After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close.
The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
I don’t believe I have been to any of those (with the possible exception of The Swan)
Britain is fabulously blessed with amazing pubs, full of history, character - and characters. They are one of the best things about the UK and not really matched anywhere else in the world. Whenever I am abroad for long periods they are one of the big things I miss most. A grand old British boozer, big or small, rich or poor, gastro or narco
Long may they endure. The ancient British alehouse
New York pubs are shit. In fact most of them are “sports bars”.
Britain MUST protect its pubs. They are an indispensable part of its cultural patrimony.
Pubs close all the time, especially outside London.
My understanding is that pubs were enjoying a mini revival in the 10s, led by new micro-brewery and/or food-led pubs.
I imagine Covid and now energy prices has decimated the sector.
It breaks my heart. If I was dictator of the UK, I would find a way to protect them.
Some are saved via becoming an ACV (Asset of Community Value) where the local community bands together to run them. Same with some shops, especially in rural areas. But it is a big ask of the local community and these often tend to close not too long after they have been "saved".
Any decent village must have a pub. I would not consider moving to a village without a pub.
I would consider scrapping alcohol duty on rural pubs and things of that nature.
It's business rates that's the killer. We just need to scrap it entirely and cut the government budget by that amount.
Leon, when next down in the West Country, try the Cott Inn at Dartington. Running since 1320, it has a superb combination of gastro-pub and inn where a guy with a dog on a string can stand at the bar. Not for nothing did it win the overall Pub of the Year in Britain in 2019 before Covid. They ran an incredibly efficient take-away during lockdown - and so kept their staff.
The only Covid-related disaster is that they still haven't reinstated their world-beating cheese souffle.
re the trans debate. "Sex" and "gender" are like infer and imply or sympathy and empathy - I have to go over carefully in my mind which is which and what each means.
I won't post it *again* but Nick Herbert's article on the matter seemed to be incontrovertibly sensible.
Oh ok here it is - should really end all debate on the matter AFAICS.
Critics of the GRR Bill or "affirmative care" (sic) will now be labeled "Trump Supporters"....like JK Rowling, Joanna Cherry, Rosie Duffield....
I think we could have guessed the Trump view on this tbf. He's not exactly unpredictable. But you have my sympathies nonetheless - he's wrong on virtually everything so that's an unwelcome development for your cause.
I think HYUFD is a good poster and often unfairly jumped on around these parts - but I also think he does unfortunately come across as a bit of a snob at times. And if something doesn't agree with how he has proceeded with life it almost doesn't compute in his head.
You see this with the exams, he's obviously a smart guy and has done well in his exams - but there are plenty of clever people that do awfully in exams.
I tend to consider myself somebody who exams don't reflect my ability. For example I got an A* in English Language because most of it was coursework but I did much more poorly in English Literature which wasn't
If you think I am a snob you should have seen Charles, late of this Parish. I am a mere oik in comparison to him!
The fact that you create that hierarchy with you significantly below him makes you a snob (although one who knows his place obviously).
As far as I am concerned I am no better and no worse than you or Charles. I bow to no one and no one bows to me. I call everyone by their first name to their face.
Just out of interest would you bow in front of the king?
A polite nod of acknowledgement, as with everyone else. Though unless he were to go out of his way to encounter me, he’ll be spared the experience.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Bannerman’s maybe?
God, I can’t remember. Think I visited during the Fringe? Or during the days I had a girlfriend at Edinburgh Uni (a while ago!)
Glasgow has some excellently rough pubs. They are an acquired taste, but I do like a pub where, when you go in, you think this could be your last day on earth
There used to be such a pub in London. The Bladebone. A proper NF/Nazi pub, where everyone had killer dogs or combat 88 tatts or both. Now sadly gone. i got well drunk there, and nearly glassed
Look at this superb description from the CAMRA guide
E2 BLADE BONE: 185 Bethnal Green Road . Bass Charrington. CHARRINGTON IPA. Not far from Cable Street, scene of the battle with Mosley's Blackshirts in the 1930's. The present day pub is a modern building, although has boards over the windows. An unusuallly patriotic pub. Pool/Piano.
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close.
The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
I don’t believe I have been to any of those (with the possible exception of The Swan)
Britain is fabulously blessed with amazing pubs, full of history, character - and characters. They are one of the best things about the UK and not really matched anywhere else in the world. Whenever I am abroad for long periods they are one of the big things I miss most. A grand old British boozer, big or small, rich or poor, gastro or narco
Long may they endure. The ancient British alehouse
New York pubs are shit. In fact most of them are “sports bars”.
Britain MUST protect its pubs. They are an indispensable part of its cultural patrimony.
Pubs close all the time, especially outside London.
My understanding is that pubs were enjoying a mini revival in the 10s, led by new micro-brewery and/or food-led pubs.
I imagine Covid and now energy prices has decimated the sector.
It breaks my heart. If I was dictator of the UK, I would find a way to protect them.
Some are saved via becoming an ACV (Asset of Community Value) where the local community bands together to run them. Same with some shops, especially in rural areas. But it is a big ask of the local community and these often tend to close not too long after they have been "saved".
Any decent village must have a pub. I would not consider moving to a village without a pub.
I would consider scrapping alcohol duty on rural pubs and things of that nature.
It's business rates that's the killer. We just need to scrap it entirely and cut the government budget by that amount.
