The Forth, Pink Lane, NE1

Regular visitors to this blog may have noticed that there has been something of a hiatus in posts over the past months. I could blame this on the many flaws in my character: a propensity for laziness, a distinct lack of focus, a small-scale addiction to watching stand up comedy videos on YouTube or a general paucity of ambition to turn this into the UK’s leading blog reviewing Britain’s most successful non-alcoholic pub staple. However, I’m more than convinced that none of these deeply personal reasons will be of much interest to anyone still reading. Put simply, the main reason for the lack of activity is because I was living in Poland for most of this year and, in Poland, they like alcohol. Strong alcohol. Lime and soda isn’t really much of a thing there (although non-alcoholic beer is, surprisingly).

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.

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/

The Old George, Bethnal Green, E2

Date: November 2017 

For a time I lived in Bow E3, which is just up the road from Bethnal Green. I was the classic example of a young, middle class professional moving into an area formerly considered more than a bit rough but now burgeoning with new developments, new shops and new people. It’s called gentrification, and it’s quite controversial. I moved there because it was cheap enough and, moreover, I found somewhere to live. The part of Bow I lived in was quite quiet and mainly residential. It was close to Victoria Park, which is great, and has some nice pubs. It's also just a short walk or bus ride along the Roman Road to Bethnal Green with all of its life and activity. It was there I often went to meet friends in the various pubs and bars. 

The Old George is one of these pubs. It has been around for a while. Although currently owned by the Antic chain, it dates back to the 18th century. It appears to have had many names, all of them George themed - from George IV to simply The George. These days it's officially recognised as old and has the appropriate moniker to reflect this. Antic bought it in 2013 from previous owners Sue and Keith Allen, who retired from the pub trade, for what seems to me to be a reasonable sum of £85,000. After a refurbishment, it reopened later that same year and has been going ever since. It’s nice inside. It feels like a proper pub and has a decent selection of real ales and tatty furniture to perch on. I imagine the clientele are somewhat different to what they were back in the East End’s glory days, but it’s not ostentatious like other refurbished places and is a good spot to relax. So that's what I was doing there back in November 2017 when I sampled their lime and soda offering.

Before I can review the quality of the drink I have to mention the customer service experience. Upon ordering my drink - “a lime and soda please.” - I was met with a blank stare as though I had uttered words yet to enter the English lexicon. “I'll have a lime and soda please”, I repeated, but still nothing doing. Right, I thought, this is going to be an interesting experience.

Lime and soda is a fairly common non-alcoholic beverage served in pubs in the UK but I get that new bartenders, especially those from outside British culture, may not know what it is or how to make it. This particular bartender must have fallen into one of those categories because, after seeing that repeating my order continually was getting me nowhere, I decided to give him a crash course on how to make this staple of British sobriety. After first explaining what the ingredients are and informing the bartender that the 'lime' generally refers to the lime cordial - "the green stuff in that bottle" - and the 'soda' is usually served from the drinks gun and not a glass bottle like tonic water, I thought it best to let him get on with it. He was the pro, I was just a mere customer. 

Given that I had to do at least half of the work, you’d expect this to have been the best lime and soda I’ve ever had but it's important to note that a) I didn’t have control of the creative process and b) I’m not a bartender, I don't know if the lime and sodas I like are industry standard. I still trusts the experts with their superior knowledge to do a better job than I could. And so I placed my trust in this one.

Appearance: The first thing I noticed about this glass of lime and soda was just how small it was. It really was tiny. A bit like the disappointment you feel when you’ve decided to order a half pint of beer, only to re-discover that a half pint is actually not that much liquid. That was how I felt when this drink was placed in front of me. It was a long way from the full to the brim pints of lime and soda I'd come to expect from the pubs in E2. The next thing that struck my was just how clear the drink was. There was only the palest tinge of green. It looked as though I had poured a glass of Sainsbury’s basics soda water and looked at it through green tinted spectacles. The absence of the crowning fresh lime that should adorn every lime and soda only added to the drabness.

