Covent Garden Pubs 3!

Further to my two recent Covent Garden blogs (blog) and (blog), again, a pub crawl from Charing Cross to Tottenham Court Road tube station, and we again started at The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website) as, quite frankly, we're always served excellent ale there, and this visit was no different. One of my favourite breweries Oakham Ales of Peterborough fame (website), and their single hop session ale Citra (4.2%). Unsurprisingly, brewed with Citra hops (hopslist), the first British brewery to use this hop after discovering it in the USA back in 2009, meaning a zesty, grapefruit tasting APA, refreshing and excellent as always, cheers! 😁

And again, we turned left out of The Harp, then left up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right, this time passing both The White Swan and The Round House, and turned left onto Garrick Street, following this up to the 6 exit junction, taking the second on the left, Cranbourn Street, up to Charing Cross Road where our next pub was. That was The Porcupine, 48 Charing Cross Road WC2H 0BS, by Leicester Square tube station (website). An inn/pub has been on this site since 1725, when the original address was 1 Castle Street, before Charing Cross Road was built in the 1870s, the pub was then rebuilt in 1880. 

Here we drank a pale ale, a collaboration between Farnham in Surrey based Hogs Back Brewery (website) and Battersea in London based Mondo Brewing Company (website), their 3.8% Juliet, which was brewed to celebrate International Women's Day (website). Brewed with Cascade (hopslist), Citra (hopslist) and Hallertau Blanc (hopslist) hops, and, as you'd expect, very light and fruity, with hints of grapefruit, gooseberries, and forest fruits. Not as much punch as our earlier pint, but not bad at all. 👌

We then turned right out of The Porcupine, and immediately right again down Great Newport Street, back to the junction and taking the second on the left, Long Acre, continuing to the third left, Neal Street, where towards the end, at the junction with Shelton Street, is the Crown & Anchor, 22 Neal Street WC2H 9PS (website). A pub has been on this site since at least 1811, when Combe & Co Brewery, which was situated across the road since 1787, had the pub. The brewery merged with Watney & Co and Reid's Brewery Co in 1898, and became Watney, Combe, Reid & Co. The current Grade II Listed building was constructed in 1904.

Here we drank, from East London brewery Five Points Brewing (website), their 4.0% XPA, an American Pale Ale style ale, brewed with Citra (hopslist), Galaxy (hopslist) and Sabro (Hop Breeding Co) hops. This produces a pale beer with plenty of citrus and forest fruits, particularly grapefruit, bitter with a refreshing dry finish, quite excellent too! 👍

From the Crown & Anchor we turned left onto Shelton Street, along to Endell Street, where we turned left again and up on the left we reached The Cross Keys, 31 Endell Street WC2H 9EB (Covent Garden website). This is a Grade II Listed building, constructed in 1848, which I visited 14 years ago when it was one of 3 Brodie's pubs (sadly Brodie's no longer exists), including The Old Coffee House in nearby Soho and their taphouse the King William IV in Leyton (website), and you could also get their ales regularly at the King Charles I near King's Cross (website).

They had 2 cask ales, both from Lewes in East Sussex brewery Harvey's (website), and I had a couple of pints of their 4.0% Sussex Best, brewed with 4 'local' English hops. I should have enquired when we visited the brewery back in December 2019 (blog), but the hops regularly used appear to be generally accepted as Fuggle (hopslist), Kent Golding (hopslist), Progress (hopslist) and Bramling Cross (hopslist). It's a traditional style amber bitter, slightly malty with a hint of nuts in the taste, very easy to drink, to my taste not bitter enough, but pretty reliable. 👌

We then followed Endell Street down to its end and reached the corner pub at High Holborn, Craft Beer Company, 168 High Holborn WC1V 7AA (website), which I wrote about in my first Covent Garden blog. However, we didn't have enough time for a pint there, so we crossed the road, and walked down Dyott Street opposite to New Oxford Street, where we turned left up to the junction with Tottenham Court Road and the tube station. 

I trust you've had enough about Covent Garden for now, cheers folks! 😉