Aside from the sheer cost of losing £25bn of tax income annually, how does it sit with the levelling-up agenda exactly?
Scrapping it would be FAR more beneficial to businesses in London and richer parts of the SE because rateable values are much higher. You may be able to equalise in other ways, of course, but you'd be increasing the cost well above even the £25bn annual sum mentioned.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Bannerman’s maybe?
God, I can’t remember. Think I visited during the Fringe? Or during the days I had a girlfriend at Edinburgh Uni (a while ago!)
Glasgow has some excellently rough pubs. They are an acquired taste, but I do like a pub where, when you go in, you think this could be your last day on earth
There used to be such a pub in London. The Bladebone. A proper NF/Nazi pub, where everyone had killer dogs or combat 88 tatts or both. Now sadly gone. i got well drunk there, and nearly glassed
Look at this superb description from the CAMRA guide
E2 BLADE BONE: 185 Bethnal Green Road . Bass Charrington. CHARRINGTON IPA. Not far from Cable Street, scene of the battle with Mosley's Blackshirts in the 1930's. The present day pub is a modern building, although has boards over the windows. An unusuallly patriotic pub. Pool/Piano.
The Bridge House was always an adventure - same demographic it sounds like, with the bizarre twist of blokes in make up (Depeche Mode) on stage playing music, lapped up by the locals.
(White) mate of mine was sitting in there 30-odd years ago with his black girlfriend and someone just walked up to him and hit him with a crowbar, shattering his jaw.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
I just meant your favourites. (The idea of some global order, or even a national order, is of course nonsense)
Edinboro Castle (which I know very well) is surely a makeweight. (Surely you know and prefer my Notting Hill suggestion - also local)
Many great pubs have gone though. I really liked what I think was called 'The Sun Inn' at the top of Lambs Conduit Street' for example
Ex-pubs I miss:
The Hope & Anchor, Upper St The Nashville, West Ken
My most fervent regret that it is no longer there, not a pub but badly missed:
The Gasworks, New Kings Road.
The Royal Oak, Tabard St The Clissold Park Tavern The Cumberland, Kensington The Free Press, Cambridge Lamb & Flag, Covent Gdn The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding The Kilpeck Inn, Herefords. The hotel/pub at Port Gaverne The Spyglass, Ventnor The Buddle Inn, Niton The Taverners, Godshill
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
You’re quite right. They are all absolutely posh pubs. Indeed if I had to compile a list of the most obviously posh pubs in London, that would be it
it’s a list of posh pubs by a quite posh person who never really liked pubs but went into a few posh ones, about 27 years ago
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Just went past that on my way to Waverley, with a lot more breath than I had going the other way this morning. Its an interesting pub. For Glasgow pubs I don't think anyone has beaten the descriptions of William McIvaney, in the Laidlaw books, specifically "The papers of Tony Veitch." There is a description there of someone giving a bit of cheek to the wrong landlord and the doors being barred from the inside...
British Gas routinely sends debt collectors to break into customers’ homes and force-fit pay-as-you-go meters, even when they are known to have extreme vulnerabilities, a Times investigation can reveal.
An undercover reporter worked for Arvato, a company used by British Gas to pursue debts, amid rocketing energy prices and more customers falling behind with their bills.
The reporter accompanied debt agents in below-freezing conditions as they worked with a locksmith to break into the home of a single father of three young children and switch it to a prepayment meter. If families with these gas meters cannot afford to top up, their heating is cut off.
On another occasion agents were sent by British Gas with a court warrant to force-fit a meter at the home of a young mother with a four-week-old baby. Her bills have risen sevenfold during the cost of living crisis.
According to job notes seen by The Times, other British Gas customers who have had prepayment meters fitted by force in recent weeks include a woman in her fifties described as “severe mental health bipolar”, a woman who “suffers with mobility problems and is partially sighted” and a mother whose “daughter is disabled and has a hoist and [an] electric wheelchair”.
After being approached for comment, British Gas suspended the practice of force-fitting prepayment meters. It began an investigation into the “deeply concerning” findings, adding: “This is not who we are — it’s not how we do business.”
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
You’re quite right. They are all absolutely posh pubs. Indeed if I had to compile a list of the most obviously posh pubs in London, that would be it
it’s a list of posh pubs by a quite posh person who never really liked pubs but went into a few posh ones, about 27 years ago
I mean, THE GRENADIER, ffs
Is the one where the bloke was punting his mews house to dig him out of a 'little hole'. I half expected Lord Lucan to pop in at any minute.
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
"Look and feel", eh? Righty ho.
Hey I'm not slagging them off. I like a bit of posh.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
The Old Forge was fully of hoorays when I was last there. Having been camped out for 3 days in the hills we seemed to be regarded as a bit of exhibit, which is definitely not in the spirit of the western frontier.
For the geeks, I reckon you have to include the Eagle in Cambridge and the Eagle and Child in Oxford.
I would have liked to add the Sligachan Hotel bar, but a) it isn't really a pub and b) Skye isn't what it used to be. So the Clachaig Inn it is (as long as you aren't a Campbell).
How about the Praban Bar at the Eiliean Iarmain (sp?)
And right at the other end of the country, the wonderful Turks Head in the Scillies, which on a warm day can feel like a brilliant British boozer transported to the Virgin Islands
If Sleat is still a quiet corner I will definitely put Eilean Iarmain on the list to visit.
