Denise bravely took the decision that she would decide on the final destination of that day's London pub crawl. She used her local knowledge and took us to what I believe was pub of the day, The Harp in Chandos Place. The pub is that near to Trafalgar Square that Admiral Horatio Nelson can see it from his elevated position in the square.
The Harp is a dream for real ale drinkers like myself and finally puts to rest the myth that you can't get a decent pint in London. The pub was awarded the title CAMRA National Pub of the Year in 2010 and 2011, the first time that a London pub had ever won the honour. Justification for the award was evidenced by the fact that there was an eye watering ten real ales available when we arrived. Great choice Denise !!
We received a very warm welcome and the staff behind the bar were more than happy to give us samples of the beer so we could decide what we wanted. After much deliberation I chose a Twickenham Redhead ( a beer rather than a female England rugby fan) and didn't regret my decision.
The pub was busy but we were fortunate enough to secure the one remaining free table towards the back of the pub.
'Nice bangers' is an expression often uttered in The Harp which, rather than being an admiration of the female form in a phrase favoured by Gok Wan, is in actual fact an appreciation for the sausages that the pub is famous for with flavours as diverse as Guinness and Horseradish and Moroccan Lamb.
All in all The Harp is an outstanding pub which we will undoubtedly visit again this year.
Time for a curry............
Pubs of 2014
Right, here we go...... The purpose of this blog is to log all the pubs that I have visited and consumed an alcoholic beverage in during 2014. The rules are quite simple, the establishment needs to be a public house, it sounds straightforward but it may get complicated for example things that wouldn't count are a visit to the bar at the cricket, a pre gig drink in a concert venue, a drink at the Birmingham German market etc. As judge and jury my decision is final, and if I'm in any doubt I won't count it.
My prediction as at the start of the year is that the final number will be somewhere around the 200 mark though I won't go to pubs just to get the numbers up, it will be a true reflection of my pub visting year.
My posts will include information about the pub, the ambience of the surroundings, the choice and quality of the beer, any interesting or amusing anecdotes about my visit and, where possible, photographic evidence.
I will try and keep the information as accurate as possible noting that alcohol consumption means that at times this may prove difficult !!
The format of the posts is simple, the first visit to the pub will be the blog entry and that post will be updated for any subsequent visit.
Hope you enjoy it...
Cheers
UPDATE January 2015
Right, that's it, it's finally finished, some 259 pubs later !! It's been hard work but it's nice being able to look back and relive the drinking experiences of 2014.
I am pleased with the final result and whilst I've been reviewing it, I have actually laughed a few times at my own jokes !!
A word of warning, it does start off a bit slow (some of my posts from Bath are a bit dull) but stick with it. In hindsight the format of posting repeat visits to a pub on the original post at times doesn't work very well when reading the blog in its' entirety but on the whole I'm pleased with it and I hope that you enjoy it.
I have stated this in the blog but I will say it again, thanks to anyone that I have had a beer with in 2014 and special thanks to Shelley for her patience !!
My prediction as at the start of the year is that the final number will be somewhere around the 200 mark though I won't go to pubs just to get the numbers up, it will be a true reflection of my pub visting year.
My posts will include information about the pub, the ambience of the surroundings, the choice and quality of the beer, any interesting or amusing anecdotes about my visit and, where possible, photographic evidence.
I will try and keep the information as accurate as possible noting that alcohol consumption means that at times this may prove difficult !!
The format of the posts is simple, the first visit to the pub will be the blog entry and that post will be updated for any subsequent visit.
Hope you enjoy it...
Cheers
UPDATE January 2015
Right, that's it, it's finally finished, some 259 pubs later !! It's been hard work but it's nice being able to look back and relive the drinking experiences of 2014.
I am pleased with the final result and whilst I've been reviewing it, I have actually laughed a few times at my own jokes !!
A word of warning, it does start off a bit slow (some of my posts from Bath are a bit dull) but stick with it. In hindsight the format of posting repeat visits to a pub on the original post at times doesn't work very well when reading the blog in its' entirety but on the whole I'm pleased with it and I hope that you enjoy it.
I have stated this in the blog but I will say it again, thanks to anyone that I have had a beer with in 2014 and special thanks to Shelley for her patience !!
No comments:
Post a Comment