retiredmartin

16th November 2022.

A second City pub in quick succession, after silently cursing (“Oh, tasters !”) I couldn’t do the Olde Mitre.

Honestly, there was no need for London to erect this statue of me with the Good Beer Guide Completion trophy, something Messi will never hold.

I thought I’d have visited the Inn of Court before; I’ve been to enough Fullers Pie & Ale Houses over the years.

But the spreadsheet said no. So here I am, counting out pennies to buy a half of Pride again, when you know BRAPA would have gone straight for a pint of ESB as he is the GOAT.

The walk from Farringdon to Holborn takes you through Hatton Garden, site of a robbery on a scale only slightly lower than the £2.85 a half charged here, though with Spoons price increases that was almost a bargain.

Things were different way back when;

The lovely, cheery staff weren’t rushed off their feet. I’ve never seen a Holborn pub so empty.

£17.50 your Cornish pasty clearly isn’t bringing in the value diners.

A couple of City suits came in and surveyed the advertised “craft”, which in 2022 means Beavertown.

But that’s the slightly downbeat take.

This is a gorgeous pub, with a range of comfortable seating and a London Pride that reached the heights of NBSS 3.5, and the soundtrack of the day.

And if I hadn’t got an interview that afternoon, I might have gone back for that £7 ESB and £17 pasty and spilt it all down the jacket Mrs RM had made me buy so I didn’t look a slob for the photographer.