I would put location at the top of my list of criteria. It has to retain the correct vibes of a traditional establishment but also be somewhere worth visiting for its own sake. Perhaps that's because I'm not exactly a drinker.
So one in the Scillies, definitely. There are many good ones in the smaller villages of the Peak District.
I discount all "locals" as they are either WMCs, not places you'd risk going in without an armed escort, or soulless chains.
You OTOH just come on, occasionally say that you know better than anyone else on this without ever engaging, smear and then flounce off.
Hey! That is MY job........
No. Your job is to talk about shoes. So that I too can talk about shoes. Shoes are very important to a happy and elegant life. When deciding on an outfit I often choose my shoes first.
Last week, for instance, I decided on rather natty purple suede shoes and the dress later for lunch with a handsome lawyer friend. Yesterday it was suede ankle boots for another lunch. And so on.
Funny enough I do need to get a couple of new pairs.....
I don't really go to pubs any more so a small list, all London based:
The Cock & Bottle, Notting Hill The Grenadier, Belgravia I'd give the Phene a go although its heyday was around 30 years ago The Enterprise, Walton Street - is that a pub still? The Eagle, Farringdon Rd The French House, Soho The Scarsdale, Kensington The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green Not the Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Nothing that Guy Ritchie owns or owned The Flask, Hampstead Any one of those pubs on the river in Hammersmith/Barnes
Do you only go to posho pubs?
How on earth do you know that they are posho pubs?
Well in one of them on your list, the last time I was there a bloke with a plummy voice and brightly coloured corduroys tried to sell me a 'gorgeous little mews' which if I had a few minutes was 'just round the corner'. Thankfully I'd come out without my cards.
And the others? How do you know they are "posho pubs"?
The look and feel. Maybe you don't notice since it's your milieu?
"Look and feel", eh? Righty ho.
Hey I'm not slagging them off. I like a bit of posh.
Good to hear it. I appreciate that the whole posh/non-posh-affluent/not affluent London thing is difficult for you but you should relax into it. No need to be on the defensive. Just be yourself.
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
It is hardly edgy, however. Which of course for me would be a huge turn off but it sounds like people such as yourself who like to see themselves "out there" want just enough edginess to be out there but not have to worry about losing their front teeth but it is a difficult balance to achieve.
Pubs in (central) London are rubbish. I mean - there are loads of nice ones, but they're all too busy. Who wants to book a table or god forbid a timeslot at a pub?
You want to stroll up at whatever time you damn please on the weekend, order pints (start with lager shandy if post-sport), pretend like you might go home to cook something and then end up eating with your mates and wasting an afternoon.
I will allow that central London has lots of nice spots for a post-work drink.
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
It is hardly edgy, however. Which of course for me would be a huge turn off but it sounds like people such as yourself who like to see themselves "out there" want just enough edginess to be out there but not have to worry about losing their front teeth but it is a difficult balance to achieve.
You are SO weirdly defensive and mixed-up when it comes to class. I’ve realised that much of your amateur analysis of @kinabalu is actually a curious form of Projection
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
The Old Forge was fully of hoorays when I was last there. Having been camped out for 3 days in the hills we seemed to be regarded as a bit of exhibit, which is definitely not in the spirit of the western frontier.
For the geeks, I reckon you have to include the Eagle in Cambridge and the Eagle and Child in Oxford.
I would have liked to add the Sligachan Hotel bar, but a) it isn't really a pub and b) Skye isn't what it used to be. So the Clachaig Inn it is (as long as you aren't a Campbell).
How about the Praban Bar at the Eiliean Iarmain (sp?)
And right at the other end of the country, the wonderful Turks Head in the Scillies, which on a warm day can feel like a brilliant British boozer transported to the Virgin Islands
If Sleat is still a quiet corner I will definitely put Eilean Iarmain on the list to visit.
I would put location at the top of my list of criteria. It has to retain the correct vibes of a traditional establishment but also be somewhere worth visiting for its own sake. Perhaps that's because I'm not exactly a drinker.
So one in the Scillies, definitely. There are many good ones in the smaller villages of the Peak District.
I discount all "locals" as they are either WMCs, not places you'd risk going in without an armed escort, or soulless chains.
Both those pubs are fab. Both are fabulously remote
And with that I must abed to watch Stranger Things. It’s 1am in Bangers. What a pleasantly not-trans debate about pubs. Night night
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
My old local used to be the Museum Tavern on Great Russell St, but the Fox and Pheasant in Chelsea is probably my fave. Good old James Blunt!
Stumbled upon the Nags Head near Hyde Park Corner recently. Never again. The reviews are hilarious......
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
I just meant your favourites. (The idea of some global order, or even a national order, is of course nonsense)
Edinboro Castle (which I know very well) is surely a makeweight. (Surely you know and prefer my Notting Hill suggestion - also local)
Many great pubs have gone though. I really liked what I think was called 'The Sun Inn' at the top of Lambs Conduit Street' for example
Ex-pubs I miss:
The Hope & Anchor, Upper St The Nashville, West Ken
My most fervent regret that it is no longer there, not a pub but badly missed:
The Gasworks, New Kings Road.
