The Hoop and Grapes, 80 Farringdon Street

Farringdon Street is hardly the most attractive thoroughfare in London. Fumes from the traffic thundering north from Ludgate Circus get trapped between the grey concrete canyon of empty office blocks that line the street which conceals one of London's forgotten rivers. It is on the banks of this river, The Fleet, where the predecessor of this pub once stood. One can only imagine what it must have been like in those days sitting in a pub by the watercourse which was the recipient of half of London's sewage. I'm willing to bet that there was no riverside terrace in those days. The modern incarnation of this pub has a small terrace at the back safely out of range of the burnt hydrocarbons and a room upstairs which is available for hire. The interior although apparently new, is in keeping with pub tradition - lots of dark wood and rich colours. First impressions of the beer are good. There is a fine range of bottled ales from small independent breweries, a few draught ales, lagers and Guinness. Fans of German lager will be pleased to see Hofbrau both in bottles and on tap. The "holy trinity" behind the bar comprised of an attractive and amiable young woman making eyes at all the men, another woman who worked industriously in the background and a man who was equipped with a sort of beer radar which automatically detected when you needed another drink even when seated 10ft from the bar. In the words of mahogany faced flash northern git David Dickenson, "A bit of a Bobby Dazzler".

---

All content © Random Pub Finder 2001-2010, website development by Doogal