pub | The grub worm

Bloggers’ Lunch at The Ship – a proper party

Posted on 24 January 2011 by The Grubworm

Mini crab cake with quails egg

From across the capital (and beyond) they came, braving arctic conditions and the vagaries of London transport. They crossed rivers, trekked ice-bound wildernesses, clambered up treacherous stairs and made their way, swaying and clanking, through tunnels deep underground.

Why? To get to one of the events of 2010, the bloggers’ xmas lunch. No fewer than fifty bloggers found their way through snow and wind to The Ship, a beacon of warmth and light perched on the south bank of the Thames. A pub full of friendly folks chatting, eating and drinking. Continue reading →

The Drapers Arms

Posted on 18 November 2010 by The Grubworm

Brawn

Gastro pub. What a stuck in-the-middle, fence sitter of a label. Trite terminology aside, my only real issue with it is that it’s become a cypher for stripped floorboards and style-over-substance, over-priced, bland, rubbish food. And so it ends up hiding a number of very good pubs that serve very good food. But what other term is there to use?

Simple food, executed with the highest ability. This is the mark of a true gastro pub. Places like the Anchor & Hope, The Gunmakers, The Fox & Anchor. And The Drapers Arms. It’s not about the presentation or the decor, it’s about the ethos of the food. A mongrel mix of unpretentious English-with-influences grub. Not too messed around with and of the highest provenance. Continue reading →

Anchor & Hope

Posted on 17 April 2010 by The Grubworm

36 The Cut, London, SE1 8LP, 020 7928 9898

I have really mixed feelings about the word ‘gastropub’, it’s been massively overused by pubs serving big brand wine and mediocre food. A bit like bistro, trattoria or taverna, it’s a label that indicates the type rather than quality of food you’re going to get.

But, and it’s a big but, there are pubs that really live up to, and transcend the label. They serve high quality unpretentious, unabashedly British food, providing an experience you really won’t find elsewhere in the world. The Anchor and Hope is one of these. Continue reading →

The Gunmakers (again)

Posted on 6 February 2010 by The Grubworm

No photo this time, mostly because I was too busy cramming food into my mouth to actually take my camera out. By the time I thought about it, it was too late, the table was a wasteland of chewed bones strewn across empty plates and pint glasses containing only dregs.

Now, I know I’ve raved about The Gunmakers here and on Twitter before, but that’s always been about the beer and atmosphere. The only non-liquid to pass my lips has been a few chips. This time was different. This time I took some friends for lunch. And because I had bigged it up so much, I was really hoping it’d deliver… Continue reading →

The Gunmakers pub

Posted on 12 January 2010 by The Grubworm

So tonight wasn’t really about the food. Tonight was about the best pint of beer I’ve ever drunk. Tonight was about The Gunmaker’s Pub in Farringdon and its charming and interesting landlord. And also about Ascot Ale’s Anastasia’s Imperial Stout, which clocked in at an impressive 8% ABV. My word, but this was good stuff.

I’m not a major stout or porter drinker, i’m more of a real ale and good wine kind of guy. But this, this was fantastic – all chewy chocolate and coffee notes, with a lot of depth (think beef stew rather than any other drink) and none of the watery, light, bitter notes of your Guinness or other wimpy dark beer. Continue reading →