Good Irish Pubs in London

dd972

Anybody know any good Irish pubs in London?, ( by London I mean Zones 1-3, actual bona fide London ) by good I mean on a par or nearly on a par with the Porterhouse in Maiden Lane in terms of food, drink and clientele.

Not some dosshouse in Cricklewood with some drink addled 60's emigrant dribbling down his shirt reading a Racing Post.

Not some converted shopfront in Feltham full of plasterer's and cockney **** or some Social Club next to a R.C Church with a GAA team,

who the fug

dd972 wrote: »

Not some dosshouse in Cricklewood with some drink addled 60's emigrant dribbling down his shirt reading a Racing Post.

,

Sorry I left in 87, but can you answer me one when question when did snobbery like yours become the norm in Ireland, also have you been in the Crown in Cricklewood

dd972

who the fug wrote: »

Sorry I left in 87, but can you answer me one when question when did snobbery like yours become the norm in Ireland

I usually post and read in AH so the brashness isn't quite intended.

who the fug

dd972 wrote: »

I usually post and read in AH so the brashness isn't quite intended.

point taken

I believe your generation now hang out south of the river

For future reference the hard nut Irish pubs are not in Cricklewood, but in a back street near you

theteal

dd972 wrote: »

some Social Club next to a R.C Church with a GAA team,

hey, I'll not have a scornful word said (typed) against st cedds, £2.30 a pint = win, in my book!

rainbow kirby

Sheephaven Bay in Camden is great for watching sport, pints not the cheapest though.

FTA69

who the fug wrote: »

point taken

I believe your generation now hang out south of the river

For future reference the hard nut Irish pubs are not in Cricklewood, but in a back street near you

Monaghan's in Wood Green. "Where everybody knows your name...."

seachto7

dd972 wrote: »

Anybody know any good Irish pubs in London?, ( by London I mean Zones 1-3, actual bona fide London ) by good I mean on a par or nearly on a par with the Porterhouse in Maiden Lane in terms of food, drink and clientele.

Not some dosshouse in Cricklewood with some drink addled 60's emigrant dribbling down his shirt reading a Racing Post.

Not some converted shopfront in Feltham full of plasterer's and cockney **** or some Social Club next to a R.C Church with a GAA team,

I'm sure the cockney **** wouldn't like to have an Irish pr1ck drinking with them either...:rolleyes:

dd972

seachto7 wrote: »

I'm sure the cockney **** wouldn't like to have an Irish pr1ck drinking with them either...:rolleyes:

that's you out of the picture then, bud!

dilallio

The Claddagh Ring in Hendon is a good spot, and the food is great

Marcusm

dd972 wrote: »

that's you out of the picture then, bud!

The Porterhouse would be unlike 90% of Irish bars in London; it would share its characteristics more with other microbreweries or super pubs than Irish bars. You might have to go to Waxy's for a similar large pub with lots of sections experience. The O'Connor Don in Marylebone Lane might illustrate to you the sort of good establishment you might aspire to fitting into.

djpbarry

who the fug wrote: »

Sorry I left in 87, but can you answer me one when question when did snobbery like yours become the norm in Ireland...

It never did - it's all been exported to London.

who the fug

djpbarry wrote: »

It never did - it's all been exported to London.

Looks like they brought the property waffle with them as well

Pudders

I wouldn't actually class the porterhouse an irish bar. Unless you mean one of the superbars in dublin.

There are great irish bars all over london.

The Coach and Horses on Wellington Street, around the corner from the Porterhouse. Tipp pub. Great salt beef sandwiches, fine pint, geat staff.

The Harp, on Chandos place. Food is retsricted to a suasgae sandwich butwas/is the CAMRA pub of the year.

Philomena's, great queen street - a good irish sports bar with fine pub food and probably the best staff around, open late.

All 3 are within 500 yards of the porterhouse and I would say are better. Peter who runs the porterhouse funnily enough drinks in all 3. Says something about those pubs.

Further from zone 1, the sheephaven as stated above is a good spot, as is the claddagh ring. I prefer The Corrib Rest in Queens Park to the cladagh in Hendon but it and the quays in Holloway road are all similar.

The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park is brilliant.

I could go on, however, I am not sure what type "clientelle" you are after!

