London Pub Tour 12 - Wood Green: Prince, Spouters Corner and The Wellington (Christmas Eve)

So I'm finally up to Christmas Eve, only took me a month to get to writing this up. Let's see if I can start writing up January pub visits before we arrive in February.

For this pub tour I was starting in a pub which I used to visit over 15yrs ago, the Prince (N22 8PA) or as it was known previously the Prince of Wales. The pub was closed down and CAMRA obtain an ACV for it, and it was only reopened a few months ago so thought what better than a trip down memory lane.

The pub is a short walk away from the busy high street of Wood Green, and is set in a residential area. There is a small 'green' just outside, making this large corner pub visible from the main road. Inside the pub the layout seemed exactly the same as I could remember, even down to the 'serving hatch'* at the end of the bar so those in the other part of the bar can order without popping into the lounge. Although the pub layout was the same, the decor was completely changed. Gone was the carpet and in was the wood floorboard. Gone were any mainstream beer and in were a selection of cask pumps, ciders on tap and craft keg lager. The other part of the bar was still not fully opened and had the benches from outside temporarily setup, at least I hope it was temporarily. I took this as my opportunity to sit on these as it was quieter and was the area I used to hang out in. Also on this side where the pool table used to reside will be mirco-brewery from Bohem, though no word on when exactly this would open. The pub itself wasn't that busy, which was to be a theme for the other pubs on this Christmas Eve (Probably the quietest one I've ever experienced).

On the bench I sat down with my first pint of the night in the Prince which was Keller Pils by Lost and Grounded Brewery from Bristol. The pint cost £5 and was a very nice easy drink to start the night. There was a nice choice with 5 hand pumps and I think about 8 keg beers, of which I'd only ever drunk two of the beers before. My next pint was Zen Garden by Tapstone from Somerset at £3.60. This was an unfined beer, which I tend to not be too fond of, depending on the beer style, but this one was actually quite nice. Though it was only 3.6% I didn't think the overall beer was session-able but then again I wasn't here for session considering there were more beers I hadn't tried. My final beer at the Prince was 11|03 by Brew By Numbers. Like most of the UK keg beers this one was again priced at £5 which considering London prices is reasonable. It was a 4.2% Session IPA which had some very nice fruit flavours coming through.

After three pints it was time to move on as there was a plan to go to another recently re-opened pub though it was a bit of a distance away, and in the end I never ending up making it there. After walking back into Wood Green and choosing to go into The Goose for a pint and use of the facilities, upon walking in and being hit by the smell of vomit I changed my mind and instead head to the spoons across the road, Spouters Corner (N22 6EJ). This is a large open plan spoons underneath a cinema complex, right opposite the tube station. The only unique feature for this spoons has to be the glass bricks that separate the walkway to the toilets and the table seating area. I sat at a high seated table which evidently was too close to the door, as people kept leaving it open, which is just what you want in winter.

Santi-Freeze

My first drink was a pint of Sir Noel's Christmas Ale by Arkell's. This wasn't so great, much like most of the Christmas ales I've tasted. For my next pint I stupidly opted for another Christmas ale, Santi-Freeze by Burton Bridge Brewery but I was thankfully pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. It was actually my best Christmas session beer for 2016, and as such I have a second pint of it before leaving the spoons.

The last stop was unplanned, as I had actually wanted to head to a pub further up but by this stage realised that was too ambitious. I'd made it to Turnpike Lane station, only a short walk from Wood Green and rather than go to the spoons here I went into an Irish pub called Wellington (N8 0QY). The pub is owned by Trust Inns who I'd never heard of before prior to writing this blog post. The history section on their website states they came about after buying S&N pubs and then later on buying some further pubs from M&B.

The pub had the look of an Irish local, with booth style seating and entirely carpeted floor. There was a jukebox which someone was loading up with money and selecting a plethora of well known Irish songs. There were only about 6 people in the pub, including the lady serving behind the bar. There wasn't much choice on the beer front which led to my choice of Coors Light, as I felt a Guinness at this stage would be too heavy. There was a dart board towards the back of the pub which I made use of during the drinking of my pint.

After this pint it was time to call it a night and get a cab home. It was still quite surprisingly early and I didn't feel drunk, only slightly merry, which is a good result prior to Christmas.

London Pub Tour 1 - Westminster: Albert, Munich Cricket Club, Low Slow & Juke and Marquis of Granby

I work near Victoria station in London which has provided me with access to a wealth of pubs that are only a few minutes travel away. Although when you in one area too often you can find yourself not regularly visiting or ever having gone to some of the pubs actually within walking distance. The Albert (SW1H 0NP) pub in Victoria happens to be one of these pubs.

Not my photo, a stock free use one

This is a large victorian corner pub that's would be impossible not notice and register was there. And obviously I've noted it, it's just I always had somewhere else I wanted to try which left this place on my list of unvisited pubs. So to correct that wrong I went along to final check out the innards and tick it off the list.