The Royal Oak, Tabard St The Clissold Park Tavern The Cumberland, Kensington The Free Press, Cambridge Lamb & Flag, Covent Gdn The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding The Kilpeck Inn, Herefords. The hotel/pub at Port Gaverne The Spyglass, Ventnor The Buddle Inn, Niton The Taverners, Godshill
Do you know the Labour In Vain in Fontwell, Sussex?
There is an amusing story behind the name, but I'm guessing it may have been changed to appease the PC crowd.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close.
The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
I don’t believe I have been to any of those (with the possible exception of The Swan)
Britain is fabulously blessed with amazing pubs, full of history, character - and characters. They are one of the best things about the UK and not really matched anywhere else in the world. Whenever I am abroad for long periods they are one of the big things I miss most. A grand old British boozer, big or small, rich or poor, gastro or narco
Long may they endure. The ancient British alehouse
New York pubs are shit. In fact most of them are “sports bars”.
Britain MUST protect its pubs. They are an indispensable part of its cultural patrimony.
Pubs close all the time, especially outside London.
My understanding is that pubs were enjoying a mini revival in the 10s, led by new micro-brewery and/or food-led pubs.
I imagine Covid and now energy prices has decimated the sector.
It breaks my heart. If I was dictator of the UK, I would find a way to protect them.
Some are saved via becoming an ACV (Asset of Community Value) where the local community bands together to run them. Same with some shops, especially in rural areas. But it is a big ask of the local community and these often tend to close not too long after they have been "saved".
Any decent village must have a pub. I would not consider moving to a village without a pub.
I would consider scrapping alcohol duty on rural pubs and things of that nature.
As per the daily mash article, a village pub is one of those ideas that is of course a reality but quite often is an idyllic daydream of people who wouldn't dream of going to the pub usually.
As you say, over the past three years pubs have struggled. It is a constant challenge to keep themselves above water. I don't know the financial mechanics of running a pub but the ones I know (not in London) are forever trying to innovate to bring new customers in and there does seem to be a desperation in there also.
Speaking of daydreams, idyllic or otherwise, the many bars in the Matthew Scudder novels of Lawrence Block would make for memorable visits. Make friends with Mick Ballou. Try 'When the Sacred Ginmill Closes' if you don't know them.
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
It is hardly edgy, however. Which of course for me would be a huge turn off but it sounds like people such as yourself who like to see themselves "out there" want just enough edginess to be out there but not have to worry about losing their front teeth but it is a difficult balance to achieve.
You are SO weirdly defensive and mixed-up when it comes to class. I’ve realised that much of your amateur analysis of @kinabalu is actually a curious form of Projection
Frankly it only takes an amateur to work you and @kinabalu out.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
We have been going to the Guildford Arms of late. Its a beautiful pub with a great range of beers that is very close to the station. The Jolly Judge is good too but a bit of a tourist trap being too near the Castle.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
We have been going to the Guildford Arms of late. Its a beautiful pub with a great range of beers that is very close to the station. The Jolly Judge is good too but a bit of a tourist trap being too near the Castle.
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
Indeed! I don’t mind a posh pub, they all have their place - the Grenadier is fab for people watching - but the very best have a mix, as you say
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
My old local used to be the Museum Tavern on Great Russell St, but the Fox and Pheasant in Chelsea is probably my fave. Good old James Blunt!
Stumbled upon the Nags Head near Hyde Park Corner recently. Never again. The reviews are hilarious......
Museum Tavern is Sam Smiths isn't it? Somehow I've never got on with their beer.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
You should try walking there, by either route...
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
The jukebox? - That takes me way back.
Pub in Penge - not a Topping sort of place - close to my bedsit, I used to go down there on my own in the evening and play Guantanamera on repeat. Sit there, legs crossed, moodily sipping pints and chain smoking as that song worked its magic. Life and soul.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close.
The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
I don’t believe I have been to any of those (with the possible exception of The Swan)
Britain is fabulously blessed with amazing pubs, full of history, character - and characters. They are one of the best things about the UK and not really matched anywhere else in the world. Whenever I am abroad for long periods they are one of the big things I miss most. A grand old British boozer, big or small, rich or poor, gastro or narco
Long may they endure. The ancient British alehouse
New York pubs are shit. In fact most of them are “sports bars”.
Britain MUST protect its pubs. They are an indispensable part of its cultural patrimony.
Pubs close all the time, especially outside London.
My understanding is that pubs were enjoying a mini revival in the 10s, led by new micro-brewery and/or food-led pubs.
I imagine Covid and now energy prices has decimated the sector.
It breaks my heart. If I was dictator of the UK, I would find a way to protect them.
Some are saved via becoming an ACV (Asset of Community Value) where the local community bands together to run them. Same with some shops, especially in rural areas. But it is a big ask of the local community and these often tend to close not too long after they have been "saved".
Any decent village must have a pub. I would not consider moving to a village without a pub.
I would consider scrapping alcohol duty on rural pubs and things of that nature.
It's business rates that's the killer. We just need to scrap it entirely and cut the government budget by that amount.
The existence of business rates is another bizarre feature of Britain’s tax system that seems expressly designed to crush entrepreneurship.