FTA69

Jesus lads the Claddagh Ring/Quays/Corrib Rest chains are awful meat-markets. They remind me of Rearden's in Cork or even Coppers but way more messy at the weekends. I sometimes walk past The Quays and go in there come an evening but it wouldn't be my kind of gaff on a Saturday night. The Swan is an awful, awful place by all accounts.

djpbarry

FTA69 wrote: »

The Swan is an awful, awful place by all accounts.

I've actually met a number of people who claim to have had a great night in there, but to me it looks worse than Coppers, from the outside at least. I cycle by it on my way home every day and still can't understand how anyone could look at that exterior and not think "I'll take my hard-earned shillings elsewhere".

It actually looks like the kind of place I would have gone to when I was about 16/17 because I couldn't get into proper pubs.

woof im a dog

the auld shillelagh on church street you get a lovely pint of guinness in there

seachto7

Staff are good as well in the auld shill. They don't just stand there and look at you like a lot of pubs in London, they ask you if you are ok when you're pint has gone!

bill_lehane

The Blythe Hill Tavern in Forest Hill is also pretty great. Has a classic Irish barman who pours nice Guinness.

old hippy

Tir Na Nog in Wandsworth used to be a welcoming place, not exactly hopping but not the worst.

FTA69

Monaghan's in Wood Green is a fantastic place as well. They have an extensive food menu (several flavours of crisps and mini-cheddars) as well as a lively music scene (a juke box guarded by Travellers blaring country music.) The quality of the beer is second to none (no less than four premium lagers on tap). The craic and high-jinks from the clientele is also the stuff of legend.

(I one saw a fella outside it throw a scaffolding pole at a bus.)

Henry9

FTA69 wrote: »

(I one saw a fella outside it throw a scaffolding pole at a bus.)

What did the Polish lad do?

FTA69

Henry9 wrote: »

What did the Polish lad do?

Which Polish lad? In fairness this was on Wood Green High Road around the corner. I assume your man got the pole from a skip that was outside Monaghan's. Awful bloody place.

FTA69

Aha! Pole and "pole". Sorry I'm a bit fuzzy this morning! Not even 11am and I've gone full retard.

BigCol

Marcusm wrote: »

The Porterhouse would be unlike 90% of Irish bars in London; it would share its characteristics more with other microbreweries or super pubs than Irish bars. You might have to go to Waxy's for a similar large pub with lots of sections experience. The O'Connor Don in Marylebone Lane might illustrate to you the sort of good establishment you might aspire to fitting into.

What a great pub I spent many a happy hour in there but alas I think it's closed now.

upmeath

I watched the recent Limerick-Clare SHC semi-final in the Coach and Horses on Acre Lane. I'm not sure if it's related to another Coach and Horses previously mentioned here but it's Dublin/Meath-run and the Guinness is as good as you'll get here.

If you're in search of live GAA in south London it offers much better views than I had become used to in the Alex on Clapham Common, where they seem to enjoy placing television screens behind structural columns and inside people's armpits.

BraziliaNZ

upmeath wrote: »

I watched the recent Limerick-Clare SHC semi-final in the Coach and Horses on Acre Lane. I'm not sure if it's related to another Coach and Horses previously mentioned here but it's Dublin/Meath-run and the Guinness is as good as you'll get here.

If you're in search of live GAA in south London it offers much better views than I had become used to in the Alex on Clapham Common, where they seem to enjoy placing television screens behind structural columns and inside people's armpits.

That's not an Irish pub though is it? I did watch an Ireland international there once though (football)

old hippy

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

That's not an Irish pub though is it? I did watch an Ireland international there once though (football)

It's not but does get fairly packed for the 6 Nations...

upmeath

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

That's not an Irish pub though is it? I did watch an Ireland international there once though (football)

old hippy wrote: »

It's not but does get fairly packed for the 6 Nations...

It wasn't when I lived in Lambeth (1-2 years ago) but the lease has changed hands recently and it's now showing live GAA and serving good Guinness. There are also a considerable number of photographs of winning racehorses on the walls if that makes it any more Irish.

djpbarry

upmeath wrote: »

I watched the recent Limerick-Clare SHC semi-final in the Coach and Horses on Acre Lane. I'm not sure if it's related to another Coach and Horses previously mentioned here but it's Dublin/Meath-run and the Guinness is as good as you'll get here.

I've walked past that place on a number of occasions and, to be honest, it looks about as welcoming as a sweaty crotch. The Kings Head just around the corner is a much nicer spot, although not Irish.

upmeath wrote: »

If you're in search of live GAA in south London it offers much better views than I had become used to in the Alex on Clapham Common, where they seem to enjoy placing television screens behind structural columns and inside people's armpits.

