London Pub Tour 21 - Mayfair: Guinea, Coach & Horses and Burlington Arms

Photo by Ewan Munro

I actually assist CAMRA by delivering London Drinker magazine every two months to a selection of pubs in central London around the Piccadilly area. Delivering the magazine gives me the perfect opportunity to visit a varying selection of pubs (both on the route and off the route) along with discovering some pubs I wouldn't have previously. I'll cover some of the other pubs in the route throughout the next few months, as sometimes I don't always get to stop and drink due to time pressures.

After trudging across London with a box of Magazines and coming out of Green Park station with the rain beginning to drop, I was glad to finally arrive at the Guinea (W1J 6NL). Now the Guinea is probably the least favourite pub on my route mainly due to the typical customer. As expected the pub was rammed inside with lots of suits. This is a very small pub and mainly does good trade during good weather as everyone can stand on the quiet cobbled road outside drinking. It's based in an old mews, and has what I can only assume is a posh grill restaurant upstairs based on the doorman in his outfit.When walking in the pub door, you see how small the pub is, with the bar just to your left. There is seating against the front window and a sofa area just behind the bar. Then there is a little standing area along the walk next to the entrance, and that's about all the space inside.

Photo by Alan Stanton

The Guinea is a Young's pub and as such they have Young's ale on (Special and Bitter) and also Sambrooks Pale Ale. They also have 6 kegs serving up Guinness, Amstel, 1664, Estrella, Camden Pale and Heineken. I went for a pint of Estrella which was okay, and standard lager. Looking behind the bar it was strange to see they had jars of Pickled Eggs and Onions, which I assume they were selling. The rain started to let off and the suits made their way outside with their drinks for a smoke. After drinking my pint quickly, I made my way onto the next venue I was dropping the booklets at, The Coach & Horses (W1J 6PT).

The Coach & Horses is a Taylor Walker turned Green King pub. It stands out amongst the other buildings around it due to its design and height. It's a stand alone, slim, tudor beamed pub. This is one of my favourite looking pubs from the outside, due to the contrast with its surroundings. The front entrance is not in use, and you have to use the side door. The building is slim on front and actually gets wider as it goes back. The bar area is small and there is some tight seating surrounding it. There are some small tables against the partition wall separating the larger and more spacious dinning area from the bar area.

Photo by Ewan Munro

The bar was offering up Exmoor Dark, 1730 and Ruddles. They had in Keg Camden Pale & hells, Hogstar, Peroni, 1664 and Fosters. I picked up a half of Exmoor Dark which was dark-ish in colour and smelt very good. Not sure if lager previously impacted upon my tasting of the beer, as it felt quite plan. The pub wasn't too busy and so I found a small table and a seat in the bar area. Looking at the bar, the top had loads of pump clips showing off beers they'd sold previously. Sadly now as a Greene King it stocks more Greene King ales and only has one guest.

After finishing up the half I moved on to my final stop for this delivery batch, the Burlington Arms (W1S 2JL). The pub is down a cul de sac just off Bond Street and out the back of Burlington Arcade. The pub isn't large on the inside but does have an upstairs dinning area. This place is frequented by suits just like the Guinea and it was busy on this day with customers.

The pub does have an automated brewing machine, and I remember talking about this with a representative from the company at this pub over a year ago. I don't believe I've had any of their own brewed beers during my previous visits. On this visit there were 6 ales on including Good Old Boy, Market Porter and Edinburgh Castle. On the keg front they had Rothaus, Harpoon IPA, Goose IPA, Pilsner Urquell, West Coast IPA, Mosaic Pale, Amstel, Heineken, Cote Breton Brut Cidre and Guinness. I opted for a pint of the Rothaus which was a beautiful pint. After my Rothaus I stayed for one more drink as something in the fridge had caught my attention. I didn't know the name of the beer but liked the can design, so ordered based on that. What I ordered was Ægir India Pale Ale by Ægir Bryggeri. The can was a ring pull which completly comes off, and as I was unaware of strength required I did spill a little. I poured the beer into a glass and enjoyed the hoppy pale ale-ness of it. I've since seen further beers by the same brewery and have been tempted to pick them up, but have thus far resisted.