London Pub Tour 61 - Covent Garden: Prince of Wales, Sun Tavern and The Cambridge

It was time to deliver some London Drinkers and at the same time had a beer or three and note them in my London Pub Tour. After picking up my box from the Union Tavern near Westbourne Park station I made my way towards Covent Garden and my first stop the Prince of Wales (WC2B 5TD). As is common in this area of central, this is a Taylor Walker turned Greene King. There is a main entrance on the road from Covent Garden and a side door on the route from Holborn. From the main entrance the bar is on your right situated against the wall, but zig-zagging in and out. The walls are painted dark with a patterned wallpaper between windows. Even the bar follows suit with the wood bar being painted dark. There are about 15 tables in the pub with some high tables opposite the bar and low tables for the rest of the pub. The place is busy and there are no spare seats. It appears to perhaps be the pre-theatre drinkers, as no food is being consumed.

Getting served at the bar is easy and I'm presented with a choice of either Greene King ales (IPA, Old Speckled, London Glory, Golden Breeze and Amplified) or keg (Aspalls Suffolk, Fosters, Over Easy, Peroni, London Pilsner, Big Bang, Blue Moon, Guinness, Heineken, Stella). Going against all my normal instincts I go for a pint of the GK Amplified ale, which is a beer being sold in conjunction with Radio X, so has a big green foam mic on top of the hand pump. It was your bog standard GK ale and came in at £5.10 for this central tourist area. The only positive being that at least 20p was being donated to charity. I finish my drink standing and drop off some magazines before heading on.

As I walk past the Sun Tavern (WC2E 9JD) I note it's not so busy and decide to pop in, even though its not on my delivery route, it has been a while since I've drank here. The interior has been renovated and is very modern. I think the decor is actually nice. The bar is on your left as you enter and on the right are a few rows of tables each with a nice lamp above. The lighting throughout the pub is great and the actually lamps and shades themselves look good. The pub also has an upstairs area with its own bar. Some of the walls upstairs are exposed bricks but much like downstairs most of the walls are wood panelled and painted an off white. I remained downstairs as the pub was quite empty and took up one of the tables on the side wall. On the bar there was Amstel, Heineken, Birra, 1664 and Symonds cider. I can't remember the ales on display because soon as I seen Old Peculier from Theakston. The pint was nice but I think perhaps again the bottle version out does it. I perhaps should have taken more photos or notes but was in a slight rush to get my deliveries done. I left the Sun Tavern and dropped off the magazines at 4 more pubs before arriving at my final drop off for the evening.

The Cambridge (WC2H 0DP) is a Nicholson's pub based just off Shaftsbury Avenue and on the edge of Soho. The outside of the pub is black and there were some tables available for seating. Walking in through the closest entrance to Shaftsbury Avenue takes you in the side door. There are stairs up to a dinning room or you can continue straight on into the bar. The bar run all along the back wall and is a beautiful mahogany wood as you would expect from a Nicholson's. On keg there was London Lager, Hells, Peroni, Amstel, Carling, London Pale Ale and Guinness. On the 6 available hand pumps were Pride, Doombar, Hiver, Trooper, Rev James Rye and Sharp's Atlantic. I've had Hiver previously in bottles and this was my first time seeing it on tap so I went for a pint. The Hiver is a honey IPA and it certainly does have a honey taste to it, though didn't quite feel it was IPA in style.

The bar is laid out with some high tables and stools in front of the bar then the remainder of the seating running under the windows. The seats under the windows are cushioned and all have tables and chairs opposite. The ceiling is decorative and has a chandelier hanging from it. There is quite a bit of space in the pub though I wouldn't say much seating downstairs. The pub is busy with tourists, theatre goers and after work drinkers. Me, I was just glad to have finished dropping off the 140 booklets I had.

London Pub Tour 40 - Bulls Cross(Enfield): Rose & Crown, King and Tinker and Pied Bull

It was a sunny lazy weekday and what better to do than a walk through the countryside and visiting some pubs. I set off for my walk from Gordon Hill Station and walked through some housing before hitting hilly fields. The name gives away what the terrain is like. There are some steep paths which are rewarded with downhill slopes. At the far end of Hilly Fields on Clay Hill you arrive out onto a busy road, upon which resides the Rose & Crown (EN2 9AJ). The pub itself is the whole set of buildings in front of you and you have a choice of entering from the road and walking through a beautiful wood seating area with natural beams or going round to the car park in the rear and entering directly into the open bar area. No guessing which is the preferred route.

