London Pub Guide

When an Englishman is abroad, the one thing he cannot replicate, the one thing his very soul cries out for is a night out in a  proper london pub, the real thing ( a battlecruiser - ask a local ! ), the good old English tavern.

If you have an opinion on genetically modified food you will immediately be on the side of the taste-loving traditionalists against the ersatz substitutes. But the drinking habits of the Londoner have changed considerably in the last decade. Where the pub was once the established meeting place to take a beer, read your book or engage in topical conversation with your fellow drinkers, this is now only favoured by the thirtysomethings.

Proper pubs are the epicentre of the local community, combining the passion of current debate with music-hall entertainment, gossip and bonhomie, where the aristocracy rub shoulders with the hoi-polloi. It's all about upholding standards and tradition. proper pub people abhor piped music, one-armed bandits and so called themed bars. They like hoppy warm beer strenuously hand-pumped, preferably by a buxom barmaid.

"Beer, it's the best damn drink in the world" Jack Nicholson