Taste: The initial sip compounded my disappointment. Bland fizzy water. As feared. A more mindful second sip did reveal a hint of the sickly sweet artificial lime flavour that makes this drink what it is, and a stir with my finger did improve the consistency to the extent that after three or four sips I was beginning to feel that this one was a grower. It was certainly punching above the low weight of expectation I had upon first sight and taste. It was cold and refreshing but did require repeat finger stirs keep it palatable. 

Price: £1. Not untypical for a lime and soda in a recently trendy area. It was smaller than I had expected and the service was unnecessarily bespoke for something so simple to create, but you can't really argue with £1 drinks.

Is it worth ordering a lime and soda at The Old George? Hard to say to be honest given the bizarre experience I had with round one. Even more strange was that the second round (admittedly from a different bartender) was different to the first. The second time the drinks came in a pint glass, contained much more lime cordial and also had a fresh lime quarter. It even cost less than the first round. 

In a way the two lime and sodas I had at The Old George demonstrate the point I'm trying to prove in this blog, no two lime and sodas are the same. Even in the same pub, different bartenders have their own interpretations. Like walking down a street in Naples and tasting a different pizza from each pizzaiolo. Such variety is unmatched in the soft drink world. If I had to make a recommendation on whether to come here for your lime and soda I'd say that if you like your sobriety wild and unpredictable, this is your spot

Sources:
Pub website:
https://oldgeorge.co.uk/ https://londonist.com/pubs/pubs/old-george 

Pubhistory entry:
https://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/BethnalGreen/OldGeorge.shtml

Article about the pub
http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/bethnal-green-s-old-george-pub-sold-to-london-chain-1-2220013 

St James of Bermondsey, St James Road, SE16

Date: January 2019

I came in here late one Friday evening in very early January having spent the previous two and a half hours at a nearby indoor climbing wall bouldering. Bouldering? What’s that? Well basically it’s climbing to the top of low rise walls using plastic moulds as holds, with different colours denoting different levels of difficulty. Seem like a bit of an odd thing to do in a poorly heated former industrial unit in South London on a cold winter’s evening? You’d be right about the cold but odd? Not if you measure popularity by the number of other people who had turned up that evening to do the same thing.

In fact bouldering is a growth sport, if you believe everything you read in articles in The Guardian. One I found says the numbers of climbers is growing by 15-20% per year and apparently ‘sports climbing’ is making its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. It certainly feels like an activity with a real buzz around it when you try it out.

It was a good mate who had asked me to come along. I’d been putting it off for months. Turned off by the effort of getting there, my fear of heights and the thought of having to actually speak to the friends he goes climbing with - none of whom I know - I just didn’t think it would be for me, But as it was January and the conventional wisdom is to try new things in the first month of the year, I relented and gave up my Friday evening to it. New year, new me and all that shite.

Climbing seems to me to be the most millennial exercise activity I have tried so far. I like exercise and have taken part in many different types of physical activity in my life. A lot of these have been conventional team sports such as football, cricket, hockey and rugby. Others have been slightly different: I played American Football for three years. I'm also into running but who isn't? I have gone along to informal running groups from time to time, including one where hundreds of people run along the of banks of the Thames on weekday evenings following leaders who blast EDM out of portable speakers carried in their rucksacks. I’ve even indulged in the relatively recently reclassified pastimes of mini golf and ping pong, now deemed to be for adults because specific places have opened where you can drink booze whilst playing. In all of this however, it is climbing, or more specifically bouldering - the one without the ropes - that seems to capture the way that my generation approaches exercise.