Now this is a Taylor Walker pub, like so many in the Victoria area, and unfortunately Taylor Walker pubs are now owned by Greene King. Taylor Walker pubs always had a good selection of ales, and I don't think I've seen one of their pub's with less than 5 hand pumps, all with different ales. The ales they selected would come from a large array of breweries ensuring that there was at least one drink you could settle on. Sadly since Greene King took over I've seen the selection drop down to mostly the Greene King range (Greene King, Hardy's and Hansons, Belhaven etc..) which is disappointing since I'm not too fond of Greene King ales (Something about the taste running through all their brews).

Hidden amidst the Greene King.....Titanic

So imagine my surprise upon walking into the Albert and starring right out at me is Titanic's Chocolate and Vanilla Stout. I've not had this version of the Titanic stout before though last year discovered the wonders of their Plum Porter (yum yum). So I immediately opted for a pint of this from the very eager barman who was queuing up orders from the punters. The beer was a beautiful colour and the aroma's coming off it were very enticing and the flavour did not disappoint. It wasn't quite on the same level as their plum porter but I'm not letting that distract from the good pint it was.

The Albert itself was decked out in Christmas ware and was at that comfortable busy where nearly all tables are taken although only 2 or 3 people per table. Although, it was only once I'd taken my seat that I realised there was a dinning area at the back and upstairs, which absolutely makes sense for a large Victorian pub of this size. I can certainly say having a Titanic Stout on a cold dark evening, in a large Victorian pub filled with Christmas lights shall now become my bellwether for the start of the Christmas period and not the Coca Cola advert.

it's just not cricket

I left the Albert after the one as I had a few more pubs I'd not visited in a while that I needed to get to. My next stop was at the Munich Cricket Club (SW1H 0HW) on Strutton Ground only a few minutes walk away. Now the last time I visited this pub it was called the Old Monk Exchange. The pub is actually in a basement and I can fully see why they've converted it into a Germany style beer hall (loosely). At first glance not much had changed. The tables had been replaced with benches and Munich/German memorabilia adorned the walls, and as expected the beer selection was all German. Now my knowledge on German beers is not great but they did have quite a few brands I'd never heard of including Löwenbräu, hence why I opted for a pint, though I selected the Oktoberfest version at 6.1% compared to the original at 5.2%. (This was after one of the staff members had finished swearing at I assume her manager, saying she refused to do something, very nice welcome to the pub)

I grabbed an empty bench, which was very easy considering only 6 other customers were in the pub, and enjoyed the surprisingly easy drinking pint. I had to wander back up to the bar to double check it was the Oktoberfest version as it certainly didn't have any hint of a 6%-er. I will most defintely come back to this pub to sample a few more of the German beers that I've not had before though it's not top of my list.

I left the Munich Cricket Club and regained signal on my phone. The obvious choice at this stage was to head to the Grafton Arms next door however two Greene King pubs in one day was not to be as I noticed on the WhatPub website that there was a pub nearby that I've never seen nor heard of before, so I went off in search of it.

I found the Low Slow & Juke just off Victoria street on Abbey Orchard Street (SW1H 0EX). This pub was again downstairs and what immediately strikes you is that its hosts live music seemingly of the American New Orleans jazz style. When you reach the bottom of the stairs there is a reception desk which I soon learned was to handle all the table bookings and reserved seating this place has. I just stated I was here for a drink and she nodded me through to the bar.

Inside neon light

The pub had a nice selection of ales, though an even bigger selection of bottle beers. I had already set my eye on the S

team Brewery Lager which I'd never had before. The kind gentleman behind the bar informed me it was happy hour and preceded to point out a range of draft ales/lagers on a reduced price however, my mind was set and I stuck with my Steam Lager. I didn't realise till this moment that the pub is actually owned by Marston's which then made sense of the beers in the happy hour were Pedigree, EPA and Pearl Jet (The new name for Oyster Stout). My Steam Lager had the usual taste coming through as any Steam Brewery beer and was drunk in no time at all.

I decided to not hang around for another drink in case the bookings all arrived and besides I had a final destination to get too and needed to get to a pub a bit closer. I hadn't at this stage decided which pub I'd go to exactly. I did linger outside the Speaker but decided to push on a bit further passing three other pubs before I settled on the Marquis of Granby (SW1P 3RF) a Nicholson's.

The pub was quite full and no seats were available and the bar area full of people. Once near the front of the bar I seen the pump selection wasn't as wide as some of the other Nicholson's pubs, but then I noticed they had some Firkin's on gravity dispense. Of course was going to have the gravity dispense as that's quite rare to find in big London pubs. Unfortunately for me the beer i was drawn to was 'Al Murray Pub Landlord - Dependence Day' which tasted very watery and also of elder-flower.

The gravity drop choices

Houses of Parliament Division Bell

What the beer lacked the pub did make up for. They had their own hand cooked crisps for which you can choose a flavour which they will add into the brown paper bag and shake up for you. I selected good old salt and vinegar and they tasted beautiful. Also the pub had a glass cabinet that they called their 'Beer Library'. Within this cabinet were books, beers and notes of the brewing process which made for an interesting peruse. Though the one stand out feature had to be the Houses of Parliament Division bell. I'd never noticed this when I'd been in this pub before, and it's certainly an interesting feature, particularly as they state its still active.

After finishing off the Al Murray pint I called it a day and headed on my way. I had managed to visit two new pubs and had three really enjoyable beers, which I will certainly call a good evening.