pubs - classic or dud

i didnt fancy beer last week when i went out, so i had JDs and cokes instead. i drank more than usual. i usually have hangovers pretty easily. there was no hangover this time

- eat something first.

- find out how much gives you one and don't drink more.

- drink lots of water before you go to bed.

After experiencing the health-giving properties of continental beers last weekend I am inclined to doubt Dr. Southall.

someone told me last week that there is new legislation coming in to ban smoking in pubs in Ireland. this sounded incredibly unlikely to me. I've always considered pubs to be the last refuge of the smoker and find it hard to believe it was any different on the other side of the Irish Sea.

Smokers RAUS!

I think the Vicar is onto something regarding the smokiness of pubs making you feel ill, however. I regularly go to a coffee bar in Piccadilly that is always full of people smoking, and if I've been in there long enough I always come out feeling like I've had a couple of pints at a time when I shouldn't have.

This is GOOD because they are going to be importing all their beer from the UK in order to smash the Guinness monopoly.

Tasty Brit beer, mmmm mmm.

I like pubs but I also like drinking in houses, usually on fridays I have my friends around here and we sit in the kind of extension part of my house and play cds until 11 or so and then go to the pub for th last while. I think it's important if it's your own house that you get out cos otherwise it can feel like you've just stayed home.

I hope they don't ban smoking in pubs and more pertinently in clubs, whatever about in the pub, it's hardly a big problem in clubs where there's fake smoke everywhere anyway causing as much of a smell.

I don't live in rural areas, so this is not a problem for me. I suspect it is not enforceable in rural areas, given that they can't enforce serving hours there.

in cities - it may or may not be enforceable. apparently they thought it would be unenforceable in California, and initially the law was mainly honoured in the breach, but after a year urban pubs were pretty much all smoke free.

Ban on smoking in pubs = uber-dud.

Pubs finding ways to have less smoky areas for those who want them = good idea. When I had a nasty lung condition and wanted to go to the pub I tried to go to places with nice high ceilings / functioning air conditioning.

Banning smoking in pubs would be something that wouldn't upset me except for all the whinging I'd have to put up with. Never liked the way it makes my close stink and adds to the hangover and when really bad even hurts the eyes.

Its entirely feasible to enforce closing hours in rural areas - the local cops usually just can't be bothered.

in general I'm one of those people who just puts up with smokiness in pubs, but if smokey pubs are going to make me feel ill the next day then I am all for pubs becoming smoke free.

I could also imagine it being quite cool and romantic if you couldn't smoke in clubs. You could ask cute people if they wanted to go for a smoke.

It can only be a matter of time before All Bar One does this exact thing.

What in the name of all that is good and holy is bizarre about that?

yes it's nice, great beers/ales, and tim from ilx does the food there some of the time. what sort of thing are you looking for afterwards?

V. nice pub with v. nice food. And I semi-randomly bumped into several ilxors last time I was there, which was rather nice.

What sort of thing are we looking for? Another pub (which does beg the question "Why don't you just stay there?" I know).

It would be wrong to walk off with those lovely M&T tasting glasses, wouldn't it?

Remember when 'smoking in pubs' was a big debate, huh.

Tim doesn't do the food, he's operations manager or similar. Which might include the food to some extent but he's not back there in a chef's hat (although that would at least be amusing).

Right. Starting at the Euston Tap and ending up in Mason & Taylor's. What should be inbetween, pubs or otherwise? (On a Saturday, midday-ish onwards).

sounds like you're after for interesting beers

you could try the new Queens Head on Acton St, then maybe the Lexington for some American beers? the Wenlock is en route for true CAMRA-style old man vibes

or maybe the King Charles I just off Caledonian Rd. dinky place with bar billiards and a decent jukebox. tiny pisser.

