The Roebuck, Borough, London, SE1 4YG
Didn't really have much chance to sample the pretty decent beer selection as was otherwise engaged most the night with providing the music for my mates 40th birthday party which was in the room upstairs. But the beers on offer looked good with a few Meantime brews on offer as well as three decent ales and good lagers like Sagres. Building is situated on a corner and although quite odd shape it's much larger than I imagined, it also has a lot of tables on street outside which no doubt get busy when this eternal winter is finally over. Nice pub and I'd like to come back and try some of the beers properly another time. View Tales of the Undigested in a larger map
The Rake, Borough Market, SE1 9AGAnother visit to The Rake so the first time I've mentioned the same place on here more than once. As expected all the beers bar a couple on draught were different than the last time I was here and I decided to go for a Bear Republic American Wheat ale even after the bar staff warned me it was £7 a pint. Not as white as a lot of wheat beers you normally see, this had an orange hue and was extremely cloudy, it was also refreshing with a slight sourness, I liked it but I didn't feel it was that much better than other more normally priced beers on offer at the Rake, but I suppose it's a beer rarely seen outside America and I was glad to have tried it.
As we wandered looking for somewhere to go for a drink next we went past here and one of our friends mentioned they'd been in here recently and it was good so we went down the steps. It's obvious as soon as you go down that it's a German bar and we really should have realised by the name but you never quite know in London. My face lit up when I saw they were serving good German lagers in proper thick rimed steins, I went for the Paulaner and was probably the nicest Paulaner I've had. As was likely after drinking steins the evening was quite raucous from then on but what made it was the fantastic band Oompah Brass who I'd seen only a few weeks ago at Proud Cabaret - they were thoroughly entertaining again with their German oompah style mash-ups of modern classics such as Bohemian Rhapsody, my only disappointment was missing their amazing version of Britney Spears song Toxic. A brilliantly entertaining evening which was heighten by the ad-hoc nature of the arrangements and fact just three of us going out for a drink ended with ten of us dancing in a German bar drinking steins of beer. View Tales of the Undigested in a larger map
The Market Porter, Borough Market, SE1 9AA
A lively after work pub they have a good selection real ales. You've gotta love it when you walk into a pub and that second you spot a mate who passes you pint instantly from the bar, what simple joy. We had a pint of Harveys Sussex Best which hits the spot with its light and mildly hopped flavour when its the first pint of evening after working all day.
The Rake, Borough Market, SE1 9AG
I've visited this pub a few times now and its easy to see why people come back - the selection of beers, ales and ciders is outstanding. It really is small inside but the fact that all the draught beers and ciders have been different every time I've visited is such a novelty, a novelty which appeals to me a hell of a lot. The bar staff seem to really understand what they are selling and a dubious slightly vinegary beer was immediately replaced with no qualms. We drank BrewDog's Physics beer which really reminded me of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with it's extreme hopping and easy drinking nature - incidentally the first Sierra Nevada I had on draught was here a couple of years ago, its now one of my favourite beers and to get one in the same class brought big smiles to our faces.
The Royal Oak, Borough, SE1 4JU
What a gem of an English pub. Tucked away so much from Borough High St that its one of those pubs where everybody in there must keep going back time and time again. A Harveys owned pub the selection of their beers is hard to find elsewhere, the pint of Sussex Best put to shame the one we had earlier (even though the earlier one was great!). A pint was followed by traditional hearty pub grub, I had the Game Pie which was served with chips and masses of well cooked veg. Obviously homemade the pie had a suet crust and a good variety of different game meats. After a post meal pint of hand pulled Thatchers Heritage cider we decided to finish off with a bottle of Harveys 8.1% Christmas Ale and a cheeseboard. In the way a glass of port works with cheese, the intense treacle followed by liquorice undertones of the Christmas Ales really worked, the cheeseboard was generous with big chunks of cheddar, brie, stilton and goats cheese - more than enough for two to share. This pub really is quite special; unassuming, unpretentious with a great atmosphere it is just a proper boozer. I imagine there aren't many pubs around when a group of five nurses come in after finishing a shift and order three pints of mild and two of pale ale - seems everybody appreciated the beer here. I know this will be a pub I'll find it hard to stay away from.View Tales of the Undigested in a larger map
