Now that my excuses are out of the way it's time to get back to the main purpose of this endeavour, talking about lime and soda. I have several posts lined up for the coming weeks so stay tuned to see if I really am able to kick the urge to watch just one more mediocre Comedy Central video at 3am on a Wednesday morning and gain some perspective on the more important things in life, such as occasional sobriety.
Date: October 2019
I will start what I will refer to as phase two of the blog with a review from a pub in the city I grew up in, Newcastle upon Tyne. As my parents and some of my friends still live here it felt like a natural place to come back to after my time in Poland was over. On this occasion, I was catching up with one of my oldest friends and regaling him with tales of 6 months living in Minsk Mazowiecki or, as I enjoy calling it, the Polish Slough.
So you can have an insight into this most vibrant of conversations I’ll begin with telling you a little about Minsk Maz. It is about 40km east of Warsaw and has a population of about 40,000 people. Many people commute to work or study in the Polish capital. Although relatively quiet, the town does have a museum, a decent park and a house of culture. It also has a coal power station and a leisure centre. Aside from that, there’s not much going on. There is a Tesco though, It’s not an especially diverse place. Apart from the volunteers at the small NGO I was working at, it’s mostly inhabited by Polish people. Much like Slough, it’s main advantage is its proximity to a bigger and much more vibrant city. Would I recommend Minsk Maz. for a visit? Maybe if you’re driving through you can nip into Ekler opposite the park for a coffee or Gromulski for some Pączki. Otherwise it’s probably best just to continue on to where ever else it is you’re going.
We chose The Forth as the hosting place for our first meeting in several months as it is somewhere we used to frequent in our younger days. Just a stone’s throw away from Central Station, the pub’s website describes it as ‘the very definition of urban cool’. Apparently that means a mix of ‘a stylish, contemporary bar with classic pub features and quirky touches’. As someone who is not cool but certainly urban, I can tell you that this also means slightly inflated prices and a noticeable air of pretentiousness among sections of the clientele. Still though I like it here. It is quite cool.
The pub dates from around 1830 and was once named The Forth Hotel. In 1922 it was bought by Canadian heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Burns who ran it for several years afterwards. I’m not sure what a Canadian former boxing champion was doing coming to the North East of England to run a pub upon his retirement but the Newcastle Evening Chronicle describes him as having led a ‘colourful life’ and it seems they weren’t wrong. During the time he was in change, the pub was raided by the police for selling alcohol out of hours. This caused poor Tommy to panic and flee to Belgium deserting his wife and kids in the process. It has long since stopped selling alcohol out of hours but, following a revamp in 2018, the pub has dedicated its backroom to its former owner and even has a picture of him on the wall. History.
It was in this room that we sat on either side of a classic wooden pub table upon which stood two pint glasses. One was full of Guinness and the other full of the green stuff. Here’s how it tasted.
Appearance: This one looked classic. The cordial to soda water ratio looked spot on and there were buxom limes bobbing on the surface of the soda water, which rose close to the top of the glass. It summary, this was the catalogue cover.
Taste: Looks can be deceiving, but not in this case. That lime cordial to soda water ratio that looked on point certainly was. The drink did need a little stir just to make sure the lime flavour was spread evenly but once was sufficient to ensure continued refreshment throughout consumption.
Appearance: This one looked classic. The cordial to soda water ratio looked spot on and there were buxom limes bobbing on the surface of the soda water, which rose close to the top of the glass. It summary, this was the catalogue cover.
Taste: Looks can be deceiving, but not in this case. That lime cordial to soda water ratio that looked on point certainly was. The drink did need a little stir just to make sure the lime flavour was spread evenly but once was sufficient to ensure continued refreshment throughout consumption.
Price:This was bought for me as a homecoming present so I can’t comment on whether it represents value for money. As presents go, I’ve had worse.
If you’re ever out of the UK for a time and, upon returning, fancy a refreshing beverage to set you up right for life back in Blighty then get yourself to The Forth on Pink Lane in the Toon. The lime and soda here is top notch.
Sources:
Evening Chronicle articles about the revamp and Tommy Burns:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/see-inside-forth-after-major-15426038
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/former-heavyweight-boxing-champion-tommy-6854092
Pub website:
https://www.theforthnewcastle.co.uk/
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