I'll see if I can get permission to send one of our internal research papers out (we don't tend to do it as we're a fairly politically neutral entity and if stuff like this gets out and shared widely we just get shit from everyone), I think you'd find it interesting because it does make a very compelling argument as to why the UK is not fit for investment, brexit doesn't even figure into it really, it actually gets to the real reasons why the UK seems like a bad place to invest money to generate capital growth and high taxes on production feature pretty heavily and a sense that "businesses and individuals are seen as nothing more than piggy banks to feed money into an unreformable public sector whose demands are forever increasing, further eroding the tax base" or something along those lines.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close.
The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
I don’t believe I have been to any of those (with the possible exception of The Swan)
Britain is fabulously blessed with amazing pubs, full of history, character - and characters. They are one of the best things about the UK and not really matched anywhere else in the world. Whenever I am abroad for long periods they are one of the big things I miss most. A grand old British boozer, big or small, rich or poor, gastro or narco
Long may they endure. The ancient British alehouse
New York pubs are shit. In fact most of them are “sports bars”.
Britain MUST protect its pubs. They are an indispensable part of its cultural patrimony.
Pubs close all the time, especially outside London.
My understanding is that pubs were enjoying a mini revival in the 10s, led by new micro-brewery and/or food-led pubs.
I imagine Covid and now energy prices has decimated the sector.
It breaks my heart. If I was dictator of the UK, I would find a way to protect them.
Some are saved via becoming an ACV (Asset of Community Value) where the local community bands together to run them. Same with some shops, especially in rural areas. But it is a big ask of the local community and these often tend to close not too long after they have been "saved".
Any decent village must have a pub. I would not consider moving to a village without a pub.
I would consider scrapping alcohol duty on rural pubs and things of that nature.
It's business rates that's the killer. We just need to scrap it entirely and cut the government budget by that amount.
Where would you find around £25bn of cuts?
Pensions, the NHS, put up taxes on pension income. Think that would cover it.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Bannerman’s maybe?
I wondered, [edit] and have had many a pint of Fraoch there, but being in the Coogait it doesn't match @DavidL 's likely routes to/from court from Waverley. More like Old Fleshmarket Close, or one of the closes to the west.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Think it was the last of those where we got absolutely whooparsed on the dartboards by a couple of stereotypically tiny but hard drinking Japanese lasses back in the day.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Think it was the last of those where we got absolutely whooparsed on the dartboards by a couple of stereotypically tiny but hard drinking Japanese lasses back in the day.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
We have been going to the Guildford Arms of late. Its a beautiful pub with a great range of beers that is very close to the station. The Jolly Judge is good too but a bit of a tourist trap being too near the Castle.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Bannerman’s maybe?
I wondered, [edit] and have had many a pint of Fraoch there, but being in the Coogait it doesn't match @DavidL 's likely routes to/from court from Waverley. More like Old Fleshmarket Close, or one of the closes to the west.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
You should try walking there, by either route...
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
The walk in from Kinloch Hourn is stunning, but much harder than the lochside route would suggest - very bumpy. I've done it from both directions, Arkaig too. Loads of keds.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
We have been going to the Guildford Arms of late. Its a beautiful pub with a great range of beers that is very close to the station. The Jolly Judge is good too but a bit of a tourist trap being too near the Castle.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Think it was the last of those where we got absolutely whooparsed on the dartboards by a couple of stereotypically tiny but hard drinking Japanese lasses back in the day.
That old darts playing Japanese woman trope.
Not enough of a trope not to surprise us just a touch at the extent. Yeah, anyone who hangs out at a place with a dartboard and then challenges you might be able to play a bit, And indeed they could.
The Blue Lion, East Witton, The Green Man, Great Offley, The Red Lion, Preston (Herts.) The Ferry Inn, Salcombe, The Waterman’s Arms, Tuckenhay, The Dolphin, Thorverton, The Hope and Anchor, Hope Cove.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
You should try walking there, by either route...
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
The walk in from Kinloch Hourn is stunning, but much harder than the lochside route would suggest - very bumpy. I've done it from both directions, Arkaig too. Loads of keds.
Yeah, the walk from Inverie to Kinloch Hourn was difficult, but not a touch on the previous day. I measured it at 15 miles and over 3,000 feet of ascent and descent. A hard day's walk, but from memory the views were amazing.
I'd love to get up there and do some more walking, but I just don't have the opportunity at the moment.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
You should try walking there, by either route...
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
Walked the South Downs way in about 2004, over Easter. Sunday night, after two long days (both > 20 miles) we found our B&B. Pub over the way was doing food. Best pub of the year (hungry, thirsty, tired, had steak and chips). Context is everything.
One from a while ago The Fat Cat in Norwich. Glorious real ale pub.
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
You should try walking there, by either route...
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
Walked the South Downs way in about 2004, over Easter. Sunday night, after two long days (both > 20 miles) we found our B&B. Pub over the way was doing food. Best pub of the year (hungry, thirsty, tired, had steak and chips). Context is everything.
One from a while ago The Fat Cat in Norwich. Glorious real ale pub.
Did Norwich away on Boxing Day 2021 on my own so took my dad and left him in The Fat Cat whilst I went to the game. Very much one of his favourites.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
The Old Forge was fully of hoorays when I was last there. Having been camped out for 3 days in the hills we seemed to be regarded as a bit of exhibit, which is definitely not in the spirit of the western frontier.
For the geeks, I reckon you have to include the Eagle in Cambridge and the Eagle and Child in Oxford.
