retiredmartin

November 2023. Paddington. London.

I’ve spent the last week in Waterbeach seemingly not being much use to my parents, though I did get to explain the plot of “Odette” (1950) to Dad and then buy them fish and chips which is care of a sorts.

Opportunities for travel are limited, and Mum seemed as worried about me leaving the house after they go to bed at 7.30pm as she’d be up at midnight waiting for my completely sober return. It’s a conundrum, it really is.

On the Wednesday I popped out for four (4) hours between lunch and tea, somehow fitting in an afternoon in Paddington.

An hour and a bit into King’s Cross, 10 minutes waiting for the delayed 205 from St Pancras (bus much cheaper than tube these days),

and 20 minutes on the top deck trying to identify pubs along Marylebone through steamy windows.

Oh yes, that Globe.

Jumping off at Sussex Gardens it strikes me how rarely the GBG brings you to W2’s leafy streets and endless tourist hotels, but GBG24 gives you two (2) new Paddington ticks.

The Monkey Puzzle seems to anchor one of those blocks of late ’60s flats dominating the area north of Hyde Park,

and gives hope this might be (gasp !) a Proper Pub for locals. And so it seems.

(Love that tree, named after the pub, apparently.)

There’s a dapper looking gent on my left as I enter, and three mates at the bar discussing fast cars (not the Country classic from ’88).

My notes say “You could be in Stevenage“, which I mean as a compliment, of sorts, though even Stevenage would offer a more modern pair of hand pumps.

Just for Stafford Paul, a reminder of former Badger Hall & Woodhouse glories;

From the moment I saw “Tanglefoot” in the What Pub description I knew what I’d been having. Blimey, this was my Beer of the Month in October 2021, as I’m sure you’ll remember.

That award was more to do with the pubby qualities of the Ship and Shovell in Charing Cross, and if I’m honest (always) this pint was cool, rich and fruity but drinking a bit below 5% 4.7%. A solid 3+.

But Simon will love the Monkey Puzzle, from the charming, chatty landlady who confidently tells me she prefers cash to the proper seating to the Geordie petrol head discussing James May and “3.8 cat 6 power assisted vroom”.

And that £5.50 pint, getting better by the minute, seems almost cheap for central London after a weekend of £6.50 pints in the North (Manchester not Sheff).

It’s all heart, from “Two Hearts” by Saint Phil Collins to this one with one of the best intros of all time.

A bemusing, beguiling Beer Guide entry in a classic GBG year.

And the next pub, a complete contrast to the Monkey Puzzle, will be an instant classic.