ONE OF THE BEER GUIDES IS MISSING….

February 2026. Genoa.

Last Genoa post, I promise, but I know many of you share my evangelical zeal to see hand pumps in developing nations, so I welcome the cask in Scurerria Beer & Bagel. I love a trad pub name, me.

If Public House, the other real ale outlet I found in Genoa was a simple affair, this one is a more family friendly modern place, something like a Vocation bar.

It was packed. The chap at the door wasn’t exactly a greeter, but he did give Mrs RM an option of table upstairs or seat at the bar.

Bless her, she picked the seats at the bar, so I could read the pump clips,

and admire the GBG collection.

But what’s this? No GBG22, the most famous of all ! I expect someone in Liguria has nicked it and is making trips over by Ryanair to try to emulate my feat.

What can I say about Beer & Bagel ? Well, the local cask was terrific, the glasses immaculate, they take it seriously here, and it may be the best place to come for an approximation of a Full English.

But it’s not a place to linger, with a final look at ancient Genoa beyond the water fountain,

which is possibly the central point in town, the point where ancient turns to 20th century,

before unexpectedly taking you back in time to the Christopher Columbus house.

Honestly, you could walk Genoa for hours and still find streets you’ve never seen before.

Still no sign of a Chinese takeaway, mind.

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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.

29 thoughts on “ONE OF THE BEER GUIDES IS MISSING….”

  1. Google says there are some Chinese restaurants in Genoa.

    I like the look of the full English but I’m trying to identify the item to the left of the chips.

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    1. Looks like a sort of salsa on sourdough, Jon ?

      I’m not sure you’d actually get that for breakfast, though, that place (like all the bars) seems to open at 6pm !

      There would be a few Chinese restaurants but a takeaway bag of crispy beef ? Doubtful.

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      1. I hadn’t thought of salsa. I think that they open at midday at weekends so perhaps the Italians do brunch.

        I think that you are right about crispy beef. A quick look seems to suggest a lot of sushi and Chinese pasta.

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  3. Please read this comment in the voice of Alan Partridge
    “Ideas for a show.
    Nick a GBG from that pub in Bath
    Fly to Genoa
    Replace a GBG in the Genoa bar and take the Genoa GBG to Bath
    See if anyone notices”
    Alternatively
    “Have a Spoons Big Breakfast at Stansted, fly to Alicante.
    Have another breakfast at Alicante Airport Spoons.
    Fly straight back”

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  4. The breakfast/brunch looks great apart from the sodding beans. They get everywhere. The words “Niente fagioli al forno, per favore” come to mind (or at least to Google Translate)

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  5. Talking of missing beer guides – Britain’s Best Real Heritage Pubs (are recommended by Stafford Paul) only includes one pub out of the whole of Warwickshire, a non listed building called The Case is Altered near Warwick. Shame.

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    1. Lana, The Midlands version of Britain’s Best Real Heritage Pubs also includes The Holly Bush at Alcester, the Gamecock at Birchmoor, the Bull and Butcher at Corley Moor, the Somerville Arms and White Horse at Leamington and the Blur Boar at Mancetter. Are there other Warwickshire pubs that you think might have been overlooked ?
      Listing tends to give a greater emphasis to exteriors than interiors ( as if any of us are going to sit outside a pub and look at it ), and in terms of Grade I listing pubs stand no chance against medieval churches !

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      1. Well you didn’t tell me the book had a Midlander companion Paul! I don’t know any of these you reference but have noted them for future. I have no clue what could be overlooked in Warwickshire, but now I know of the Midland book, I am sure the authors have done their due diligence 🙂

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      3. Sorry Lana, I just mentioned the national book as I thought you got about quite a bit.
        ‘Real Heritage Pubs of the Midlands’ was published in 2015 at £5.99 with ISBN 978-1-85249-324-0.

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      5. Yes indeed Martin, and those who “never have an alcoholic drink” can still support the best of Britain’s heritage by buying a glass of pop and a bag of crisps.
        Sadly though more and more people don’t realise that ‘Moderation Is True Temperance’, don’t use Proper Pubs at all and so those regional Heritage guides will in future be thinner publications.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Franc reminded me he went there last summer with his cycling group – they all got told off for eating their own crisps on the premises. They were starving during the wait and there was a crowd of them ordering food and drinks there anyway – bit harsh!

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Well Lana, commenting as a former cyclist who did a hundred miles to Wales and back in a day as a sixteen year old and totalled tens of thousands of miles to and from work as an adult, I would never risk hunger or fatigue incapacitating myself by the time I reached the destination, and that was in consideration of other road users as much as anything else.

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  6. “but I know many of you share my evangelical zeal to see hand pumps in developing nations,”

    Can’t make up my mind if that’s a burn or not.😉

    “so I welcome the cask in Scurerria Beer & Bagel. I love a trad pub name, me.”

    Ah, there’s the (slow golf clap) I was expecting.

    Also, purely by chance, as I don’t normally do foreign words, but I looked up the place on Google Maps and, you have the single ‘r’ and the double ‘r’s mixed up (Scurreria vice Scurerria). 😎

    “something like a Vocation bar.”

    I’m trying to come up with something funny about ‘vocation’, ‘bar’ and ‘lawyers’ but am coming up empty.

    “but he did give Mrs RM an option of table upstairs or seat at the bar.”

    I keep forgetting to ask for upstairs in one of the places we visit.

    “Bless her, she picked the seats at the bar, so I could read the pump clips,”

    Awwww. 🥰

    Also, (looks down).

    See! The beer glass shows the name of the place with two ‘r’s followed by the single ‘r’.

    “and admire the GBG collection.”

    (looks down)
    Blimey. How’d they get there?

    “No GBG22, the most famous of all !”

    (checks link)
    I’m actually ashamed that I missed that milestone. 😒

    “and it may be the best place to come for an approximation of a Full English.”

    (looks down)
    With the Italian version of ‘ham’ it would seem. 😉

    “with a final look at ancient Genoa beyond the water fountain, which is possibly the central point in town, the point where ancient turns to 20th century,”

    (check Google Maps)
    I do believe you are correct good sir.

    “Honestly, you could walk Genoa for hours and still find streets you’ve never seen before.”

    That’s because they switch them around when everyone is sleeping.

    “Still no sign of a Chinese takeaway, mind.”

    Patience, grasshopper. 😉

    Cheers

    PS – I could have sworn this post was not up when I posted in ‘Calamari’. So how does it show up as Feb 11th instead of 12th? 😏

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    1. That post date mystery; if I start a post on my phone (normally a train) it will show the date I start writing, even if I finish it the next morning on laptop. Fairly sure that happened at Christmas. Generally I do my posts on the laptop.

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      1. How strange.

        What happens if you cross the international date line?

        What if WordPress has forgotten who you are by the time you get around to pressing “send”?

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