I know you’re desperate for news of Mrs RM‘s latest venture to keep me in the style to which I’m accustomed.
She’s alternating between Northampton and Cambridge Councils, doing something involving IT, whatever that is. The Cambridge version of her job takes place at Castle Hill, the highest point in town (i.e. about the height of the Fosters cans in that Weston post arranged in a pile).
There’s loads of pubs nearby, none of them used by office workers, of course.
The other week we went to the Castle Inn, run by top Southwold gin manufacturer and wine merchant Adnams. That one loosely specialises in cheap burgers, there’s a Charles Wells place that leads on pizzas, and of course the Pint Shop is all about the scotch eggs. Talk about shameless cultural appropriation of food styles.
Mrs RM fancied the “fish and chips combo” theme across the road at the Architect; a cutting-edge offer from the heart of the Leicester suburbs.
The Architect (aka County Arms) is probably the pub I’ve walked past most without going in, a dull open-plan interior and unloved Everards beers surviving a number of improvements.
Be honest; would this lot pull you in off the street with those Adnams grapefruit murky IPAs over the road ?
Having built it up for you, I can now tell you this. It has the best service of any restaurant (it’s no pub) anywhere in Cambridge. Cheery, unfussy, efficient, chatty.
Mrs RM had a pint of that real ale* and they didn’t say “Are you sure you want a pint ? it’s 5% you know” like they do in Peterborough.
I’m not daft; I stuck to the keg Titanic Stout, served in one of those thick glasses we all adore. I can’t believe it’s not cask, smooth and gorgeous.
Mrs RM struggled with her cask, “tired” is the polite word. She plucked up courage;
“I’m sorry, this just doesn’t taste right”
“Oh sorry, what else would you like. Come and have a look“.
None of the “No-one’s complained/supposed to taste like that/you’ve drunk some” you sometimes get. They even turned the pump clip round. Oddly, they also asked if she’d like to keep the beer she’d just rejected, but let’s gloss over that.
The Sunchaser was better, apparently, and the cod and calamari were what we call “trenchermen portions”. Not sure about the bumps on the fish though.
Good service should be recognised, even if this doesn’t look like a viable cask outlet to me. Go for calamari, chip and peas, washed down with Burslem’s finest.
*There was no Brew Dog on.
retiredmartin 
Hope she’s getting paid upfront by Northampton.
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They leave the cash in bags outside the Rifle Drum.
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Tonight on the Forgotten Coast Mrs PPT and I had several nice beers and a very good meal involving proper cutlery,a table cloth and good service.
And nothing unusual to report.
Think of this as one of RM’s more succinct posts where there’s nothing much to see move along please.
Probably from Chorley.
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P P-T,
Metal cutlery and a table cloth are signs of a proper restaurant.
Over here American burger chains wrongly use the word “restaurant” for their self-service cafeterias with, I’m told, food in a cardboard box with plastic cutlery to be eaten from a bare table.
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Actually posted from my doormat where I’m waiting for the new Beer Guide to drop.
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And if we don’t hear from you for a week or two we’ll know that you’re too busy planning your itineraries for the next 365 days !
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I’ll actually be in a field, in Dorset, from Thursday to Monday drinking keg Beavertown so posts may be thin indeed.
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Titanic Stout was the Champion Bottled Beer of Britain in 2004 and 2009.
Titanic first did their Stout as a Bottle Conditioned Beer because they wanted Stout on in their Stafford Arms, opposite Stafford Railway Station, but there wasn’t a handpump spare for it.
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Great to see you celebrating a top keg beer in the new CAMRA tradition Martin…the photo definitely does it justice..
Good to hear that Mrs RMs commute has reduced drastically now she’s back in England…
Looks like a top pub – proper glasses and all…
Researched cod with bumps – found nothing at all to help…apparently there was something called ‘cod warts’ which happened some years ago – fishermen got to fighting over it so must have been ok….
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“the photo definitely does it justice” but it’s short measure even if Martin has had a bit of a sip out of it.
I really enjoyed drinking cask Titanic Stout but for years now have only seen it as keg.
I don’t like their Cappuccino Stout.
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Can’t even sip the Cappuccino one. I would challenge you to tell the difference between cask and keg Stout though. You see that Titanic keg a bit round here, particularly in the Everards houses.