I would have liked to add the Sligachan Hotel bar, but a) it isn't really a pub and b) Skye isn't what it used to be. So the Clachaig Inn it is (as long as you aren't a Campbell).
Wasn’t The Old Forge bought by a Dutch chap who only opened it in summer? When I was there the locals had set up an outdoor pub (well, some casks and benches to sit on) on a patch of grass outside the pub in protest.
Plus the food was hugely overpriced and very bland. Leon I reckon if it wasn’t on Knoydart it would be on a list of crap pubs.
After avoiding this place all morning because of trans arguments and ChatPT/AI waffle, I had faint hopes a new thread would clear the decks. No, of course not, what Was I thinking. For the love of all that's holy, can we not just having a standing discussion thread for each of those and shunt them off there so non-obsessives can actually find the interesting topics.
You are one of the most boring, pointless, invisible posters on here. Why the fuck should anyone give a toss what you think?
Seriously. 306 comments, In total
You’re like a stranger bursting into a local boozer and shouting at the regulars: I DEMAND YOU STOP PLAYING DARTS
There is a world of difference to discussing things which are relevant to the thread and shoe horning your own agenda into every bloody discussion which is exactly what you do. You rarely engage with the thread subject but just bang on about you and your obsessions.
Did I mention I went to the FOURTEENTH BEST BAR IN THE WORLD, last night?
it’s such a cool bar, they serve you a free, welcoming “welcome to your drinks” drink. An aperitif aperitif. And it has an ice cube SHAPED LIKE A DIAMOND
Looking back, it might have actually been a diamond
Ironically, my lord, I have a diamond SHAPED LIKE AN ICE CUBE
Challenge accepted
The other day I went to the SEVENTY FIRST BEST BAR IN THE WORLD and they literally put silver leaf on my cocktail
I was staying in the hotel when they were awarded number 5 - and for that night their cocktails were $5. Memorable, well, as much of it as I remember, anyway.
OOOH. Value
“50 best bars in the world” is the most ludicrous list. It’s like saying “the 50 best places to have a nice sit down” or “the 50 best places to be at 3pm”
ALSO it didn’t include THIS, the best drink I have had these last several years. But what is it?
Didn't you start this? (14th best bar or some such?)
I did, and I was there, But I thought my capitalisation made it clear that I think this list is absurd. I mean, there is such a list, and it is significant to a small number of high quality cocktail bars around the world (especially in Asia, where status means so much) but the idea they have or can evaluate every bar in the world - and then rank them - is surreally daft
I do admire the UK PR group that started it all off tho. With “50 best restaurants”. It is now taken deeply seriously
They are doing the first “50 best hotels” this year
Ok, so best pub (or two) then?
Mine are;
Queens Head just outside Cambridge in Newton. (edit) Windsor Castle, Notting Hill Pig and Whistle, Kyoto
Even “best pub in the UK” is fairly daft, because - what are you looking for? Great beer? Great food? Great location? Great place to score drugs/sex/double top at darts?
But in the convivial spirt of PB here are my faves in Britain
The Pandora at Restronguet, Cornwall. The landlord is a tit and the food can be hit and miss but ohmyword the location
The Old Forge, Knoydart
The Coach and Horses, Soho (yes, a cliche but still)
The White Horse, Brancaster
The Bull’s Head, Craswall, Herefordshire
The Edinboro Castle, Camden (my local. You have to include your local)
My UK list would probably include -
Skehans, Telegraph Hill - my local, one of the top 10 pubs in Britain according to Time Out and who am I to disagree. Possibly a victim of its own success now, arrive early to get a seat.
The Jigger Inn, St Andrews - I have a soft spot because they used to allow me and my mates to drink there despite being blatantly underage. Unlike most St Andrews pubs it hasn't changed beyond recognition in the last thirty years either.
The Halfway House, Edinburgh - only visited once but it made a big impression, a tiny pub on Flesh Market Close. A The Swan, Stockwell, London - if you've been you'll understand.
Special mention for Marie's Crisis in NYC - where a guy on the piano does show tunes requests and the whole bar sings along - what's not to like?
Halfway House is good also Jinglin’ Geordies next door, a good, old fashioned boozer. The Doric Tavern round the corner was an absolute haunt of mine for several years. My dad had a very ill advised share in the adjacent Hebrides bar last century. The Oxford Bar has been a bit Ian Rankin-Ed but still ok. I remember the glory days when it was Willie Ross’s; I think he would probably have qualified as genuinely anti English.
Edinburgh has some spectacularly brilliant and/or hostile pubs
i recall one just off the Royal Mile where you had to go down medieval steps into a kind of cellar. You expected it to be touristy but it absolutely wasn’t. Full of proper troglodytic drinkers. Superb
Bannerman’s maybe?
I wondered, [edit] and have had many a pint of Fraoch there, but being in the Coogait it doesn't match @DavidL 's likely routes to/from court from Waverley. More like Old Fleshmarket Close, or one of the closes to the west.
That's what I thought. Can't remember the name of the pub. Is it named after Rabbie Burns or some other famed Scot of yesteryear? Smells of piss around there, never been tempted in.
AAA if you have an A in computer science/computing
You are wrong!
