Penny Blood's Black Book » Pubs

Balham Bowling Club

Penny Blood — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:00:19 +0000

It may be way down south, miles from anywhere but the Balham Bowling Club is the best pub ever. It’s pouring with rain and I had to cut an epic breakfast at Little Georgia with Morgs short as the night before I had the stupid idea that Sunday lunch at the B.B.C was a good idea even though it meant trekking down from Bethnal Green in monumentally shit weather. And just as I get there I get a call saying that they are all still at home eating gluten free pancakes, that’s bloody great. So out of 8 people I’m the only one here, what a loser! Not to worry though this place is just great, there’s nowhere quite like it. It’s decorated in a theme somewhere between an old school and a sports club, like a set from the History Boys with gaudy furniture and tapestries, basically one giant junk shop neatly arranged. There are billiard tables and Chesterfield couches and big rooms with lots of nooks and crannies to sit in. Only thing is it’s not very cosy but at least it’s not crowded.

7 Ramsden Road London, SW12 8QX
020 86734700
Monday – Saturday 9am-6pm

Jerusalem Tavern

Penny Blood — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:43:45 +0000

If it wasn’t for the type of people who come here, the suit-wearing, boring and loud, let’s-get-a-drink-after-work type, The Jerusalem would be perfect. You’ll come across a lot of people who work in Clerkenwell, which has an abundance of media offices and architecture offices, that kind of thing and people dressed on the wrong side of cool. What it does have however is a number of good restaurants and proper old English pubs, probably because it’s like a really really historic area, which is now mainly trendy glass fronted offices. Housed in a building dating back to 1720, it’s as beautiful as they come in that tatty, uneven and creaky kind of way. It’s tiny and cosy and serves not too shabby food but it’s worth trying to nab the little cockpit table on the second floor, (the cockpit is in fact the ‘second floor’). I think it’s the most authentic London pub….in London.

55 Britton Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 5UQ
020 7490 4281
Monday – Friday 11am-11pm , Food served: Monday and Friday 12pm-3pm
Tuesday – Thursday 12pm-3pm and 5pm-9.30pm

Ye Old Mitre

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:16:03 +0000

You just don’t get places like this outside of London. Located off a gated and guarded cul de sac you would never find this pub unless you knew it was here (and even then you have to search for it). Tucked away up a narrow alley, Ye Old Mitre is the tiny little pub next door to St Etheldreda’s Church. Apparently it hasn’t changed much since it was opened in 1772, from the stained glass to the crooked little bar and ‘Ye closet’ snug usually occupied by a few city boys having lunch. They serve typical pub food and there is an upstairs reached by a steep narrow staircase with a polite bathroom sign stating “absolutely for ladies only”. There are a good few of these kinds of pubs in London but the fact that Ye Old Mitre is so hard to find makes it one of my favourites.

1 Ely Court, London EC1N 6SJ
0207 405 4751
Monday – Saturday 9am-6pm

Blackfriar

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:15:35 +0000

I have to mention that the Blackfriar is undoubtedly the most beautiful and unusual pub I have ever been to, it is literally a work of art. The exterior, although pleasing, does not prepare you for the extraordinary interior. It is like that of a scaled down version of a cathedral. Every inch is decorated in ornate marble or mosaic, including a large bas-relief sculpture depicting frolicking friars singing carols and playing instruments. Three lower arches lead to another room resembling a beautiful chapel with a mosaic ceiling below which are nuggets of wisdom such as “don’t advertise tell a gossip” and “finery is foolery”. The detail is amazing even the light fittings are carved wooden monks carrying yokes on their shoulders from which the lights hang. However there is always a ‘BUT’. The Blackfriar may be beautiful but unfortunately it appears the people who run it couldn’t give a shit as they treat it like it was any old Wetherspoon pub with gaudy meal deal cards at the tables and cheesy chart music playing in the background, stripping it of any atmosphere it would otherwise have in spades.

174 Queen Victoria St London, EC4V 4EG
020 72139727
Monday – Friday 11.30am-11pm (Friday 11.30pm) Saturday 11am-11.30pm Sunday 12am-10.30pm

Ten Bells

Penny Blood — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:16:23 +0000

Situated on the corner of Fournier Street (one of my favourite streets in London, due to its proper Victorian charm) and next to Shoreditch Church, the Ten Bells is where Jack the Ripper would meet the prostitutes who would later become his victims. It’s this kind of trivia that prompts most guide books to advise you not to come (to avoid people like me) but I say this is the attraction. Surprisingly few people know this Jack the Ripper fact. It’s a beautiful old pub with mosaic walls, dark furniture and Pendleton couches. It’s invariably packed with a cross section of people staring at other people better looking than them…..

84 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LY
020 73661721
Monday – Saturday 9am-6pm

Blackfriar

The French House

Penny Blood — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:02:44 +0000

The best thing about a bad date is it gives me something to write about and a new person to slag off. On this occasion we had arranged to meet at the Groucho club in Soho at 9pm. However my moronic date for the evening text me just before to say let’s meet at the French House instead as 9pm is a bit early for Groucho’s (Groucho’s isn’t exactly hip, it’s where old school newspaper hacks and media types hang out all day to get away from their wives or get over their recent divorce). Know knowing Remi* that translated to “the person who could get us into the Groucho (it’s a private members club) can’t make it so we have to go somewhere else but I’m too pretentious to admit this”. No problem though as the French House is one of the best pubs in London despite the fact that most people would also agree with that. Located in the heart of Soho it’s a respite from the sleazy gayness of the surrounding bars and latex shops, basically this is where straight people go when they drink in Soho. It’s old and wooden with faded pictures of movie stars on the walls and little tables where you can hide away in a corner. It’s small and gets very crowded but has a fairly quick turnover as it’s the kind of place people meet at before they head off elsewhere. It’s a Soho institution and worth a visit.

*yes this is his real name.

www.frenchhousesoho.com

49 Dean Street, London W1D 5BG
020 7437 2477
Monday – Saturday 12pm-11pm Sunday 12pm-10.30pm Sun,
Food served: Bar Monday – Saturday 12pm-3pm Restaurant Monday – Saturday 12-3pm, 5.30-11pm