The pubs interior bends and curves following the movement of the oak beams. There is an upstairs area as well to this pub which looks just as beautiful as the downstairs. The whole pub is full of table seating and setup for dinning. The only area that isn't setup with tables and is very open plan and plain is the bar. To be honest the bar area is a let down compared to the rest of the pub, but the rest of the pub could still do with a bit of tlc to bring it back to its full glory. The pub was empty apart from in the bar area where there were some dog walkers and lads off early from work. On the bar there was an offering of Amstel, 1664, Guinness, Heineken, Strongbow and Birra Moretti. There were also two hand pumps dispensing Pride and Abbot. I instead look into the fridge where there were a small selection of ciders and some bottled ales. I picked a bottle of Theakston XB for £4.50. I actually don't remember having XB before though have seen it around quite a bit in shops so I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely malty taste of the beer.

Whilst sipping my beer and looking around the pub my mind did turn to the history of the building. The pub was built in 1700 and is famous for two things. The first being that it was at one stage owned by the Aunt and Uncle of Dick Turpin. But the other claim to fame is that one of the cottages the pub has extended into was a safe house used by Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators in their plan to blow up the House of Parliament. No doubt this pub being next door, Guy Fawkes may have even drunk in the premises. I finished up my excellent XB and made my way out the bar entrance of the pub, into the car park. There is a playground situated out here to keep the kids entertained during the better weather.


I now set off across Whitewebbs. The sun had come out and the walk through the open fields and then the woodland was beautiful. I stuck to the paths as the trails were muddy. Not many other walkers were out which gave me the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings. The walk to my next stop was around 1 mile and not as hilly, so much easier than the first leg. My next stop was the King and Tinker (EN2 9HJ).

The pub is on a quite busy country road and has a large car park, beer garden and children's play area outside. The pub looks like a very large country pub from the outside though perhaps needing some repairs. Upon walking in through the latched door though you see how well maintained the interior is. You walk through the small porch area and straight into the bar. To the left is a raised snug area with sofa's, a fire, tv and a carpet. To your right are some tables, with one reserved for dog walkers. Beyond this and up a step is a further room with 10 tables which is geared towards dinning.

Hanging all above the bar, from the wood beam ceiling, are drinking jugs in a variety of styles. There are jugs with destinations on them, others shaped like creatures and some just standard branded jugs. On the bar there were 5 hand pumps with 4 currently on, which were: Greene King IPA, Tribute, Wainwrights and Hobgoblin. The keg offering was Carlsberg, Fosters, John Smith, Stella, Aspall's Suffolk, Thatchers Gold, Strongbow Cloudy and Guinness. I went for a pint of the Wainwright's which actually tasted quite watery. I took a seat on the sofa facing the TV which was playing an old black and white movie (though I was unable to make out what). There were 6 older fellas in the bar around 40-50 who were chatting and having a bit of banter with each other. One of the fellas turned out to be the landlord and the girl serving behind the bar was his daughter.

The pub was warm and cosy and it had just started to lash down with rain outside, so I prolonged my stay slightly by having a bottle of the Young's Light Ale for £3. Though these beers are meant to be used as a part mixture for a mild and light, I actually do rate them on their own. The rain let up and I finished off my bottle, said goodbye to the gentlemen at the bar and headed on to what would be my final stop just over a mile away, The Pied Bull (EN2 9HE).

The walk was on a path alongside the road and actually took me past the Tottenham training ground in Bulls Cross. You arrive back into a residential area and opposite a green is the Pied Bull. Again this is a building with character showing its age. The outside area is a bar garden with lots of benches and round the rear is the car park. I struggled to work out where the entrance was but turns out any of the doors I did look at would have led me in. The pub has a low roof in places due to the wood beams (I'm 5'8 and my head was brushing along parts of the ceiling). The floor looks like it was a wood floor which had been varnished previously but through the years the varnish has worn off but also made it difficult to see the actual wood flooring. The pub was split into multiple sections with two front bar areas and a rear bar leading into the car park. The sun was pouring through into the rear and was quite bright, which instantly made my decision to remain in the slightly dimmer front, all the more easier. The front of the bar is a cream white wood panel, with a mahogany wood top. On the walls the cream panels were on the upper half with a painted lower half

The pub is a Greene King so it was no surprise to see Greene King IPA. On the other three taps were Grand Slam, Splendid Tackle and Pied Bull. The Pied Bull appears to just be Greene King house ale packaged up. On keg the options were Peroni, Stella, Fosters, Estrella, Aspalls and Guinness. I selected a pint of the Splendid Tackle by Skinner's for £4.50. The beer was usual fare from Skinner's, middle of the road.


