london restaurants

like 3 months i think? maybe more? my friend who just wanted to go for lunch had to wait a couple of months so...

(its ridiculous)

oh ffs. well, maybe i'll put my name down and hope for a cancellation around those days i'm there. thanks, js.

will slip in a juliet binoche reference when i phone. that's bound to get me bumped up the list.

this seems to be kind of the opposite of most ppl's complaints?? i.e overhopped /= tasteless

― just sayin, Thursday, August 2, 2012 11:11 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

I think in my head I separate out microbreweries (usually based in pubs) from craft beer makers, smaller breweries, or sometimes larger breweries making speciality beers. Not sure this is at all right tho and is more probably a reflection of my drinking habits - in pubs I'll steer clear of heavily flavoured, strong beer in favour of session beers - those are the ones that tend be tastless (and not in the Holt's sense of being an extraordinarily spare or spartan bitter). I tend to notice craft beers when they're aggregated together in the sort of place that does 1/3 pint tasting glasses. Nothing against them particularly, but as I say it doesn't suit my drinking habits.

my cornershop has what i took at first to be an extraordinary selection of, i dunno, microbrews? lots of Badger beers and others, bottles named things like Wytchfynder or Tanglefoot and they all appear to taste, after extensive research, exactly the same

this is way Off Topic now though

There are some fearsomely individual (and vile imo) Badger beers out there.

^otm. Not sure Badger counts as a microbrewery, but a brewery proper. I was thinking more of the ones based in pubs. A good example that does good beer (and is a good pub generally I think) is the The Southampton Arms on Highgate Road. And in an attempt to get it a bit more on topic - the roast pork rolls are very tasty bar food.

xpost

Yes, Badger is digusting.

I love Golden Glory and Golden Champion and you are just RONG.

haha yes all names like that, Firkin's Rest, Spinning Jenny, Tawny Tiger, all exactly the same sweetish drink

The Southampton Arms doesn't brew it's own beer as far as I know, could be wrong about that. I think they have a policy of only stocking beer from little independent breweries (microbreweries if you will).

I agree that brewpubs generally serve mediocre beer.

I don't agree that the service in pubs is generally bad (and I've been watching very closely for the last couple of years for work reasons) though it surely can be.

Tracer, Golden Glory only tastes like (say) Hobgoblin in so far as they are both beers. Very different indeed IMO. And I love some Badger beers fwiw, less so others.

(though yes a lot of those beers are rather samey, you just picked a bad example with the Badgers)

One of the most amazing beers I ever had was a Badger beer, but I had it up in Northampton and have long since forgotten the name.

I'm not a big fan of Hobgoblin - wish they put as much care into their beers as they did their labels and marketing, but I'll drink it over some seltzerwater lager any day. I can understand your frustration with the whole little brewery schtick if that's your only experience, silly labels, punning names etc. But it's not all like that.

I like Badger. Hobgoblin isn't very nice and their marketing is ugly, offputting and smug.

I suppose my ideal for London breweries is someone like Meantime or Camden who do a range of different things pretty well. Which reminds me to go back to the Old Brewery in Greenwich once the Olympic madness has died down.

Also back on topic they served me a foie gras sausage roll which I only ordered due to boggling at its ridiculous ostentation but it was excellent.

Meantime were only able to do what they did because they were making Sainsbury's 'taste the difference' beer on the side, and a friend of mine that's been made redundant by them in the past 12 months has some strong opinions on their employment policies (and, before you ask, had voiced them for a couple of years before being made redundant).

"Do what they did" = brew decent beer, grow quite fast?

I can believe their employment practices leave something to be desired (true of many small businesses tbh, not an excuse but an observation) but it was never a secret that they were brewing "taste the difference" beer, and to me it always seemed like a smart move for a small brewery to find a large outlet for their beer. Doesn't seem a bad thing in and of itself.

(If they can keep the quality high, of course, which they generally do, though I'm not a big fan of everything they brew.)

Yeah, I'm not disputing that - I guess the point I'm trying to make is that they're way, way beyond the craft brew market having bulk produced for a supermarket and craft brew/microbrew was where this discussion started.

Was interested to also see Wychwood/Hobgoblin mentioned - their pub chain (one of which used to be my local) is one of the worst examples or running a business I've ever seen.

I think it's nice many pubs in london seem to have these meantime/camden beers around. Not that i'm particularly keen on the stuff but good to not always be drinking kronenbourg or san miguel or whatever. Not that i'm particularly opposed to the stuff.

You're just not particular, Ken?

not particularly particular, no.

although i haven't yet worked out what to drink at rowan's now the bottles of lech has gone up to £4 a bottle from £3.60.

i think options are coors or becks vier.

How much are the pints at Rowans? I remember them being fairly reasonable in the past.