The Peasant on St John St may be worth a punt

wenlock is amazing...i'd go there as a must. every time i go i think i should go more often.

bun the wenlock - one of the few pubs i just refuse to go to

What are the arguments for and against?

it's a v old man style pub with probably the best selection of english ales around, tho fairly broad selection of english ales, there'll usually be an american style choice or two available also. the pints are v cheap compared to other pubs and it has a particular kind of timeless atmosphere.

i don't really know the arguments against but i'm sure they'll appear shortly.

david beckham goes there

agree with LG re: wenlock, it does sometimes smell bad though.

add to your list: the charles lamb on elia street is just off the islington stretch of your route, and has great food and drink.

"old man pub" = argument against

nothing to drink (one nasty choice of wine), the "locals" make me feel uncomfortable, as is the way in all old man pubs

i like the lexington though

nice cocktails, always feels very spacious in there, delicious food

if you're looking for a place that sells real ale wenlock seems like a pretty good bordering on essential suggestion place to have a drink, imo.

most of the times i go there i end up speaking to some of the regulars and finding myself amused/disarmed by how friendly they are. on one occasion these three guys in their 60s introduced me and a friend to one of their mothers, who arrived about ten for a brand. her name was ethel, she must have been about 90 and was asking us "are you married my love" etc and "when you do make sure you bring home that wage, don't be out drinking and carousing!" and stuff. really just lovely conversation, and the guys sort of taking the piss out of her but in a way where she was answering back and fully aware.

i feel trite pointing out that it is nice to meet some people who are utterly removed from everything else i do and everyone else i know but it is...

there are times i get a negative vibe from "regulars" in old man pubs but not in the good ones generally. and if i do i think i probably deserve it for being a blow-in...

*for a brandy

i know people love to romanticise the way old men randomly try to ramble on and on forever at you in pubs or barbers or wherever but i find it really tedious. actually left a barbers in a huff the other day because of this lol.

i mean "real ale" was not specified in what the poster was asking? i know nothing about real ale but do get annoyed at it being seen as the only marker of a good pub. HIYA SOME OF US DRINK WINE.

http://www.musicweb-international.com/film/2004/Apr04/logans_run.jpg

x-post euston tap and mason and taylor are two of the foremost real ale pubs around, and aren't right beside each other, one would assume if you want to go to both you may like real ale. tho i'm not gonna have a row on someone's advice thread.

joking aside i can absolutely understand how the wenlock might not be someone's cup of tea, but lex can i ask how the locals have specifically ever made you feel uncomf?

like seriously in my experience (and garda's it seems) i could hardly imagine a more innocuous bunch

Thanks for suggestions.

Decent beer will hopefully be part of the day, ditto some decent food (am tempted by M&T for this part but am happy to be side-tracked) but, for the most part, the day will be about being with/catching up with friends. Quite fancy a bit of a traipse round (non-central) bits of London, too.

don't think i've ever been in the euston tap come to think of it. what's the deal? its website promotes misgivings tbh.

usually when i'm euston way i trot down to the bree louise, fucked if i even know why cos it's fairly grim most of the time

Remember when 'smoking in pubs' was a big debate, huh.

― oppet, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 12:01 (1 week ago) Bookmark

it is amazing, reading back. i wonder if a smoking ban was received with less fuss anywhere in the world? great british queuing mentality at play i suppose.

i think it was brilliant the way the free market sorted out the smoking in pubs debate and completely left managers and customers with a range of options

it was totally done in good faith as well because no-smoking pubs were so popular that there was a real danger that the pubs that chose to allow smoking would have gone bankrupt as their customers drifted away

don't think i've ever been in the euston tap come to think of it. what's the deal? its website promotes misgivings tbh.

usually when i'm euston way i trot down to the bree louise, fucked if i even know why cos it's fairly grim most of the time

it has a pretty amazing selection but the crowd isn't the best given it's outside euston station. is so weird as a location. also there's no real cheap option, it's lots of v strong american ales but if you want a pint (i can't really do the whole glass thing, i just drink it too quickly) it's about 5.50 or 6 quid i think. if you're in that area though worth it just to try whatever they have on tap at a given time.