First off the aesthetic. The staff at the centre mostly had top knots or long hair and at least one was wearing parachute pants. All of them were very 'dude' and 'man' as they took me through the safety instructions. The climbers themselves are young and beautiful - that might have more to do with the South London location. At 6pm they arrived from work to meet friends. No shirts and ties here, dress down Friday is everyday. Some of the early birds are waiting in the cafe, a flat white by their side or on the Macbook wrapping up the final strands of work for the week. There’s low level house music playing in the background. This music follows you into the climbing area where lone wolf climbers have headphones on. They don’t want to be disturbed. Others with goatees study their routes up the walls.Intimidating men with six packs hoist their shirtless selves up overhangs and women adopt incredible yogic postures on the holds in their tight fitting lycra pants. In the warm up area people engage in deep stretching or do pull ups on exposed pipes. It's all a bit warehouse rave. Free form. There's no supervision or structure. The rules here are what you make of them. Unless of course you decide to climb underneath someone else. That's not allowed.

For many it appears to be as much a social occasion as exercise. Climbers in groups chatter away in young professional tones discussing Tinder drama or new nutrition routines, comprised of Nakd bars and kombucha, all of which are obviously sold in the climbing centre cafe. Everywhere there are smartphones and photos being taken. Instagram looms large here.

If that sounds way too dismissive then please don’t mistake me, I really enjoy bouldering. I’ve been back a few times since this first visit and am starting to overcome that feeling of being out of place in my Umbro tracksuit bottoms and Nike running top as I struggle up the easy routes. I've made a mental note to buy some loose fitting, second hand jeans from a charity shop soon. That should trick them into thinking I belong. It's a fun thing to do and I’d encourage everyone to try it. Just leave your cynicism at the door and embrace it fully. Or alternatively come in early January, when you’re not allowed to be cynical.

An unwritten rule of British social life is that after any form of exertion, physical or emotional, you have to go to the pub. So that’s what we did when we finished up. The St James of Bermondsey is the nearest one we found to the climbing centre. The pub is pleasant inside and seems as though it has been recently renovated. A bit of digging in the archives of Google shows it used to be called the St James Tavern and has been open in the area another since the mid 1800s. These days it has dropped the 'Tavern' moniker and presents its visitors with an array of pies and real ale for their enjoyment.

I’ve mentioned Dry January enough times on this blog before so it should come to you as know surprise that I forwent a real ale and instead chose lime and soda as my post-exercise recovery drink. Another use for this highly adaptable non-alcoholic pub beverage.

Appearance:
It looked like lime and soda and that’s about all there is to it. Clear liquid with a hint of green. It came in a proper pint glass - this is Bermondsey, what would you expect - but the downside was that there was no fresh lime. I guess exotic fruit hasn’t made its way to this part of South London yet.

Taste:
The cordial wasn’t too sickly sweet and the lack of a fresh lime left this tasting a little bland. It’s never good when the soda water is the main flavour component, although it tasted alright. It didn’t seem like it had been there for days nor was it too flat. With a bit of a finger stir there was a sufficient amount of lime flavour in every mouthful but it still tasted too weak for me,

Price:
£1.30. A bit on the expensive side for the quality but still cheaper than a Coke or lemonade. I’ve had better for less money and worse for more. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.

The lime and soda at the St James definitely got lost in an evening of active excitement and trying new things. Perhaps it would be asking too much of such a humble beverage as lime and soda to compete with house music, topless men and swinging from plastic holds several feet in the air but this is a blog about lime and soda reviews after all.

The pub was a good place to hang out with friends on a Friday and was certainly very busy for the time of year. It would make a good local. If you’re ever in this part of SE16, I’d recommend a visit. Finally, a big shout out to Meg from the climbing group, who helped me with the review. She also ordered a lime and soda and provided me with some feedback on it.