The price has just changed but I think they're £3.50 or so for a pint. It used to be really cheap when we first went like 10 years ago (£1.60 as i remember - we discussed the relative cost of the £1 entry fee back then compare with cheap beer) it's gone up quite a bit over the past 2 years but I think that's partly the Tories' fault.

Guinness is £3.60 I think now (up from £3.50). I mean the cost is not much but since I go there and neck 3 or 4 lechs every tuesday for the league the amount does add up!

bowling league.. not drinking league

Beeeeargh.

Not a restaurant but had to restrain myself from buying ready-marinated/grill at home chicken saffron kebabs from Phoenicia in Kentish Town. *drools* Damn, I love that shop.

it's weirdly expensive tho? i mean, i shop there (when i'm in town) but so much of their grocery stuff can be found cheaper just down the road in archway.

their baklava is pretty damn nice, mind.

After more than a week of eating crap German food, I am feeling a lot more positive about London. Everything here is so bland, apart from an occasional kebab or pizza.

I quite fancy eating at the top of the Heron Tower at 2am...

https://twitter.com/DuckandWaffle

"they will be open 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. With panoramic views of London from the 38th and 39th floor of Heron Tower in the City"

http://media.city-eating.com/menus/42226.pdf

you know what is really weird about the food court style catering businesses inside the Excel Center, etc for the Olympics - there is no branding on them whatsoever, so you get an Italian place selling pizza and pasta, and their joint is all designed with photos of i dunno, olive trees and red and green bunting and stuff but the big sign just says "ITALIAN". or a bagel place called "BAGEL". a fish and chips place with ye olde font spelling out "FISH AND CHIPS."

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/373706_368753179846842_954246577_n.jpg

duck & waffle menu looks v promising, want that seafood pot roast on my tongue right now

Presumably they're just jobbing festival food stall dudes who have relocated to the Excel Center for the Olympics? I mean if you're at Glastonbury then stalls called things like PIZZA AND PASTA are a very common sight.

Went to Ritas on Saturday, one of the nice things about being old and lazy is that you can turn up at 7 because you're only going on to the Superstore for a few cocktails afterwards and not actually off out clubbing.

Kind of annoyed at the "oh the the menu is at the bar but you have to order at the table", because the size and general attractiveness of the food would be ideal for "if you're having that then I'll have this" which menus are handy for.

That said, four of us basically had all the menu, the food was really nice but oh man it was the worst service I have ever had ever, topped off a 10-minute wait to get the bill, and then a hilarious you are fucking kidding me where the waitress, standing at the table, with the card machine in her hand, paused 30 seconds so she could answer a text.

No, the ones in the main corridor (assuming he means them) are permanent installations. Excel xpost

(Americans cover your ears - we didn't tip)

xps, yes, noticed that on friday. It seemed weird & i had an ill-formed hypothesis about how all the brands one would have heard of have been pushed out because they are not sponsors, and these are either a) what's left or b) tentacles of a weird olympian subcompany operated by some relative of jacques rogge that profiteers from mininally branded national foods.

or c) rebrands of non-sponsors, so Square Pie becomes TRADITIONAL PIE? I dunno.

Yeah, at the Olympic park, non-sponsors' drinks had to be non-branded, so "Ale" and "No 1 cup" were written up at the bar, rather than "John Smith's" and "Pimm's". And most of the hand dryers had the logo taped over.

Is there a rival hand dryer manufacturing sponsor who will get upset as a result?

Probably.

you know what is really weird about the food court style catering businesses inside the Excel Center, etc for the Olympics - there is no branding on them whatsoever, so you get an Italian place selling pizza and pasta, and their joint is all designed with photos of i dunno, olive trees and red and green bunting and stuff but the big sign just says "ITALIAN". or a bagel place called "BAGEL". a fish and chips place with ye olde font spelling out "FISH AND CHIPS."

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 6 August 2012 15:29 (18 minutes ago) Permalink

maybe they're all run by st. john's?

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcREVsQQ7XA9oKCqSJPmX4dt2GGCdw4VVzxWty7TdqaGlioqtAEJSg

I think it's kind of cool. I realise it's fashionable to detest the way the Olympics pitilessly hunt down unsanctioned branding but... isn't that better than the alternative? i.e. truckloads of tat and "special Olympics sale!!!" etc? Don't we all roll our eyes at cynical bandwagoning in other contexts? Am I thick?

No, I think it's OK too. Obviously, in pure Olympian ideal terms it would be nice if we could have no corporateness at all, but if the realistic alternative is Altlanta where it's a free for all then I guess this makes sense as a compromise. I was quite impressed that the McDonalds cost no more on site than normal. The corporate seats thing, now that's a different matter.