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Well, a few years ago in Stafford’s Greyhound a CAMRA member, from another branch, who had told us all about his ‘taste training’ had a pint of Titanic Stout and insisted that it ‘must be cask’ but it wasn’t.
If the best “craft” kegs can challenge the best cask beers then that’s all the more need for Real Ale to always be sold in tip top condition but, as you sadly remind us on a near daily basis, that’s simply not happening.
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Oh, and I often like Espresso Stouts but not Cappuccino Stouts which just reflects that I like a good black coffee but not any drink with milk in it.
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Thanks for the research Hermit. The role of good glassware is underplayed. Everards may have rubbish clips these days but their glasses are great, and the Titanic ones are unmatched.
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I’m told that the Titanic glasses look best if there’s cubes of ice in the drink.
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Twenty points for that, Paul. Keep up this form and you’ll win second prize, which is a pint of IPA in the Sunbeam on Christmas Day (actually, is that possible ?).
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Six weeks ago was when I was last in the Sunbeam – and I was their first customer of the day.
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What time was that, Paul ?
I feel a visit coming up.
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It was 9.52am but I was told “we don’t open ’til 10” so I had to go and wait outside for several minutes.
You have probably already guessed the five reasons for me being in the Sunbeam ;
(1) I had already had a pint in the Wetherspoons venue
(2) the Stonegate pubs weren’t quite close enough
(3) I had time for another pint before my train to Shifnal
(4) the Great Western wasn’t yet open
(5) the Sunbeam sells a former Champion Bitter of Britain.
I’ve realised that if Britain’s two Great brewers weren’t such arch rivals the Sunbeam could sell Sunbeam as a House Beer.
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10am is quite early for a Greene King dining pub. Good for them.
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Yes, GK’s Hungry Horse in Stafford, the Kings Horse, doesn’t open until 11am – except on Saturdays and Sundays when it’s 9am but that might just be for breakfasts not their award winning IPA.
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I wonder how long it will be before Everards beer will be brewed in Wolves? They aren’t brewed in Leicestershire at the moment. They seem more keen on gin and retail parks.
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Wes,
Banks’s’s Brewery in Wolverhampton is at full capacity so it’s not likely to be there.
Currently I think it’s Robinsons of Stockport for the main beers and ‘Joules’ of Market Drayton for the others and I doubt if that will change in the next year or two.
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I was aware of that but just being naughty. Strange that Everards make such a big thing about Leicestershire but brew in Stockport and Market Drayton.
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If I brewed in Stockport or Market Drayton I’d want to shout it from the rooftops #HomesOfBrewing
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“naughty” – does Martin allow that ?
“shout it from the rooftops” – yes, and the labels of Co-op bottled beers make it very clear that they’re from Robinsons of Stockport.
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““naughty” – does Martin allow that ?”
You have no idea. 😉
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The Adnams Craft beers refereed to are a salutary lesson as to why traditional brewers should stick to brewing, excellent, traditional, and slightly progressive (they have embraced Mosaic hops) beers and not dabble with things they know F___ all about.
Surprised you don’t see Titanic cask and it’s mainly keg. Mind you, they will know that folks will sup owt down there.
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Richard,
In their pubs Titanic are very much still mainly cask although their Stout is keg and a couple of years ago they ‘launched’ MAP, Mid Atlantic Pale, ( and offered a free pint of it to their loyalty card holders ) but I don’t see much of that being sold.
They brew quite a lot of bottled beer and I don’t know the balance between cask and keg for the free trade.
Oh, and you can now get Titanic Gin – but I’m not sure if that’s something they know fuck all about.
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I’ve had Everards Tiger, Banks’s Amber and 61 Deep all on keg in the last few months and all were nectar…. whisper it quietly though 😉
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We trust your taste buds, BeerMat. You’re not one of them CAMRAs !
I start my 3 piece Coalville suite today, by the by.
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“(i.e. about the height of the Fosters cans in that Weston post arranged in a pile).”
(slow golf clap)
“Dreadful pump clips”
And too many of course! 🙂
“Mrs RM struggled with her cask, “tired” is the polite word.”
A sign of the times (or the summer at least). 😦
“Dinosaur cod”
Or maybe they were caught near a nuclear plant owned by Mr. Burns. 😉
“*There was no Brew Dog on.”
And, if there was, and Mrs RM had asked for a pint of that 17% stout, would they have asked if she wanted a whole pint? 🙂
Cheers
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I sense the nice man would have given Mrs RM whatever she asked for.
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