The standard offer actually includes an A* and for most they will get an A* in Computer Science anyway if studying it
My son studied Computer Science at Cambridge where he is now doing his PhD. He did not do computer science at A level or GCSE and was not asked for a single A* by Cambridge in any subject. In fact Cambridge gave him his lowest offer of all the Unis he applied for. It might have something to do with him winning the Cambridge University Computer Science prize when he was in the lower sixth though.
And I expect he got mainly A* and As at GCSE and A level too didn't he?
If he got Cs and Ds he almost certainly wouldn't be at Cambridge.
The fact he won the Computer Science prize clearly put him in the top 10% for the subject he studied too didn't it!!
Yes you would be correct, but that wasn't the point was it. The point was you were wrong.
Yes that WAS the point.
My original point that virtually all Russell Group students are in the top 10% for the subject they studied was correct.
As you just confirmed for your own son too
The main point, as has been shown ever since you posted here, but abundantly over the last few days, is that when you make a mistake you can never admit it.
I make loads of mistakes. I have made them here quite a lot also. When I do I put my hands up. You never do. Instead you squirm around it and move the goal posts.
I don't know why you do it because you would get a lot more respect for doing so. It also often deflects from the point you are making as people will now home in on your mistake, just like I did, so it devalues what might be a good argument by you.
And as you can see people are making fun of you now so the point is lost.
Wrong on both counts.
I said to Horse earlier I made a mistake in terms of the requirement of A* entry grades for Russell Group courses. However my point virtually all Russell Group students are in the top 10% for the subject they studied stands.
Of course as I am one of the few loyal Tories on here still 'admit making a mistake' often really means follow the non Tory herd, which I won't do!
No they're not. For example, the top departments of economics in the land are first LSE (RG) and then Bath (non-Russell Group). The leading department of politics is at Aberystwyth, which is one reason why I went there. For many years one of the top ten history departments was Oxford Brookes.
Been the case for years decades.
When I was at Cowley Tech an engineer there admitted Hull had a better engineering department.
My anecdotal experience is that all unis have strong and weak faculties. At Aber, politics was excellent, History was OK, Welsh was a bit of a joke.
I think the difference is people make assumptions about 'top' unis wihtout burrowing down into the detail.
Even within the politics faculty the consistency of "teaching" was patchy to say the least. At Cardiff I was "taught" by the wonderful (failed Labour and SDP candidate) Barry Jones and the (in my opinion) woeful (failed Tory candidate) Dr Ann Robinson who soon after became the mouthpiece for the IOD, a role to which she was much better suited.
When were you at Cardiff MexP? I was there 83-86. I know Welshowl formerly of this parish was there 83-87 as well.
'86 to ''89. I went to work as a Sales Rep after A levels (mine weren't that fantastic) the desire for a new Ford Cortina 1.6L was too much to resist. It worked for me as I was then one of the few students with a decent car- a 1985 Ford Capri, which served me well with prettier students requiring lifts back to University Hall.
I wonder if old Uni Hall is still there. P22 was my room if I remember rightly. Then I moved down into digs on Marlborough Road and Donald Street. I hated that long walk back up from the University to Pen-y-lan Hill.
Yes Uni Hall is still there, but there are acres of other hi rise student halls in Cardiff now. I seldom drive into Cardiff at night but I dropped my wife off at St David's Hall this evening, and I hadn't realised how the City Centre now has the look of Manhattan about it. Progress? I'm not sure
That long walk past Roath Park Lake is why Uni Hall young lady students would hunt me down in the humanities library for a lift in Dagenham's finest. (It wasn't for my looks and gsoh).
I was at the bottom of Pen y Lan just behind Newport Road for the first year, in Adamsdown for year two and in Thornhill for year three.
Comments
The only Covid-related disaster is that they still haven't reinstated their world-beating cheese souffle.
Though unless he were to go out of his way to encounter me, he’ll be spared the experience.
God, I can’t remember. Think I visited during the Fringe? Or during the days I had a girlfriend at Edinburgh Uni (a while ago!)
Glasgow has some excellently rough pubs. They are an acquired taste, but I do like a pub where, when you go in, you think this could be your last day on earth
There used to be such a pub in London. The Bladebone. A proper NF/Nazi pub, where everyone had killer dogs or combat 88 tatts or both. Now sadly gone. i got well drunk there, and nearly glassed
Look at this superb description from the CAMRA guide
E2 BLADE BONE: 185 Bethnal Green Road . Bass Charrington. CHARRINGTON IPA. Not far from Cable Street, scene of the battle with Mosley's Blackshirts in the 1930's. The present day pub is a modern building, although has boards over the windows. An unusuallly patriotic pub. Pool/Piano.
Lol!
https://www.closedpubs.co.uk/london/e2_bethnalgreen_bladebone.html
Scrapping it would be FAR more beneficial to businesses in London and richer parts of the SE because rateable values are much higher. You may be able to equalise in other ways, of course, but you'd be increasing the cost well above even the £25bn annual sum mentioned.
(White) mate of mine was sitting in there 30-odd years ago with his black girlfriend and someone just walked up to him and hit him with a crowbar, shattering his jaw.
The Clissold Park Tavern
The Cumberland, Kensington
The Free Press, Cambridge
Lamb & Flag, Covent Gdn
The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding
The Kilpeck Inn, Herefords.
