Looking for recommendations - London, UK

[guttmann]

Hi guys!

I'll be visiting the kingdom's capital this April, and am looking for some recommendations. My by-then-would-be-wife and I will be staying in the touristic parts (near Big Ben), and would love to enjoy some great craft beer, buy some products (variety of hops is very poor where I come from...) and perhaps purchase a couple of bottles.

anything would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Saar.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Sub'd for responses. My wife and I will be there in late May, also staying in the Westminster area.

 

[zdc1775]

Can't help you with purchasing supplies or bottles as I did all of that type of shopping at Beautiful Beers in Bury St. Edmunds but I can recommend a few different pubs in that area of London that the wife and I went to last time we were there.

We went to The Minories a few times and thought the food was good. It's just north of Tower Bridge.
We also enjoyed several pints at The Vault which was basically under the south end of Tower Bridge.
Same thing with The Churchill Arms which is on the east end of Hyde Park. Good food and beer there.
We also went to Old Star and The Albert Pub. Nothing really special about them to be honest but they were Greene King pubs so we could get Abbot Ale there.

We spent most of our time in Suffolk and what we did spend in London we were staying in Barking or Croydon.

 

[vtipsy]

Check out Howling Hops for super fresh beer.

 

[EnglishAndy]

If you're here during the week then you'll be able to avoid the naff tourist traps and visit some of out-of-the-way pubs that we frequent after work. Lots are closed at the weekend due to being off the tourist trail.

My favourite area for pubs is Chancery Lane/Holborn though the old streets around Spitalfields are also good.

If you can persuade the other half that you want to see some ancient architecture and interiors then many of these will fit the bill as well as having great beer on tap:

Ye Olde Mitre: Hatton Garden
The Craft Beer Company: Hatton Garden & Covent Garden
The Princess Louise: Holborn
The Jerusalem Tavern: Clerkenwell
The Old Nick: Holborn
The Magpie: Spitalfields
The Williams: Spitalfields
The Black Friar: Blackfriar's