Sources:
Pub website:
https://www.stjamesofbermondsey.co.uk/

Pubhistory:
https://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/Bermondsey/StJamesTavern.shtml

Whatpub:
https://whatpub.com/pubs/SEL/10712/st-james-of-bermondsey-bermondsey-east

Guardian articles on bouldering/climbing:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/12/climbing-has-gone-from-niche-sport-to-worldwide-sensation-what-is-its-dizzying-appeal

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jun/28/indoor-climbing-bouldering-only-centres

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/nov/28/is-it-worth-it-bouldering

The Swan, Ash Vale, GU12

Date: January 2019

Last weekend, I decided to visit some relatives who live just outside of London. As well as an opportunity to catch up with family, having not seen them since Christmas, I thought I’d make the trip even more worthwhile and see if they make their lime and sodas any differently outside of the capital. The Swan is in a village called Ash Vale, located in the Surrey/Hampshire borderlands. I’ll be honest and admit I don’t know which county it belongs to. Not much of an issue really but given that I’ve been coming here for over two decades and have even had several stints living with my relatives when in between places in the city, I probably should have taken the time to look more closely at the map. The postal town is Aldershot (in Hampshire) but the postcode is Guildford (in Surrey), making it all very confusing for this city boy to get a sense of where he is. Once you take me outside of the land of Underground roundels, I lose my bearings a bit.

My local geography is so sorely lacking that during one of the spells I lived here, I got very lost on an evening run around, ended up in Aldershot town centre, had to jump the ticket barriers at the train station without paying and get on the next service to Ash Vale because I had no idea how to get back. Still over 6 years and many more visits back here later, I have absolutely no idea where I got lost.

What I do know is that my relatives live about a ten minute walk down the road from this pub. Thanks to other local pubs closing down, it’s the only establishment within a reasonable walking distance. Ash Vale is an unremarkable place best noted for its two trains an hour commuter service up to London Waterloo and its reasonably sized Budgens-turned-Co-op on the main road through the village. To be fair to it it also has the Basingstoke Canal and a large British Army firing range that is open to the public when the rounds are not going off. An evening jog through its trees with the sun setting on the munitions huts, mounds of earth and big shooting targets makes for a surreal experience.

As for The Swan itself, it has gone through many changes of clothes since I’ve been going. It is clearly an old building but has attempted to opt a modern feel inside. Pubhistory suggests its origins lie in the 1911 White Swan Hotel, whose publican was Edwin Tupper, licensed victualler, and you get that sense as you enter. It has large fireplaces at either end of the building and wooden beams a plenty. GetSurrey says it was once a military tavern, which would also make sense given the area its located in. 

It occupies a pleasant spot right on the canal and is good for drinking outside in the summer. In spite of that, I remember this place being a lot nicer when I was a kid. I don’t know whether it's the seemingly frequent changes of management that have contributed to the different atmosphere or whether the closure of other pubs in the local area has led to a ‘diversification’ of the pub’s clientele (read: more rough people go here now) but the place just doesn’t feel the same. Given that you’re also paying South Eastern prices at the bar (something which my born and bred Northern grandfather never fails to point out when he’s down here) you wished it would get it’s act together a bit. Still, as it’s the local (and only) pub that you can walk to from my relatives house, I was left with little choice as to where to meet them as I stepped off the crowded South Western Railways train on a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

As on many of my visits to this part of the world, I arrived in Ash Vale with a promise to myself not to drink any alcohol. It might be coincidence or it might be a subconscious reaction against the fact that, like many middle class white collar commuters, my relatives spend many weekends numbing thoughts of early morning train rides via consumption of the vast quantities of beer and wine stored in their garage. I suppose if Armageddon should come you do need to have the basics in stock.

To clarify, they’re not getting hammered in a way you might see on a typical English high street on a Friday night - that’s us millennials who, along with the many other things we’ve destroyed, have ruined casual drinking to the extent that it's no longer really acceptable to make headway into that stash of good red wine over Tuesday night's dinner. Still, I'd be fucked if I consumed two bottles of wine or 6 bottles of strong lager, weekend night or otherwise, and yet they seem to take it all in stride. Practice I suppose. Drinking for the baby boomers is a fine art and one they've perfected through years of experience. 

So for whatever reason, I wasn't drinking on the occasion of this visit either, meaning I had only one real option for a good time down the pub.

