SOHO!

I used capital letters for SOHO as it apparently comes from a hunting cry (History of London).

OK, a wee variation from recent blogs recording short pub crawls close to Covent Garden from Charing Cross Station to Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road recently, with 4 pubs we've visited in/close by Soho. Plus, of course, our favourite starter at The Harp, 47 Chandos Place WC2N 4HS (website). I have written about this before, so the next paragraph may be superfluous for you, but there has been a change regarding staff, with new manager Steve, coming in for Paul who recently retired. And many thanks to Steve for noticing us, and others, waiting outside on Good Friday, when he was originally going to open at 12.00 instead of the usual 11.00, yet decided to let us in, including a young German lad who was flying home later in the day. 👍

This pub has been around since 1805, originally called the Welsh Harp, changing its name when Irish lass Binnie Walsh took it over in 1995. She sold it to Fuller's in 2014, after turning it into an excellent free house (my older blog), and good for them for keeping it a virtual 'free house' still; the only difference being London Pride is now available regularly. Indeed, Dark Star APA and Hophead are still regular ales (perhaps their sales influential in Fuller's buying the pub) as is Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, plus guest ales too. The building was constructed in the 18th century, but a pub had been on the site for many years previous. As far as I can find out, the building itself isn't 'Listed' although next door is, as are the lampposts in Chandos Place!

As usual our first pints of the day at the Harp were excellent, and from Sheffield brewery Neepsend (website), who brew some excellent ales, as I have written about before when visiting Sheffield. This was their 5.2% Hodag, an American Pale Ale brewed with Citra (hopslist), Mosaic (hopslist), Columbus (hopslist) and Centennial (hopslist) hops, and we got what you'd expect from those hops. Big fruity aroma, mango and grapefruit in particular, similar with taste, plenty of tropical and citrus fruit flavours coming through, with a crisp dry bitter finish, excellent! 👍

Chatting with Steve the manager, and I blame Paul for this as he asked for a taste, then he bought a half for me too. From Siren Craft Brew of Wokingham (website), their 6.5% Breakfast Stout Broken Dream, brewed with Apollo hops (hopslist) and with coffee and lactose, meaning a rich sweet full bodied chocolatey stout with hints of coffee, with the hops ensuring it not being too sickly with a slightly bitter finish, indeed, pretty damn good. Rare to get a cask Siren beer, I've drunk more of their stouts in particular from cans, and this was pretty darn good too! 👌

Repeating myself for the next pub, but we turned left out of The Harp, then left up Bedfordbury, walked to the end and turned right, then turned left very soon onto Garrick Street, followed this up to the 6 exit junction, taking the second exit on the left, Cranbourn Street, up to Charing Cross Road. Turn right to quickly find, on your right, 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 an ale that was a collaboration between Farnham based Hogs Back Brewery (website) and London based Mondo Brewing Company (website), their 3.8% Juliet Pale Ale, brewed to celebrate International Women's Day (website). Brewed with Cascade (hopslist), Citra (hopslist) and Hallertau Blanc (hopslist) hops, and, as you'd expect, light and fruity, with hints of grapefruit, gooseberries, and forest fruits, not bad at all.

On leaving we crossed Charing Cross Road to Little Newport Street, then soon turning right off here into Newport Place, leading to Gerrard Place, then left onto Shaftesbury Avenue, and turning second right and up Dean Street. On the corner with Bateman Street on the right is The Crown & Two Chairmen, 31-32 Dean Street W1D 3SB (website). The original pub dates back to 1736 and was then called just the Crown, probably changing its name towards the beginning of the 19th century, I can't find out the exact year, but we know the pub was rebuilt in 1929.

Here I drank Bass Pale Ale or Draught Bass as it's more commonly called these days (4.4%), brewed at Marston's old brewery in Burton, which is now owned by Carlsberg, for AB-InBev, confused? This sort of thing can happen when big breweries buy up other breweries, although this is one of the weirdest, the owner of a brand, an enormous international company, having its beer brewed by another enormous international competitor! Couldn't make it up. 😲 I probably first drank Bass poured straight from the barrel (gravity fed) about 40 years ago at the Dolphin Hotel in Plymouth (old blog), but it may have been before that at The Plume of Feathers in Princetown, in the middle of Dartmoor (website), who used to serve it straight from the cask too.

The red triangle of Bass was the first registered trademark way back on the 1st of January 1876 (IPO), indeed it was first brewed in Burton-on-Trent as far back as 1777, Bass, it does have some history! So, Draught Bass (4.4%) is brewed with English hops Challenger (hopslist) and Golding (hopslist), producing an amber, slightly malty, decent traditional best bitter. Bottled it has been close to what an original IPA would have been, destined to travel, but not quite as strong on draught, but bottled it has been between 6.0 and 8.0% mostly since its inception.

We then came out left, returning down Dean Street, but turned next left onto Old Compton Street and then second right onto Greek Street where, on the left, we reached The Coach & Horses, 29 Greek Street, W1D 5DH (website). This Grade II Listed building dates back to 1840, and is claimed to be "Soho's Most Famous Pub" and historically a drinking establishment for writers, artists and poets; indeed, a friend reminded me soon after I originally posted this photograph on social media, that it was where folk from the satirical magazine Private Eye had their famous fortnightly lunches, cheers Stephen! 🍷🍸🍻

Here we drank, from near the South Devon coast and Salcombe Brewery (website), their 4.2% Gold, brewed with Amarillo (hopslist), Chinook (hopslist) and Citra (hopslist) hops. A pale straw coloured ale, with those hops providing a big fruity aroma and taste, citrus with grapefruit mostly and a hint of orange, and more subtle tropical fruits, mango, melon, peach and apricot, with a dry refreshing gently bitter finish, nice one. 😊

We came out to the left, and virtually behind The Coach & Horses, left and left in effect, is The Spice of Life, yet another new pub from McMullen & Sons, a brewery I only discovered last year (blog), despite their existence for 200 years! Anyway, The Spice of Life, 6 Moor Street W1D 5NA (website) was built around 1759, originally called The George, then The George and Thirteen Cantons by 1892, then The Scots Hoose, with a Scottish landlord until the 1970s. The name changed to The Spice of Life in the 1970s, or maybe 1980 when it became a McMullen's pub. It has recently had a rather superb refurbishment with a resplendent interior.

Here I drank their own 4.3% The Spice of Life Bitter, brewed by McMullen's of Hertfordshire, of course (website). Like with the Nag's Head Bitter recently imbibed (blog), an educated guess still suggests this is their Country Best Bitter, as it's the only beer they regularly brew at that strength. 😉 Brewed with Fuggle (hopslist), Progress (hopslist) and Bramling Cross (hopslist) hops, producing a very decent traditional best bitter indeed. 👍

From here you can either go back onto Charing Cross Road and up to Oxford Street and the Flying Horse (blog), or click on Covent Garden in the Labels, which will take you back to pubs I've already reviewed in Covent Garden close by, or wait for me to do more wandering around Soho, or just wander around and see what you can find yourself, there are plenty more pubs in the area believe me! Whatever, enjoy yourselves and have fun folks, cheers m'dears! 🍺