I walked in there with a mate one fine afternoon and was greeted by a gang of skinheads turning to see who had dared interrupt their viewing of some cage-fighting tournament.

Haven't been back since.

Jamey

Another vote for the Auld Shillelagh. Went in there for the Ireland V Sweden game and really enjoyed it. Friendly crowd and great bar staff, felt like I was in a pub in Ireland.

Has anyone been to The Kingsland in Dalston? Was in there one night and it was very welcoming, sound bar staff and a decent pint but very much an older Irish clientele. Average age of about 60 - I was definitely the youngest in there by a long way.

FTA69

I'm not going to the Porterhouse anymore for matches. No atmosphere and was full of bloody yuppies. Myself and a Clareman were there obviously roaring on our respective teams and some arse had the temerity to tell us to relax and that it was only a game. Outrageous carry on!

ClashCityRocker

FTA69 wrote: »

I'm not going to the Porterhouse anymore for matches. No atmosphere and was full of bloody yuppies. Myself and a Clareman were there obviously roaring on our respective teams and some arse had the temerity to tell us to relax and that it was only a game. Outrageous carry on!

:rolleyes: Clown.

I watched it (against my will) in Waxy's, it was decent enough to be honest. Busy without being ridiculously packed and good atmosphere, plenty of screens to watch it on. I've watched six nations in there before which i hated, possibly because i've limited interest in rugby, but Sunday was good.

the keen edge

This may seem like a silly question; but is there an area in London which Irish people gravitate towards?

I'm aware of the old Crinklewood connection but is there an known Irish area in London nowadays?

upmeath

djpbarry wrote: »

I've walked past that place on a number of occasions and, to be honest, it looks about as welcoming as a sweaty crotch. The Kings Head just around the corner is a much nicer spot, although not Irish.

Do said numerous passings of the Coach & Horses precede the recent change of leasehold/management? Other users (BraziliaNZ, old hippy) have alluded to visits made before it was "Irish". I used to live in Lambeth and didn't think much of the place at the time either. If the most recent of your numerous passings was more than a month ago I'd strongly advise passing again. You might even stop this time, it's a decent spot. Streets ahead of the Alex on a championship Sunday.

silvervixen84

Watched the final with exiledelbows at The Sheephaven Bay and it was nice and chilled for the match:

http://www.sheephavenbaycamden.co.uk/

old hippy

the keen edge wrote: »

This may seem like a silly question; but is there an area in London which Irish people gravitate towards?

I'm aware of the old Crinklewood connection but is there an known Irish area in London nowadays?

We're all over the shop these days. I haven't been near Cricklewood/Kilburn for years but you'll find a lot of us in West London, specifically; Acton/Ealing/Hammersmith.

It's a co-incidence that I live in that area, I believe in integration but then again, always a pleasure to meet people from home. Nearly always

theteal

the keen edge wrote: »

This may seem like a silly question; but is there an area in London which Irish people gravitate towards?

I'm aware of the old Crinklewood connection but is there an known Irish area in London nowadays?

old hippy wrote: »

We're all over the shop these days. I haven't been near Cricklewood/Kilburn for years but you'll find a lot of us in West London, specifically; Acton/Ealing/Hammersmith.

It's a co-incidence that I live in that area, I believe in integration but then again, always a pleasure to meet people from home. Nearly always

I'm going to echo the old hippy's post above. There's a fairly large lump of us over the far side. I'm in Romford, there's plenty of Irish here (the large hospital plays a big part in that), our next-door neighbour is from Galway. I play football a few miles up the road in Seven Kings where there's always been a decent Irish contingent - enough to have one of London's oldest GAA clubs anyway. Most of the lads would live within the Stratford, Woodford, Romford triangle (it's a decent sized triangle ).

Several times I've had a few pints with friends in Gertie Brown's pub up in Finchley. There's a nice little Irish community going on over there.

I've another group of friends down in Tooting. While I've only been down a handful of times, they're definitely not the old Irish in the village.

To sum up. . .all over the shop. . .as he said

Ray Dow

The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury usually has a good Irish crowd, but would not be considered your hackneyed irish pub.

Filthy McNasty's is worth a look as well... just for the name

Pudders

Ray Dow wrote: »

The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury usually has a good Irish crowd, but would not be considered your hackneyed irish pub.