Appearance:
This was a good looking pint of lime and soda. It just looked refreshing. The glass was wet with condensation from the cold liquid and the cordial was a crisp, vibrant green as it mingled with the bubbles from the soda water. The fresh lime quarters floating on the surface were both literally and figuratively buoyant, almost attractive in their voluptuousness. If this had appeared on Tinder, I'd have swiped right.

Taste:
The initial sip was a hydrating burst of bubbles with just the right hint of lime flavour for the top of a lime and soda. Second sip was just as good and showed just how well this drink was mixed. The soda water actually tasted like as it should, namely fresh water with carbon dioxide gas added to it, as opposed to something from a plastic bottle that was used as a mixer for a party, discarded when the party finished and then left to deflate alone in a cupboard for several months after the hangovers had subsided. The cordial too was good quality. It tasted like lime without any of the dodgy chemicals that are palatable in other lime cordials. Whatever different chemical they used to stop the bleach cupboard aftertaste of many other coridals definitely works. Maybe I'm still buzzing of whatever the mystery substance is but it was top notch stuff.

Price:
I have to confess that this was paid for by a family member, so I can’t really comment on the price but, given the quality demonstrated in the other judging criteria, I bet it was very reasonable, in fact too cheap if anything. Having said that, if a family member is going to buy you a drink with your Sunday lunch you should probably get something alcoholic. Even if that does mean a Greene King IPA.

All I can say is that maybe the rumours are true and quality of life is better outside of the Big Smoke.

Sources 
Pubhistory: https://pubshistory.com/SurreyPubs/Ash/Swan.shtml 

 GetSurrey: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/warm-up-ash-vales-swan-10450638

The Grocer, Old Spitalfields Market, E1

Given the cold weather and the fact that it's the third week of January - so Dry January is nearly done! - I thought for this latest entry I'd revisit the late summer and post an old review of a place I've been to many times in all weathers. Hope you're keeping warm and if you do happen to know a recipe for a mulled variant of lime and soda, let me know.

Date: September 2018

Is it Spitalfields Market or Old Spitalfields Market these days? Either way I know I’m not talking about the wholesale fruit and veg market that takes places in the early morning from Monday to Satruday on the fringes of the Olympic Park in Leyton (E10) - turns out that’s called New Spitalfields Market anyway.

In any case, there I was on a Thursday after work, after dinner and with a mate, so what better to do than see out the last day of my working week with a refreshing glass of the good stuff. The Grocer has become something of a Stammkneipe (that’s German for the local) for weekday evening rendez-vous with my friends owing to the buzz generated in the City on a weekday evening, the vast array of tantalising culinary options in the market building surrounding it and - the main reason - the fact it is convenient for where we all work.

To give it some credit, it is a nice looking pub with a decent outdoor terrace situated under the roof of the market hall so you won’t get wet if it rains. It looks like what might be described as a ‘traditional British pub’ but has a modern feel to it too. It’s probably a gastropub, but then again most pubs seem to serve food these days. I couldn’t find out much about the pub’s history in the three minutes I spent googling ‘The Grocer pub Spitalfields Market history’ but I did find that there were apparently once as many as seventy pubs in the Spitalfields area, although not all existing at the same time. Now there are a measly ten. According to what I could work out from this list (see the sources section for the link), the nearest one to what is now The Grocer was probably the Pendennis Castle, which was situated at 1 Lamb Street and demolished in 1884. So there you go, some history

Down to the review as always

When I ordered at the bar, I was asked whether I wanted fresh lime or lime cordial. I’m yet to decide if I like this question or not. On the one hand it shows a level of care for the customer that is to be commended - consumer choice is, after all, the only real choice we have these days - but on the other it can come across as slightly idiotic. The best answer to this is of course both and, in my opinion, a bartender should know that instinctively. Too flustered from being confronted with this dilemma of choice, I forgot to ask for the fresh slice of lime and so was left with a pint glass of weak looking lime cordial and soda water, accompanied by several hundred thousand ice cubes. 

