It was a Sunday, I was
off work and fancied some tea or coffee and cake. I had this one
place in mind in Kingly Court, Carnaby St London. This place has some
gorgeous teas and the moistest and delicious red velvet cake I have
ever had, I don't think any other will ever compare to it that's how
good it is.
I arranged to meet up
with my uncle and do just that. I said I'd give him a hand in sorting
out a bicycle he is currently fixing up for a friend. The bike needed
some replacement parts so we headed it to get some with the good
intentions of sitting down and having some tea/coffee and cake after
a successful shopping trip.
We left at the perfect
moment, just as the heavens opened up and the air was wet, a solid
wall of water everywhere. The rain was so big and heavy that everyone
and everything not under cover was soaked in seconds, including us.
We made it to the bike shop a few pounds heavier than when we left
the flat. The bike shop gave us an opportunity to get out of the rain
and drip all over the floor. They didn't have what we needed but the
assistant called another bike shop around the corner on Chapel Market
and they did. He told us to go and see this guy called Chris then
pointed us in the direction and we left. The rain had slowed to a
meagre bit of drizzle, as we were still soaked it made no difference.
The idea of coffee and
cake was still there, only a few more things had got in its way,
after all this running around in the rain I felt I needed a pint...
well not really needed but wanted. I saw a Craft Beer Co pub on a
parallel street to the market, I'd heard of them before and decided
we'd go in for a quick pint.
There were so many
bloody beers to choose from, from about 8 hand drawn cask ales to
about 20 beers on tap making it incredibly hard to decide. With
summer being pretty much over and the temperature having dropped
considerably since the other week I thought a porter style beer would
be appropriate. Porters and stouts are my favourite style of beers
after all.
I went for the Pilgrim
Imperial Porter, from the Pilgrim Brewery in Reigate, Surrey. My
uncle opted for a smoked stout that unfortunately I completely forgot
to take note of, it was lovely though. The porter was rich, dark,
very robust and at 5.9% nothing to be sniffed at. You could
definitely detect the presence of alcohol giving it a dry finish but
the overall sweetness and richness accommodated for this. After less
than half the pint, the beer had mellowed and softened into a
fantastic beer. Reading some of the online reviews I can't quite
figure out how it scored so low, my only guess would be the people
who have actually reviewed it aren't fans of the porter style beer.
It has everything a strong porter should have and more, if you like
porters it definitely one for you.
We were sitting on
these tall armchairs either side of a long since extinct fire place
underneath an oil portrait of Sir Winston Churchill. I say extinct as
the flue appears to have been blocked off and where the logs or coals
would be are the remnants of many melted candles.
As per usual that quick
pint ended up being more, I bought a second. This time I went for one
of the many beers on tap, I chose the 5 Points Railway Porter from
Hackney, London. It was a bit weaker, well over a whole percent
weaker at 4.8%. Coming from a pressurised keg, this one was slightly
cooler and had some carbonation which I find can sometimes take away
from the beers. On this occasion I found the beer to be very
pleasant, something I would drink again.
Don't get me wrong, I
really did enjoy the Railway Porter but when Frank popped to the loo
I took it as an opportunity to try and sneak in a quick half of the
Pilgrim Porter. I was rumbled with this nearly full half pint in my
hand. He had another half of the stout and we sat some more.
We never actually made
it for coffee and cake, the deliciousness of the beer and comfortable
setting in the pub prevented us from doing so.
Please check the links to the breweries and the pub.
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