September 2024. London.
Blimey. A weekday gig ending dead on 10pm, in London as well. Julia Jacklin’s timely finish at the Lyric, with no rockist encore (hurrah !) meant emerging on to Shaftesbury Avenue with the possibility of a late pint in Soho before my 10:30 train.
Well, there might be craft (and “dancing“) in the Windmill,
but I’d walked past the other Lyric earlier that evening and realised I had NO recollection at all of this rare central London GBG regular.
I bet you could guess what it looks like, a classic small boozer with most of the custom drinking outside earlier, but rather quieter as last train homes called.
Too quiet for such an ambitious beer board ?, I wondered.
Well, perhaps I should have gone for the Harvey’s, but didn’t Cwtch used to be good ?
Actually, it still is, cool and tasty, but perhaps closer to a 3 than 3.5.
Let’s look up those stairs, shall we ?
The entertainment came, unexpectedly, from a young American (well, DC), entertaining their toddler in the corner over a pint. At a quarter past 10 in Soho.
I was entranced, and made a bumbling attempt to congratulate them on attempting to inculcate in their child a love for pubs. I think they knew I was being sincere.
I almost stayed for another (far too rapid) pint of something from the other side of the bar,
but I know my limits.
retiredmartin 