3rd February 2020
Surrey to a finish (nearly) , before it gets all blown away tomorrow by Storm Ciara.
Two nicely contrasting Guildford GBG entries left, and they sum up a county bravely resisting the surge of micros and craft to the east.
I never quite get the county town (dont @ me, Kingston), and they’re still digging up the High Street, but I promise to visit the Cathedral next visit.
Drummonds is half a mile north, next to one of the 387 National Trust properties round here. The Wey Navigations are worth the walk and house what is likely to be a floating micro when I come back in 2021.
Not, as I suspected, named after the founder of the KLF, The Drummond is a subtly-themed pub that harks back to a simpler time. Like 1996.
At 12:00 there were no signs of life, adding that frisson of danger of a closed pub. But the advantage of a gastropub in leafy suburbia is that you can be confident they’ll open at lunchtime, and probably stay open all day for the pashmina crowd.
I entered to the sounds of the Husker Du classic and immediately had my blog title. If only inspiration always came that easily, I’d save a fortune on “Pubs by Post”.
The opened-out interior won’t have the Pub Mudgies heading south for a visit.
But the beer range was unpretentious and that TEA you order in the hope of a misunderstanding was another decent NBSS 3.
Nice young staff (“How’s your day been”, “Great, thanks”). and polite young customers too, marching in for their lunchtime deal.
One of the group took the lead in organising the lunch orders. Ten minutes it took them to decide on the Bulldog Drummond special and compare notes on their landlords (not the beer, late millenials never drink at lunchtime).
Three times the leader trotted past mereciting “Katsu, Katsu, Katsu“, and three times returned to ask “No cod, whad’ya want ? “, or “What sort of chips”, and finally “It’s Pepsi not Coke is that OK ?”.
And you though old folks were indecisive.
In the time it took them to order two workmen had drunk half their Camden and Amstel.
Good to see it busy on a Monday, though I could have been in Clapham, buying Mrs RM that £10.45 G & T. Scary thought.
One left, and a cracker.
retiredmartin 
“the advantage of a gastropub in leafy suburbia is that you can be confident they’ll open at lunchtime” –Interesting that there is this difference in how gastropubs are run depending on the location. Do you find that if such pubs are in the heart of the city, or deep in the countryside, that they may well be closed at lunchtime?
I’d love to know what was meant by “Katsu, Katsu, Katsu“. Sounds like the Japanese word for fried cutlet…
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It is the Japanese for cutlet! Interesting menu.
In the more affluent towns like Guildford they can rely on welloff retiree trade earlier in the week you wouldn’t get in Grimsby or Greenock, those those towns might well have a Spoons instead.
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An open pub is better than a closed one so if gastro is the answer so be it…mind you I’m not sure I’d visit as often if ALL pubs turned gastro…
Best hope that train station never opens in Coalville
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Am in Guildford next month for a course but does involve a stop over so have a night free! Will definitely pop in here!
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A course? What can Guildford possibly teach a man of your talents? Napkin folding?
I’ll look forward to your report 👍
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level three napkin folding no less…how did you know? I’ll have a Beermat on tour style shenanigan
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“The Drummond is a subtly-themed pub that harks back to a simpler time. Like 1996.”
Oddly, in 1996 it wasn’t The Drummond. It was a Firkin pub, the Forger & Firkin. Me and my mate Kev used to go there after work and get splattered on many pints of Dogbolter. Them were t’days!
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