IN THE TEMPLE OF LOVE (FOR QPR ’67)

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Part 3 of the Great Central London Wash-Up took me west (checks compass) from Shoreditch to Temple, via Barbican and Smithfield Market.

The route through Farringdon is a lot less glossy than the walk along Fleet Street into Bank, and you bump into less suits.

Temple
Historic route map.  Actual time: 35 minutes

Smithfield is crumbling a bit, but trees growing out of buildings work for me.  Could London be the next Halifax ?

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Smithfield

Astonishingly, near the Barbican you can take a screenshot from the new Beer Guide app and find no pubs in any direction for, oooh, five minutes.

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GBG desert

Eventually you come to the GBG Butcher’s Hook & Cleaver, one of those awful Fuller’s pie places, and walk quickly on.  Only now as I look at the map do I see how close I came to the Cittie of Yorke.

The tourist quotient rises sharply as you reach Fleet Street and spot the Thames.  I feel like a tourist, and appropriately get lost looking for the Temple Brewhouse in the warren of streets.

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People’s Friend revival starts here

Luckily the GBG app proves its worth by showing me the Temple is round the corner from the Edgar Wallace;  navigating by pub is my strongpoint.

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Ambitious outside seating

The descent to the cellar bar is promising.

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Not the actual taps
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Burger fever unabated in Temple
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Bare boards brewpub chic
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Beavertown get everywhere

The concept looks familiar, and suddenly I wonder if this is a bare boards Brewhouse & Kitchen.

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Keg overload

But no, it’s only Cambridge’s own City Pub Co extending the burger and homebrew formulas.

And it’s attracting the burger crowd in decent numbers on a Wednesday lunchtime, even if the lack of banter or folk at the bar tells you this is polite restaurant with beer.  Just like in Cambridge.

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Beer enjoying Man City Boys v Lyon Boys

The beer, probably called something like Toast NEIPA (oh, it was) was a bit warmer than you’d get 200 miles north, but very tasty, so another London winner.

Best of all, a soundtrack of Dylan, albeit the ’69 country version, and Laura Marling. As I say, all very polite.

A lot of effort has gone into making it feel quirky, and I guess a range of beers you’ve never heard of works for the average polite Londoner.

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Not a Blur reference

But it was good to see that, in the spirit of Rodney Marsh, a QPR fan had already defaced the Gents.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

16 thoughts on “IN THE TEMPLE OF LOVE (FOR QPR ’67)”

  1. Rodney Marsh:
    Alf Ramsey: If you don’t buck yourself up Marsh, I’m going go pull you off at half time.
    Marsh: Bloody hell Gaffer, at QPR we just get a cup of tea.
    Never played for England again.
    Allegedly.

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  4. Beer range looks interesting, but would one go for a pint if it’s really a restaurant? I saw on a FB site this week someone had posted large, saying ‘the traditional pub is dead’ or words to that effect. Chains like this, and others, are sort of backing this theory up.

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      3. On my way home from the doctors yesterday I did four north Stafford pubs and all were quite busy but maybe Friday afternoons are one of the better times of the week.
        The Holmcroft does quite a bit of food now but the Joiners Arms, Kings Arms and Princess Royal are all very definitely wet led.

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  5. “Ambitious outside seating”

    Indeed. Space is at a premium in London, like any big city. 🙂

    “Burger fever unabated in Temple”

    Are those kegs near the door doubling as seats?

    “Not a Blur reference”

    Could be a minor problem for tourists who aren’t familiar with ‘loos’. 😉

    “a QPR fan had already defaced the Gents.”

    Looks like some excellent reading there.

    Cheers

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