Appearance:
Paying and taking my seat on the outside I watched my drink closely as the green tinge of the cordial blended well with the green tiles of the pub in the background. Owing to the aforementioned quantity of ice cubes, my hand was nearly frozen by the time I placed the glass on the table but the beginnings of a very mild frostbite in my fingertips did nothing to allay my fears that the ice would just dilute the minuscule amount of lime cordial further than the soda water had already done. It did look like a weak one. Without the lime quarter it also felt slightly bare. Even a quick stir with a finger couldn't do anything to make it appear more appetizing. 

Taste:
Perhaps unsurprising then that this lime and soda was very low on flavour. The lack of zing from a bit of fresh lime made this even more noticeable (I’m not bitter about it, I promise). It was refreshing though and went down easily, however I do remember thinking that I might as well just have had a glass of sparkling water. At least the cordial didn't have a chemical aftertaste that some do. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t memorable either. 

Price: 
I bought it together with a single vodka soda (a drink which sounds even more disgusting than what I was drinking). That one came with a fresh lime quarter in it (really, I’m not bitter) and together they came to over £6 so we’re talking over £2 for the non-alcoholic cocktail. Not cheap but its in keeping with other places I’ve been to in the area. Yes, it might the city of London but I’m still not a banker. 

So I guess I can say that this place is ok for lime and soda. Forgettable is what I’d term it as. A shame as it is quite a nice pub. 

The pub itself is worth coming to, especially on a late summer weekday evening as you can sit and watch the world go by from the outdoor area. I’ve never eaten here and have rarely drunk anything other than the lime and soda so my comments on anything else are somewhat redundant. It was a pleasant evening and the drink itself was just a way to keep my whistle whet as I talked in depth with my mate about the state of our respective love lives. A very long conversation indeed. 

Sources:
List of pubs in Spitalfields Market: http://www.spitalfieldsforum.org.uk/history/

The Northcote Arms, Francis Road, E11

Date: January 2019

You might imagine that the evening of the first Sunday of January would be a quiet time for a pub in an outer London Borough such as Waltham Forest but then you’ve probably never been to The Northcote. That said, neither had I before this visit and it’s fair to say I was reasonably surprised to find it full of life as I entered its doors at about 7pm on Sunday 6 January.

The Northcote is known for its Sunday drag nights so I suppose they’re always quite lively but this one in particular had that last blow out before the holiday ends feel to it. It was, after all, the night before the first Monday of the year. 

The pubhistory entry for The Northcote suggests that it’s an establishment that’s been around a while. It was taken over by Tuesday Roberts back in 2014 and offers an array of entertaining events from puz quizzes and bingo to the aforementioned drag nights. It has a Muga stone oven pizzeria (the pizzas here looked amazing and I wished I hadn’t eaten before coming) out the back and also hosts other guest caterers throughout the year. All this and a healthy offering of local beer together the mass produced staples on draft make it quite the local hotspot. The crowd itself was a mix of the younger types (perhaps those who’ve moved into the area), couples with dogs and a solid old man contingent for whom this has probably been the local going on decades. It has a real modern East End community feel to it. More information on the pub and some interesting articles about it are in the sources section.

It being a Sunday there was always little chance of me ordering an alcoholic beverage. In addition, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to cut back on alcohol, starting with doing Dry January. It’s not that I am a big drinker - I’m not - and I do like a beer or G & T, but I have recently really started to dislike the effect alcohol has on me. I’m not just talking about the customary hangover, I also mean the sensation of being drunk. I’m a massive lightweight so a couple of pints into a session and I’m as good as gone, but there’s also something about the feeling of being tipsy that hasn’t been sitting well with me for a while. I’ve given myself a limit of ten times when I can get drunk this year. I don’t want to give up completely - how else will I ever talk to people I don’t know?! - but I thought it best to start the year as I mean to go on.