Filthy McNasty's is worth a look as well... just for the name

Filthy's is no longer called Filthy's anymore. They even painted over the name on teh sign.

Now called meat lovers or some ****e.

Faltering is good. Owned by a family from Foynes in Limerick.

Choccie Lover

old hippy wrote: »

We're all over the shop these days. I haven't been near Cricklewood/Kilburn for years but you'll find a lot of us in West London, specifically; Acton/Ealing/Hammersmith.

It's a co-incidence that I live in that area, I believe in integration but then again, always a pleasure to meet people from home. Nearly always

I'm in West London too (Shepherds Bush/Hammersmith). Usually go to the Richmond for the GAA. A quiet, unassuming place with a great Guinness and a startling number of Mayo expats from my parents generation (in their 50s and 60s). Might not be that rock and roll, but I like it.

Will be roaring my head off again for the Mayo/Dublin final! Let's hope it's our year this time!!

old hippy

Choccie Lover wrote: »

I'm in West London too (Shepherds Bush/Hammersmith). Usually go to the Richmond for the GAA. A quiet, unassuming place with a great Guinness and a startling number of Mayo expats from my parents generation (in their 50s and 60s). Might not be that rock and roll, but I like it.

Will be roaring my head off again for the Mayo/Dublin final! Let's hope it's our year this time!!

I haven't been in the Richmond for around 9 or ten years. It was a bit rough & ready at the time. There's plenty of decent pubs in the area; The William Morris in King St used to be quite Irish - but has a bit of a rep for punch ups on occasion.

Pudders

old hippy wrote: »

I haven't been in the Richmond for around 9 or ten years. It was a bit rough & ready at the time. There's plenty of decent pubs in the area; The William Morris in King St used to be quite Irish - but has a bit of a rep for punch ups on occasion.

The William Morris is now a Wetherspoons pub with bouncers on the door from as early as 10 in the morning onwards!

old hippy

Pudders wrote: »

The William Morris is now a Wetherspoons pub with bouncers on the door from as early as 10 in the morning onwards!

I'd notice them on a Friday night; I'd swear they had a metal detector one time!

These days I prefer the snug (and smug) Dartmouth Castle 5 mins down the road. There's the occasional Irish person there but it does seem to be populated by Chelsea types...

S.M.B.

old hippy wrote: »

I'd notice them on a Friday night; I'd swear they had a metal detector one time!

These days I prefer the snug (and smug) Dartmouth Castle 5 mins down the road. There's the occasional Irish person there but it does seem to be populated by Chelsea types...

I've never set foot in The William Morris. I didn't even know the name of it even though I walk past in on a regular basis.

It wasn't until you mentioned the Dartmouth Castle being 5 minutes down the road that I realised where you were talking about.

What's the Dartmouth like in the evenings? I've only ever been there for Lunchtime food & drinks.

old hippy

S.M.B. wrote: »

I've never set foot in The William Morris. I didn't even know the name of it even though I walk past in on a regular basis.

It wasn't until you mentioned the Dartmouth Castle being 5 minutes down the road that I realised where you were talking about.

What's the Dartmouth like in the evenings? I've only ever been there for Lunchtime food & drinks.

You get a mix of professionals, BBC types, sloanes, smoochy couples and the occasional thesp. You are less likely to get aggro there than the other place.

FTA69

Ray Dow wrote: »

The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury usually has a good Irish crowd, but would not be considered your hackneyed irish pub.

Got absolutely wrecked in there with the owners on Sunday, best session I had in a long time. It sponsors Éire Óg GAA team as well.

woof im a dog

Another pub just off blackstock road is the auld triangle

A great spot and staff are fierce friendly

Santa Cruz

the keen edge wrote: »

This may seem like a silly question; but is there an area in London which Irish people gravitate towards?

I'm aware of the old Crinklewood connection but is there an known Irish area in London nowadays?

The Cricklewood/Kilburn district is old Irish now with a good influx of East Euroepeans. A lot of the younger Irish are south of the river now in Clapham/Brixton. To be honest though they are well spread out and as likely to be found up in Islington/Anger as in South and West London.
A lot of them are not interested in the Irish Centres like Camden and Hammersmith which is a pity because these places need some young blood while still remaining a little refuge for the earlier emigrants . Many of the young men and women though are finding the London GAA scene very worthwhile.