34__ Earl of Essex Say a little prayer for brew
The most famous man to hold the title of Earl of Essex has to be Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell. His family ran a brewery and owned a tavern, with his father being reported to the courts for watering down the beer in his establishment. That wouldn’t have gone down well with fans of this Earl of Essex, a temple to beer down an Islington street filled with dreamy townhouses. As you enter the pretty teal-paint and brown-tile pub there’s a dominatingly large wooden hymn board to your left, upon which the day’s drinks pouring at the bar are listed as gospel. Rightly so – this is Islington’s first brewpub with grand stills tucked neatly behind the bar, all shiny and silver. A spot of beer reverence is expected. What was once a Georgian pub decked in red and white and bearing England flags like an advert for UKIP reopened in July 2012 described as the sister pub to the King’s Arms in Bethnal Green, a similarly beery hostelry (although it’s a part of the Barworks group, who operate many great establishments in the capital). A utilitarian look and Shaker-style furnishings complete the holy hops vibe. Seating in the gorgeously peaceful beer garden is in as much demand as the staff at the bar. Its modern bunting and potted plants make a match for the stylish interior, where bold framed prints by contemporary artists give an edge to beer evangelism. And as for that beer board (which is regularly posted to Twitter to lure in the keenest hopheads), there are always over ten keg beers and a handful of options by cask from the likes of Thornbridge, Siren, Weird Beard and Magic Rock with closer-to-home flavours from Kernel, Five Points and Camden Town Brewery, some of them so strong, they’re only served in half-pint measures. Wait for service from the aquamarine bar and it’s sure to come with recommendations, just like the ones on the food menu, which pairs tipples with small plates. Basically, have full faith in finding a higher state of beer consciousness. 76
Address 25 Danbury Street, N1 8LE, +44 (0)20 7424 5828, www.earlofessex.net, earl@earlofessex.net | Getting there Angel (Northern Line) | Hours Mon – Thu noon – 11.30pm, Fri & Sat noon – midnight, Sun noon – 11pm | Tip The Duke of Cambridge pub at the other end of Danbury Street is as dedicated to organic food as the Essex is to beer. Go for gastropub goodness.
35__ Effra Hall Tavern Jerk chicken, jazz and very good vibes
On any given night, Caribbean boys sit at the bar dressed in trilby hats and tracksuits, overlooked by a clock in the shape of Jamaica. They chew the cud as if they’re life-long friends, but it’s feasible that they only just met, such is the camaraderie at Kellett Road’s Effra Hall Tavern. Brixton’s Afro-Caribbean community is losing familiar social spaces as the pace of change in the area shifts a gear and upstart restaurants shuffle in to satisfy new kids on the block. But the Effra Hall Tavern stays true to the locals who have shaped this part of town more than any bout of gentrification. It serves up a fiery menu of Caribbean classics from plantain chips, jerk chicken and a mean lamb curry to transmogrified takes on British pub grub – Red Stripebattered cod and chips, for example. Every Tuesday a band called the Soothsayers sets up in the corner to play reggae-influenced tunes, while Sundays have seen open jazz jam nights led by local soul diva Lauren Dalrymple for over 20 years. At quieter times, you may even spot generations slamming down the dominoes, although that’s less common these days. None of it is to the exclusion of other locals. All are welcome to take comfort in a stripped-back setting where an old brass-andwood bar sweeps both sides of the room, rustic chairs are fashioned from chunky blocks of wood and dune-coloured curtains dress the windows. And some pub staples are kept resolutely intact, with football shown on projector screens and in the palm-lined beer garden. Admirably cheap pints include local Brixton Brewery’s Effra lager. Both this and the pub take their name from the area’s River Effra, one of the capital’s ‘lost rivers’ forced below ground to form part of the Victorian infrastructure. In some ways, you can draw comparisons between the Effra and this counterculture backstreet pub, a hidden wonder to those aware of its existence. 78
Address 38 Kellett Road, SW2 1EB, +44 (0)20 7274 4180, www.theeffra.com | Getting there Brixton (Victoria Line) | Hours Mon – Wed noon – 11.30pm, Thu – Sat noon – midnight, Sun noon – 11pm | Tip Brixton’s Club 414 and The Prince of Wales are two more local spots for great live jazz nights.
111__ Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese You won’t brie-lieve its lesser-known history
Fire has marked this Fleet Street pub through its many years. Flames tore through the building in 1666 during the Great Fire of London, scorching over 100 years of pub history. A year later the pub reopened, and from a visit now it’s clear that not a great deal has changed since – white-washed stone walls, low oak beams, dark wood panels and tallbacked benches hark back to the simpler London that Samuel Pepys had written so prolifically about. Then it happened again in 1962: a fire – luckily not quite so ‘great’ – broke out on the upper storey. This made its impact felt in other ways, its devastation unveiling a few clues to the pub’s then-unknown history. While the Cheshire Cheese was noted for the sacred ground it stood on – taking over the site of a Carmelite monastery from the 1300s – its famous inhabitants across the years may not have known about a more unholy past. In the wreckage of the fire, pornographic tiles were uncovered and historians have since commented that these sordid scenes may have been a sort of mood enhancer in an 18th-century gentlemen’s club or maybe even a brothel upstairs. Sadly, the tiles have been squirreled away by the Museum of London rather than put on display in the pub. What is on show is a chair dedicated to Dickens (let’s face it, which historic London pubs didn’t he drink in?), and a parrot in a cage – although not Polly the Parrot, the pub’s rude squawker famous enough to have had an obituary in the international press in 1926. For these two reasons alone, the Cheese attracts many tourists come the weekend. But visit early in the week to see why Dickens and his literary peers – from Samuel Johnson and Mark Twain to Arthur Conan Doyle and P. G. Wodehouse – were lured in. There’s a chophouse, a spit-and-sawdust bar and a maze of rooms connected by little darkened passageways (mind your head!) ideal for secluded drinking. And of course, a number of warming fireplaces. 230
Address 145 Fleet Street, EC4A 2BU, +44 (0)20 7353 6170, www.samuelsmithsbrewery.co.uk | Getting there City Thameslink (National Rail) | Hours Mon – Fri 11.30am – 11pm, Sat noon – 11pm | Tip Continue the Ye Olde theme: fellow City pub Ye Olde Mitre (1 Ely Place) similarly creaks with age.
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Laura Richards was born near Liverpool and grew up near Peterborough. She studied Spanish at the University of Bristol and in Zaragoza, Spain before moving to London to train as a journalist. She started out writing about pregnancy and parenting before a drastic change of pace, documenting the bar, club and restaurant scene in London. In her current role as Associate Editor and Drinks Editor at Time Out London, she visits the latest launches to uncover scene-defining bars and pubs. Her search for the perfect piĂąa colada continues.
Jamie Newson is a freelance photographer residing in Farnham, Surrey. Having been used to the hustle of Essex where he grew up, he continues to take trips into the city where he works mostly photographing new food and newer people. He hopes to be photographing his way round London for as long as possible.