Admittedly, as I got to the bar and looked at the life going on around me: people dancing to the music, chatting with vigour and my mate sipping his San Miguel contentedly, I was tempted to get a drink. Then I remembered my resolution. However, I thought I’d at least put one of my dancing shoes on and live a little. So I bought myself a non-alcoholic beer. Bavaria 0.0%. Do not recommend. About a third of the way through the bottle, as the realisation of my error became apparent, I knew that my next round had to be the classic non-drinkers' refresher. A lime and soda.

Appearance:
My mate walked back to our table his pint in one hand, in the other a pint glass glistening green in the light of the stage where the drag act was belting out Britney Spears. I knew I’d made the right choice. This is a proper pub that does proper drinks (non-alcoholic beer offering aside) and the lime and soda is no exception. The pint glass was filled to the brim. It had ice cubes, it had fresh lime, it had enough condensation on it and the balance of cordial to soda water looked about right. Top marks. 

Taste:
As I had expected from its appearance, it's a solid and uncompromising beverage. Lime and soda’s Ronseal equivalent. I did have to mix it a bit (with my finger not a straw #noplastic) but the flavour of the soda water was well balanced out with the right amount of cordial and the fresh lime quarter, which added just the right amount of zing to keep my taste buds interested before getting down to the thicker, sickly sweet taste of the cordial congregated at the bottom of the glass. This drink did everything you’d expect of a lime and soda. It quenched my thirst, it was drinkable, it endured. It is what it is and it's ok with that. That's how I like my lime and soda.  

Price:
This one was bought for me so I don’t actually know. We did stay for one more round after this but, it being late and having work the next day, I only fancied a half. A pint of lager and a half of lime and soda cost me less than £5 so I imagine the best mocktails here are cheap. As it should be. 

I’ve lived in this area on and off for a few year and have often passed this pub on my way down Grove Green Road so I’m glad I finally dropped in. It’s obviously a great hangout for newcomers and old timers alike and if you did want to get on it on a Sunday this would be the place to come. Maybe I’ll return to get a more inebriated perspective on the atmosphere at The Northcote when Dry January is over, we shall see.

As for the lime and soda itself, it's proper pub lime and soda. It’s good value, comes in the right quantity (pint glass or half pint glass) and is served with a smile. That’s all you really want from your local isn’t it? 

Sources
Pub’s website: https://thenorthcotee11.com/ 

Pubhistory entry: https://pubshistory.com/EssexPubs/Leytonstone/northcot.shtml

https://www.whatpub.com/pubs/ELC/13959/northcote-arms-leyton 

 A short interview with the owner: https://www.leytonstoner.london/2015/04/14/ich-bin-tuesday-roberts-owner-northcote-e11/ 

How they brought drag to The Northcote: https://www.leytonstoner.london/2015/03/26/i-started-sunday-drag-nights-northcote/

Kings Stores, Widegate Street, E1

Date: December 2016

To kick things off properly on this blog, I thought I’d post a review of a lime and soda I had a while ago now. This is the first review I ever wrote and looking back, it’s probably the occasion where the idea for this blog initially came about (yeah, ok it has taken me a bit of time to get it started). This should give you a flavour of what drinking lime and soda seriously is all about.

I visited the Kings Stores on Widegate Street sometime in December 2016. Unusually for this late in the year, I found myself not wanting to imbibe. Perhaps because it was still early in the month and I was aware of what was to come - Christmas 2016 was indeed quite the period of excess intoxication. Upon finding myself huddled up with friends in the warmth of a pub looking to escape the winter weather, I decided to go for my usual non-alcoholic beverage of choice. The humble lime and soda. Cue groans from my friends and cries of “it’s December, live a little”. Luckily for my liver, and of course for you dear reader, I ignored them and ordered it anyway.

Before moving on to my review of the beverage itself, I thought I’d give you a brief history of the Kings Stores. I am not a historian, and especially not one with a special knowledge of public houses, so most of this has been lifted from much more accomplished and knowledgeable sites such as pubhistory,com and pubology.co.uk. I’ve put links at the bottom if you want to read their entries on the Kings Stores (should that have an apostrophe? Research provides no concrete conclusions).