The hotel/pub at Port Gaverne
The Spyglass, Ventnor
The Buddle Inn, Niton
The Taverners, Godshill
it’s a list of posh pubs by a quite posh person who never really liked pubs but went into a few posh ones, about 27 years ago
I mean, THE GRENADIER, ffs
For Glasgow pubs I don't think anyone has beaten the descriptions of William McIvaney, in the Laidlaw books, specifically "The papers of Tony Veitch." There is a description there of someone giving a bit of cheek to the wrong landlord and the doors being barred from the inside...
An undercover reporter worked for Arvato, a company used by British Gas to pursue debts, amid rocketing energy prices and more customers falling behind with their bills.
The reporter accompanied debt agents in below-freezing conditions as they worked with a locksmith to break into the home of a single father of three young children and switch it to a prepayment meter. If families with these gas meters cannot afford to top up, their heating is cut off.
On another occasion agents were sent by British Gas with a court warrant to force-fit a meter at the home of a young mother with a four-week-old baby. Her bills have risen sevenfold during the cost of living crisis.
According to job notes seen by The Times, other British Gas customers who have had prepayment meters fitted by force in recent weeks include a woman in her fifties described as “severe mental health bipolar”, a woman who “suffers with mobility problems and is partially sighted” and a mother whose “daughter is disabled and has a hoist and [an] electric wheelchair”.
After being approached for comment, British Gas suspended the practice of force-fitting prepayment meters. It began an investigation into the “deeply concerning” findings, adding: “This is not who we are — it’s not how we do business.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/british-gas-prepayment-meter-debt-energy-bills-investigation-wrgnzt6xs
Boring.
One of my favourite pubs was the Griffin in Shoreditch before the hipsters took over completely.
Ideally you want a hybrid: one part cool young things who control the jukebox, one part ruined old soaks peering at the Turf Digest over a pickled egg.
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-told-quit-now-29108040
I would put location at the top of my list of criteria. It has to retain the correct vibes of a traditional establishment but also be somewhere worth visiting for its own sake. Perhaps that's because I'm not exactly a drinker.
So one in the Scillies, definitely. There are many good ones in the smaller villages of the Peak District.
I discount all "locals" as they are either WMCs, not places you'd risk going in without an armed escort, or soulless chains.
That’s why I still love the Coach in Soho. It is a biggish boozer in a phenomenal location which could presumably sell up for squillions and become a champagne and caviar place, or a gay Arabian cigar house, or whatever, but it resolutely stays the same, and does not even bother to redecorate
As a result it has retained crusty old regulars who mix with flighty young art students and actors from the nearby theatres. And it has a piano for real sing songs
https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7120217.jim-got-back-sheets/
Not sure if the Old Forge is any better now the crazy Belgian guy has gone. I was there last in 2020.
Was in the Clachaig last weekend, managed to lose my friends Labrador while he went for a piss, nearly lost her to the Aonach Eagach.
Applecross Inn is great, annoying if you are the driver.
Who wants to book a table or god forbid a timeslot at a pub?
You want to stroll up at whatever time you damn please on the weekend, order pints (start with lager shandy if post-sport), pretend like you might go home to cook something and then end up eating with your mates and wasting an afternoon.
I will allow that central London has lots of nice spots for a post-work drink.
And with that I must abed to watch Stranger Things. It’s 1am in Bangers. What a pleasantly not-trans debate about pubs. Night night
Stumbled upon the Nags Head near Hyde Park Corner recently. Never again. The reviews are hilarious......
There is an amusing story behind the name, but I'm guessing it may have been changed to appease the PC crowd.
My memories of the Old Forge are having walked there, starting at the old church bothy at Tarbet, and walking east along the southern shore of Loch Nevis. There was no path, and I made about a mile an hour. Then when I reached Sourlies, I spent the afternoon walking over the beallach and descending down to Inverie. When I reached there, my gf (who had taken the ferry over) had pitched our tent and was busily getting ready to make dinner. After which we got drunk in the Old Forge.
It was something like 17 miles in 11 hours; the hardest day's walk of the entire year.
Which answers Leon's question; the best pub is the one that's open at the end of an 11-hour walk...
Pub in Penge - not a Topping sort of place - close to my bedsit, I used to go down there on my own in the evening and play Guantanamera on repeat. Sit there, legs crossed, moodily sipping pints and chain smoking as that song worked its magic. Life and soul.
The Blue Lion, East Witton,
The Green Man, Great Offley,
The Red Lion, Preston (Herts.)
The Ferry Inn, Salcombe,
The Waterman’s Arms, Tuckenhay,
The Dolphin, Thorverton,
The Hope and Anchor, Hope Cove.
I'd love to get up there and do some more walking, but I just don't have the opportunity at the moment.
Context is everything.
One from a while ago The Fat Cat in Norwich. Glorious real ale pub.
Seems slightly more likely that BoE will stick at 4% after this week.
Plus the food was hugely overpriced and very bland. Leon I reckon if it wasn’t on Knoydart it would be on a list of crap pubs.
After bothering to Google: he was Belgian, and now the community own it https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-60907329. When did you visit Leon? Maybe it has improved (it couldn’t have got much worse than when I was there in 2018 or so)
That long walk past Roath Park Lake is why Uni Hall young lady students would hunt me down in the humanities library for a lift in Dagenham's finest. (It wasn't for my looks and gsoh).
I was at the bottom of Pen y Lan just behind Newport Road for the first year, in Adamsdown for year two and in Thornhill for year three.