it's v similar to the rake in borough market...

i know people love to romanticise the way old men randomly try to ramble on and on forever at you in pubs or barbers or wherever but i find it really tedious. actually left a barbers in a huff the other day because of this lol.

did you flounce out with only half your haircut completed?

usually when i'm euston way i trot down to the bree louise, fucked if i even know why cos it's fairly grim most of the time

it has become one of my default pubs in London, but that's largely because I know where it is. Also it is near Drummond Street, so handy for noms.

has anyone ever been to those City of London pubs that shut at 8.00 pm and do not open at weekends? I am always thinking of having a pub crawl through them.

not sure which ones shut early, but the Jerusalem Tavern and the Old Mitre shut at the weekend. shame, really, as there's been more than one occasion when i've been in the area and would have drank there had they been open.

isn't there's also one in Smithfields that opens at crazy hours for the meaterers?

do you have early houses in London? We have a pubs here in Dublin that open very early in the morning, catering historically for dockers or market workers who would work night shifts and then fancy a pint after work.

catering historically for dockers or market workers who would work night shifts and then fancy a pint after work

AND PEOPLE ON ECSTASY

you haven't lived till you have taken over the jukebox with assorted 90s dance hits in a room full of fishermen alcoholics.

i once played Earth Song by Michael Jackson 3 times successively in a room full of fisherman alcoholics

never realised how many repressed homosexuals there are in the fisherman alcoholic community. one guy used to offer to tell your fortune and would say "i see fame in the music world" eventually building up to "but you'll need a manager"

did you flounce out with only half your haircut completed?

no, i was sitting waiting. barber must have taken 30 minutes on the dude in front of me (who was almost fucking bald anyway) and just kept embarking on these intolerable rambles about his coach trips in wales. did not have the time for such bullshit, went to my usual place the next day (where NO ONE TALKS TO YOU if you don't want)

joking aside i can absolutely understand how the wenlock might not be someone's cup of tea, but lex can i ask how the locals have specifically ever made you feel uncomf?

um...funny looks, constant attempts to strike up a conversation even though i obviously wasn't into talking.

don't nec want to go down this avenue any further but having talked about it w/a few others, i'm not alone in feeling that the old man pub is a very different proposition for non-white people really. it's that feeling of discomfort that you can't quite pinpoint but you fucking know it when you feel it - i get it in most old man pubs and i got it in the wenlock. this sounds stupidly vague but it's the way people look at you.

Of the pubs mentioned, could anyone suggest any good routes (walking, tube, buses) between them that might include interesting things/areas? Unhelpfully, I'm not sure what I'm thinking of that might be interesting.

(Feel like my post ignored Lex's above it - this wasn't the intention - am pondering it.)

Enjoyed the Euston Tap a lot. Good beers, pleasant enough environment, could imagine it's packed at times but was nice and quiet.

Missed most of the others on our planned list - one was closed - and made an unscheduled stop at the Canal Bar (fairly ordinary). Most of the beers were off at the Lexington so didn't really see it at its best.

Could have sat for hours in Mason & Taylor. Fantastic beers, friendly staff and the small plates of food suited the afternoon drinking (the bubble and squeak with an egg atop could have been a classic with better seasoning and if they'd actually fried the bubble and squeak - as opposed to mash with veg in it). Would happily go back. Meant to wander off with one of their taster glasses but it didn't seem right . . .

where's decent to watch the football round euston way tonight? won't begrudge a 10 min walk radius.

on the subject, i'm not doing the bree louise ever again - 400 ales on and they all seemed to taste of lemon fairy dishwater or some other rankness.

Mabel's Tavern isn't bad, though it's a while since I've been there.

alite, think i'll go there then. thanks!

Anyone picked up Robin Turner's pub guide? Any good?