Nestled between the City and Spitalfields market, the pub’s website describes it as a “real hidden gem attracting a diverse crowd”. To be honest, I have no recollection of whether this is the case, although I’m sure it is. After all, when has marketing spin ever been a lie? At the time it was just a convenient place for me and a group of friends to meet what with it being almost equidistant from each of our respective workplaces. I’ve probably been into this pub several times but as with many a winter weeknight gathering, they all blur into one in my mind.

According to my sources, the Kings Stores started life as the Hoop & Grapes, opening in 1819. It was rebuilt in its present form in 1902 and has been known as the Kings Stores ever since. It is currently owned by Greene King. Given the age of the pub you might expect good things of their ability to craft a classic drink such as a lime and soda. Let’s find out.

Appearance:
It seems like they know what they’re doing here, as they slide the sober version of a Thunder Thursday tipple over the top of the bar into your hand. The glass was pleasant on the eye. Nice and tall. Not a pint glass though but furnished with just the just the right amount of ice cubes. Not too many to the glass look crowded and create the feeling that you’ve lost out on some of the drink, like a bad mojito, but not so few that they were lonely floating around in a sea of watery green. It also came with a fresh lime quarter bobbing gently on top of the bubbles. The addition of fresh lime isn’t always a given and should never be taken for granted when drinking lime and soda.

Taste:
Excited by the exquisite presentation, I had high hopes as I lifted the glass to my lips. First to note is that freshness, the real lime works! Mixed in with the lime cordial and soda water it transports you to a place where limes grow on trees beneath blue skies and warm sunshine, evaporating all of your troubles. It lifted my spirits - of which there are none in this drink - and cleansed my palate. Sadly, the space created by this cleansing process left behind just enough space for the actual taste of the lime cordial to create a big green mess on my newly refreshed taste buds. The balance of the drink was way off. The initial soda taste had been rejuvenating but was overpowered by the lime cordial which wasn’t the most palatable. Paradoxically there also didn’t seem to be enough of it and the drink wasn’t strong enough for me by some distance. I feel that if I’m going to subject myself to an evening of this stuff, at the very least I expect it to taste of something stronger than the abomination that is Volvic touch of lime or whatever it’s called. Give me a super strength Robinson’s cordial any day and the Kings Stores needs to top theirs up. It was neither sweet nor sour and even the fresh lime couldn’t save it. If I’d wanted real hydration, I’d have drunk from the tap.

I did find this drink refreshing but it was let down by a combination of the ‘interesting’ after taste of chemicals from the lime cordial along with it’s weak mixture of the key ingredients. It’s like the Coors Light of lime and soda.

Price:
£2.25! Yes that’s right, it was £2.25. I know this is the City of London and we’re all supposed to be rich bankers but come on, it wasn’t a coke! Even disregarding the quality, this is still way too much for a lime and soda. I might as well have paid double that and had a beer (maybe triple it). Definitely not worth it at its price point, but I guess the pub does have quite high running costs to cover.

Would I recommend a lime and soda at the Kings Stores? I have given the lime and soda here here a bit of a hard time but there are positives.

It is a looker. If you’re out there to impress your finance friends without endangering the health of the economy - or your liver - by making big decisions with a massive hangover the next morning then this is the drink for you. If you fancy a refreshing and re-hydrating summer beverage on your way to that big meeting then go for it.. But if you’re after the depth of flavour of a craft non-alcoholic beverage then this will not meet its aim. Be wary of the price and maybe just pay for a coke, lemonade or ginger beer if you’re not drinking.

Much like a Coors Light it's good on the right occasion. That said a lot of time has passed since I was last there so maybe I need to be back to give it a second try.

Sources:
http://www.kingsstores.co.uk/ 

https://pubology.co.uk/pubs/2176.html