, mentre ero intento a sorseggiare una pinta della mia lager autoprodotta, Arthur Figgis, balzando fuori da un cespuglio, ha attirato la mia attenzione esclamando:

Oh yes, I know. I meant (is it the right word ?!?) that if you go in a pub you can't expect, in my opinion, first class food or elaborated plates...you go for drinking a (you hope) nice beer and eat something, havin' a look at the price you pay...so welcome to wetherspoons or H J Beans if they are cheap and not so bad :) For great food there are restaurants...but in london they are out of my possibilities :)

Yes...it's what I'm going to do...

I understand...when I read surrey I was thinking at guildford, but obviously surrey isn't only guildford...that i loved very mucH :)

thank you for your help ale

FYI the best restaurant in the UK (Egon Ronay Guide) & one of the top

10 Restaurants in the World (and better than any in France :-) - is a UK pub !!

I cant remember the name/location right now but a quick Google will find it (or someone will post it here) - it's not in London though :-(

However - i'd recommend you also buy a copy of "The 2006 Good Pub Guide"

- editor Alistair Airde - from any good book shop. It will give you some good choices of "interesting" pubs and those that serve good food & wine (as well as the beer). It's a good companion for the Good Beer Guide which concentrates more on the beer.

I usually pick one from the Good Pub Guide to visit first to eat and then one or two from The Good Beer Guide to finish off the evening.

Enjoy your visit.

-- JohnB

In article , Arthur Figgis writes

Boy, is that an understatement!

I can second this having lunched there twice recently and visited on and off since 1975. Great interior, and now has cask marque beer and excellent food inc evening I think. But it's hardly swinging.

Gastropubs are mostly a good bet for food and beer if pricey (some very so)- round my way there's the Duke of Cambridge, St Peter's St N1 (very near the Island Queen), which does organic beers and food, the Northgate (Southgate Road N1), and I hear the Barnsbury and Draper's Arms, both N1 are supposed to be good. The original gastropub, the Eagle in Farringdon Road, is a fun but now costly place.

For a little gem of a real beer pub try the Jerusalem Tavern, Britton Street EC1, near the Eagle.

M.

"Jim Brittin" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.btinternet.com...

Two Words:

Brew Wharf.

BTN

Hello Alessandro

Two pubs I always try to get to when I'm in London are

The Barley Mow, Dorset St. Tube: Baker St. Walk down Baker St with your back to the tube station and Dorset St is a little way down on your left.

The pub's almost unaltered since the days when agricultural workers would come in from the surrounding fields for a drink. It's still got the original private wooden boxes which were built so that people could undertake pawnbroking (=taking small loans by handing over property which could be sold if the loan was not repaid) in private. There's good ale, and they've banned smoking in the main bar (which may or may not be a good thing for you.) I can't remember about food but you could ring them and ask - 020 7935 7318.

The King's Arms, Roupell St Tube: Waterloo or Southwark

This is a lovely pub in a beautiful early C19th street, and is a former funeral director's! There's a cosy inside bar and there's an extension out the back where they serve food.

Another good one, especially for food is The Dove, Hammersmith

Tube: Hammersmith

Another cosy and popular old pub. Last time I was there it was almost full by 11.45am. It's right by the River Thames so you can sit and look over the river.

I also that some people have mentioned the food in Wetherspoons. Now this is only my personal opinion, but coming to England and then going to eat in Wetherspoons is a little like going to Italy then eating burgers all the time. Wetherspoon's food is all frozen food which is reheated in individual microwaves pre-programmed with the timing for that individual "dish". The chips are made from reconstituted powdered potato.

If you go somewhere like the Dove, the food you eat will have been properly cooked on the premises from fresh ingredients.

It's better than my Italian :)

Il Tue, 3 Jan 2006 11:52:28 +0000, mentre ero intento a sorseggiare una pinta della mia lager autoprodotta, loobyloo, balzando fuori da un cespuglio, ha attirato la mia attenzione esclamando:

I understand what you mean... :) Thank you for your detailed reports... alessandro

Ahh! The Dove. A favorite of mine when we used to stay at a B & B in Chiswick when we would visit London. Used to walk there along the river via the Fuller's brewery. Lovely walk. Better get there early if you want an outside spot along the river (the upperstairs deck area is more comfortable). I've never been to London in January however, it might be too cold to sit outside at that time of year. I haven't been back there since we started staying in central London on our visits. It's definately off the beaten path for central London and being that the beer is Fuller's it doesn't seem worthy to me to make a long trip.

Speaking of Fuller's, I hope they don't do to Gale's beers what they did to their own over recent years. HSB & Festival Mild are two of my favorite beers. When I first visited London in 1995 I used to love Fuller's beers, now I usually avoid them (visited one GBG Fullers pub in a Mews this past summer and was not impressed). Either my tastebuds have improved or their beer is getting worse.

Cheers, Bruce CAMRA member from New Jersey

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Ahh! The Dove. A favorite of mine when we used to stay at a B & B in Chiswick when we would visit London. Used to walk there along the river via the Fuller's brewery. Lovely walk. Better get there early if you want an outside spot along the river (the upperstairs deck area is more comfortable). I've never been to London in January however, it might be too cold to sit outside at that time of year. I haven't been back there since we started staying in central London on our visits. It's definately off the beaten path for central London and being that the beer is Fuller's it doesn't seem worthy to me to make a long trip.

Speaking of Fuller's, I hope they don't do to Gale's beers what they did to their own over recent years. HSB & Festival Mild are two of my favorite beers. When I first visited London in 1995 I used to love Fuller's beers, now I usually avoid them (visited one GBG Fullers pub in a Mews this past summer and was not impressed). Either my tastebuds have improved or their beer is getting worse.

Cheers, Bruce CAMRA member from New Jersey

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And signs saying things like "food served all day" don't always mean that food is served at all!

marcb wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@compuserve.com:

Which sadly only opens Mon-Fri, but is an absolute must-visit, and only a minute from Farringdon tube. It's a tiny little place and is best sampled between lunchtime and home-time for those in the nearby offices, because it can get crowded. But what a pub, and what beers!