Just who are they trying to kid?
Their new TV advert has several blokes at a bar, each tucking into a pint of it.
Everyone knows it's a girly drink!
... time for some BITE spring cleaning!
First off, I noticed that I hadn't added an old work haunt: The Queen Mary on Embankment. We had a *very* messy Christmas party there 2 years ago. Silly old me made the mistake of turning up at 5pm, by which time the free bar had finished, all of the food had gone & everyone had a 5 hour head-start on me....
Next on the list is Ben Crouch's Tavern. I visited for a friend's birthday last year. On the night in question they were doing cocktails based on the 7 deadly sins. If you had one of each you'd get a free pitcher of the sin of your choice!
I'm also ashamed to admit that I've been to The Zoo Bar (or should that be "The Meat Market"?) in Leicester Square. I don't know what I was thinking. Never again.
Saturday entailed a visit to Salisbury and an old BITE friend, Ed. Thanks to South West Trains the trip was free, and it meant a visit to Andover was possible too. Not sure what they're on down there, but in the Angel they took "half a diet coke" to mean "pint of Stella". Now old Morde isn't a great fan of wife-beater, and certainly not at midday, but let me assure you that this was one fantastic pint.
The Haunch of Venison in Salisbury has an encased human hand, reportedly found in the early 1900s in a hidden recess somewhere on the premises, dismembered but holding a hand of cards. Remember readers - cheats never prosper.
If there's one thing I really can't stand in pubs and bars, its your change being handed to you on an ashtray. While it may be the custom, or even expected, on the continent and other parts of the world to hand out tips, it isn't the case in London, and I don't appreciate bars trying to make it so. That said it wouldn't annoy me so much if the places that did it weren't already the most expensive bars around. London has a reputation in the rest of England and the world over for being an expensive city, and places like Tiger Tiger on the Haymarket help justify it. Personally I would rather not be guilt-tripped into leaving a tip for those who are probably the best paid bar-staff in town, and certainly not in an establishment where they have nothing on draught and the bottled lager costs £3.35. That said the happy hour is genuinely good value and it was a very enjoyable night there yesterday; shame they repeated so many tracks - some three times - in 5 hours.
Well what did I get up to this week? Visited a few BITE regular pubs:
The Dog and Fox on Tuesday for the quiz of course (yes we are still on course to win the league).
The Crown and Zero Degrees on Wednesday, leading to a lovely hangover on Thursday. However I still managed to visit the Pimlico Tram.
Didn't manage any pubs yesterday though, Big Brother calls.
Well, I tried.
Managed 6 days without a drink, but then gave in 'cos I figured nothing else was going to get rid of the evil headache I've had for the last 2 days.
Vodka and orange juice worked a treat!
Alcohol aside, the geek in me is beginning to get frustrated with this.
The domestic season might be over but there's still plenty of football about, and with that in mind the last two days have involved pubs both old and new: thanks to sportspubs the ExtraTime bar by Barbican station received the patronage of your humble correspondent. A nice boozer with 3 floors and shedloads of TVs, it wasn't enough to keep us there amongst the Celtic hordes as we moved on to a different pub (Ye Old Red Cow) for the second half, and a third pub (the Rising Sun) for extra time - 3 new pubs and all without missing a kick of the game. Vague sorrows (Celtic are British, after all; plus a 40/1 bet was lost by a single goal going the wrong way) were hurriedly drowned in the 2 pubs the remaining time afforded - the Barley Mow, and the Wicked Wolf. Smithfields market is a hive of nocturnal activity, and pedestrians are well advised to keep their wits about them lest they do themselves a mischief with a van loaded with pork. One wonders what quality the meat is served in the 24-hour greasy spoon; the urban fox that was sighted was decidedly scrawny.
The English national team playing is a different prospect altogether than a UEFA cup final, and called as per usual for a trip to the Falcon in Clapham. This pub (boasting an award from the aforementioned sportspubs guys) has a history of being a good luck charm as venue for watching England, and so it came to pass. The 2-Carling-for-3-quid offer is none too shabby neither.