“Why do you need a Flake ?”

January 2024. Stockton-on-Tees.

Big mistake, huge. Having arrived in Seaton Carew and completed Durham’s Guide entries we could have had a quiet night watching the new Emma Stone movie (Emma is slated to play Mrs RM in the film of my 2022 GBG completion).

But no, I had to drag her (Mrs RM, not Emma) to Stockton, didn’t I ?

And then pop in Local@TS18 to look for a flake.

“Why do you want a flake ?” asks Mrs RM, who’s clearly never read my, or Blackpool Jane‘s blogs.

And why did we need to be back in the micropub capital of the North. Weren’t we only there a few months back, admiring the wide Georgian streets,

and the steampunk and all ?

We were, but Mrs RM had still never been in the Sun, a bit like visiting Waterbeach and not going in a pub I’ve forgotten the name of.

We enter to some rarely-heard-these-days 80s synth pop played at that sweet spot where you can appreciate the toons but still chat,

and the prize goes to whoever can identify the track playing on the video screen.

First time in a while I’ve managed to nab a table at the Sun, always standing room only on Saturdays.

“Two pints of Bass please”

“Bankers ?”

“Of course !”

“I’ll bring them over. £5.60”.

£5.60 for two. Do the math.

Mrs RM looked horrified as I ripped open the four pack, then took a flake for herself.

Does the Bass taste better when you’ve dipped a flake in ? Does the flake improve ? Perhaps CAMRA should set up a research group.

Two observations. My Bass was a bit cooler than Mrs RM’s, a bit longer in the fridge ?

More importantly, it was perfection, pretty much (NBSS 3.5/4). It’s easy to think The Sun is all about the bankers, but below that foam lies a Top 10 pint.

Annie Lennox sings “I don’t know what it is that makes me love you so“,

and I realise that the Sun is far more than the Bass. Sorry, Meghan.

I had to finish Mrs RM’s pint for her because she’s slow a cultured drinker, but at least I didn’t have another one.

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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.

18 thoughts on ““Why do you need a Flake ?””

    1. Haven’t lived, Andy. Actually, the status of bankers is a bit overstated. Even the Cameron’s Tap in Hartlepool didn’t do Strongarm bankers. It needs rapid turnover so we shouldn’t take their continued existence in The Sun and The Globe for granted.

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  2. Gosh I’ve never seen it that quiet! I’ll hopefully have opportunity to pop in on Friday night and suspect I won’t be able to hear the bar staff or sit down, but a Bass banker always disappears quickly. I’ll have my flake separately, not a fan of dunking in beer!

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    1. I’d never seen it quiet, full stop. This was bang on 5pm on Thursday night in January. The photo may be misleading; there were 20 in the back room, and not much more in the Spoons.

      Mrs RM did a Facebook rant about not matching chocolate and beer ! It was dipped for a second for the blog views.

      Would you ever serve Bass in the Station House ? Your TT Landlord was sublime a few years back.

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      1. Yeah we’ve had the odd cask, which has always performed well when gently aged! Will try and remember to let you know when we next get some in. A cask of ESB arrived on Monday though!

        I have tried banking both Bass and Strongarm, but never quite managed to get it quite right unfortunately.

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      2. Barman at the Golden Smog said he’d banked a London Pride ! Assume banking only really works if you’re pulling through a decent number every hour or they’d clog up the fridge.

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      1. Damn – I was just about to answer that – correctly too – do I get a runners up prize ( Pauline ) anonymous too as I’m on my mobile

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    1. There was a couple on the next table who laughed, but I think they could see why you might stick a flake in it !

      Can’t believe Mrs PBT is so disloyal. Does she read any pub blogs ;-0

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  7. I only know 1 LaRoux song _Bullet Proof & only the first line of it,hence,when I went to bed last night it was stuck in my head,over & over again.Thanks for that . & I’ll pass on the wine thankyou -save it for next Christmas

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