In the pub there were around 14 people, with an even mix of Women and Men, with the average age being 40+. I sat down near the bar and got speaking with some of the locals. We discussed some of the pubs I went to earlier and some of the pubs that used to exist in the area. I enjoyed my chat so stayed on for another beer, though this time went for the Stella. During the course of this pint the sun set and by the time I walked to the bus stop to return back to Enfield Town it had gotten dark and cold.

The day had been enjoyable, though not much of a challenging walk it was more to reach some of the more countryside pubs in the boundaries of the M25 and London. The pubs were a pleasant mix and all ones I would visit again.

Beers to note - March 2017

I'm still playing catch up due to losing the first two weeks of March for write ups, though am now into my March write ups, and hoping to keep up the good post rate. During March I managed to sample 69 beers with 39 of these being 'new' to me (56%). These beers were consumed in 44 different locations, mainly pubs, of these 21 were 'new' to me. I'm using the term 'new' as I'm basing the data on Untappd data which I only started using about 18 months ago. So although I may have had a beer or visited a pub before, I'm considering it 'new' if it was before 18 months.

Of those 69 beers I had in March the below are the ones that stood out most for me:


Guinness Rye Pale Ale (Guinness) - 5.0% | Bottle 500ml
I think I remember the press release about the newest beer in the Brewer's Project from Guinness but had put it to back of mind and not thought of locating it. I happened to be in Morrisons looks for a bottle of Draught Guinness Original when my attention was brought to the Rye Pale Ale. I picked it up without hesitation (along with the Guinness Original). The beer tasted good, as it was both light but spicy. The beer tasted miles better than their Hop House 13 and is definitely competing with the West Indies Porter. I can't wait to taste the next in the series as they've tended to be quite good.



Honkers Ale (Goose Island) - 4.3% | Bottle 355ml
I've seen this a few times in pubs but never gone for it as I'm not a massive fan of Goose Island IPA. Well I was certainly surprised by this beer, firstly with it being a bitter and secondly tasting so amazing. Such a shame this was only 355ml as I could have done with a 500ml version.






Dave (Great Heck) - 3.8% | Cask Pint
I didn't have great expectations for this beer as the venue itself wasn't that great and it was served in a doombar glass. But the beer shone through the venue and delivered its wonderful malty taste. And at 3.8% can easily be sessioned.






Moment of Clarity (Siren) - 4.7% | Keg Pint
The price I had for this abv beer seemed quite high but it was worth the money in the taste it delivered. The beer was slightly hazy but came through with a tropical fruit taste and the hops. Not a session beer, particularly at the price I paid.



Little Haka (The Little Beer Corporation) - 3.5% | Keg Pint
Perfect example of new world hops in an ale. Light and bitter yet a sweet after taste. Best of all was the amazing fruity aroma the beer gives off, which makes it even more enjoyable to drink. At 3.5% and with a nose like that, it's certainly night out material.




Digital IPA (Yeastie Boys) - 5.7% | Bottle 330ml
Another brilliant example of new world hops this time in a stronger beer. The nose is still there but not as powerful but the flavour is sweet and hoppy.




XB (Theakston) - 4.5% | Bottle 500ml
I've had a few Theakston beers in my time but I don't think I've ever had this classic, and I must say its now become a favourite of mine. It was a nice bitter with some good malts coming through.







Ram Rod (Charles and Wells) - 5.2% | Bottle 275ml
I've always liked the Charles Wells small bottle beers such as Ram Rod and Light Ale. I know they're aimed to be used in mixtures such as light and mild but on their own they're excellent tasting. The Ram Rod is particularly enjoyable as the 275ml is a perfect size for the high ABV.