The Hopsmiths

krappyrubsnif · August 2016

Best ten pubs in London? I have my own list. None of them local. Some I would travel six or seven miles to visit.

CityOfSin · August 2016

It's not just pubs though, is it? There are lots of other businesses that need support and they all require cash and time from locals who are busy and paying huge amounts in rent, travel, etc. And yes, I would say there plenty of people who can't afford to go out for a drink or food every week.

Peter Crumb · August 2016

Gutted that they've shut. Easily the pub I went to most in the area. It always seemed relativity busy. Max's dispite its acclaim always seems a lot quiter.

therattle · August 2016

miss annie, there are a lot of good places, so it might take a while to visit each in turn. The issue is also not necessarily one of money but also of time. I don't go to pubs very often at all.

Soon · August 2016

I have been their four times. I liked it, its ashame...

NorthNineteen · August 2016

I'd love to know your top 10 krappy. Hopsmiths would have been in my top 10 I think; helped by being 2 minutes from my house.

krappyrubsnif · August 2016

Not sure you would appreciate them @NorthNineteen, depends on your taste in drinking dens - they tend to be picked for character and ambience (old, musty, historic, traditional, lierary/cultural associations, eccentric landlords, Bohemian, off-tourist, secret-London sort of places, not modern gastro bars..... though they all do good beer and often craft ales.) Off the top of my head & in no particular order here are some: The Harp off Trafalgar Square (cider house); Seven Stars behind Law Courts; Mayflower at Rotherhithe; Lamb in Lambs Conduit Street (currently closed for a refit); Lamb & Flag, Covent Garden; Princess Louise in Holborn; Mitre in Ely Place; Gordon's Wine Bar at Embankment; possibly Museum Tavern; Prospect of Whitby at Wapping; Grapes at Limehouse..... There must be many others. Pub crawl anyone ;>} ?

TheMimsy · August 2016

@ Krappy i like the Princess Louise, too. Other favourites are The Swimmer in Holloway, The Yorkshire Grey on Theobalds Street, The Star near Dartmoor Park...

krappyrubsnif · August 2016

The Swimmer - check. Haven't been to the Yorkshire Grey for years, used to go to jazz there every week (the Tufnell Park All Stars). Don't know the Star.

miss annie · August 2016

All these would be in my favourites list plus the Prince of Wales and The Wrestlers in Highgate and the Hollybush in Hampstead.

NorthNineteen · August 2016

Good selection - never been to Mayflower and haven't been to Grapes or Prospect of Whitby for years. I have a major soft spot for Shaston Arms and Ship & Shovel as I was pretty much grew up in a Hall & Woodhouse pub.

NorthNineteen · August 2016

p.s. much prefer your list of pub characteristics than "modern gastro pubs"

NorthNineteen · August 2016

and also really liked the Newman Arms (though I think its been refurbed?) and Pillars of Hercules. So many decent pubs!

TheMimsy · August 2016

@ Krappy i used to go to listen to jazz at the Yorkshire Grey, too! Another fave for jazz was The Black Horse on Rathbone Place, not sure it still exists. And I used to like The Waterside Inn in Kings Cross, which has been demolished to build The Guardian King's Place complex (incidentally, one of the most soulless and impersonal places I have ever been to).

@ Miss Annie - I love the Hollybush, too.
I add the Flask in Highgate to my list.

miss annie · August 2016

The Grenadier just behind Harvey Nichols.

krappyrubsnif · August 2016

Yes, heard of the Grenadier - must go. Lots of good additions to my list, thanks.

HolbornFox · August 2016

Good to agree on something finally, i love all of them pubs, do you think though that Fullers have done 'something' to The Harp and it is not the same as it was? I do, the same way they messed up the Melton Mowbray on Holborn. The landlady is about to retire as well so I wonder what will occur there. The Seven Stars is awesome, always has crazy bar staff as well as Roxy. Lambs Conduit Street is great for pub crawls. My office used to be literally above The Mitre, i could hear the people outside in the summer if i ever needed even more inspiration to enter a pub. The Pillars is a nice pub, I like the crowbar as well! There is a lovely restaurant next to the Pillars called Bo Drake, well worth checking out. The Lamb and Flag is not only awesome it is also the oldest pub in London (apparently anyway) and was previously called the Bucket of Blood! Just to add the Churchill Arms (Notting Hill), King Charles I (Kings Cross) and the Holborn Whippet as well. The Whippet is, in my opinion, a modern masterpiece. I cannot even put my finger on why i like it so much but it is simple, buzzy, sells awesome beer, nice pizza and seems to attract decent people.

slats · August 2016

Love a good pub list... Some of my favourites: 3 Kings (Clerkenwell), Nell Gwynne (Strand), Kings Head (Upper St), Fullback, Dove (Hammersmith, though not been for years). Gutted the Hopsmiths has gone, where else local is good for an interesting beer?

HolbornFox · August 2016

The Hopsmiths as I see it had problems in that there did seem to be people in there but I never saw anyone at the bar, places like the dairy are full of people that actually drink, ergo spend money. Equally they had nothing that me or SHMBO would want to drink on a hot day, why they never stocked even a bottle of something like Erdinger or Paulaner is beyond me, although I probably would have put some simple live music on at the weekend as well. Beer selection is where places like Camden Brewery, The Southampton Arms, Holborn Whippet etc get it so right, even O’s sell three different types of beer on tap as well as Singha!

HolbornFox · August 2016

Could always have a stroudgreen.org collective and make one of them micro-pubs you get in kent... no phones allowed.

bigspoon · August 2016

oh shit it all to hell this is absolutely gutting news. I was a big fan of the place personally and considered myself a regular... though I did have a bad feeling when i tried to go for a post-work pint twice last week and found it shut both times. was hoping it had just changed its opening hours and not told anyone... had also noticed in recent weeks that they had seemingly gone down to one sole employee. The-pub-site-formerly-known-as-The-Noble is just doomed, isn't it?

Maximus · August 2016

And yet you couldn't ask for a better location than outside an overground station. Maybe someone will have more success with the place once the GOBLIN has been electrified, is more frequent and runs through to other stops.

CityOfSin · August 2016

Wonder what will happen to it now. I can't see it becoming another pub but I'm not sure what else would work there, except er.. flats.

Arkady · August 2016

I still think it can work as a pub. I'd argue that it ought to go for a safer middle ground between hipster/craft beer/schoolroom vibe and a more comfortable, cosy feel with some cheaper, lower-strength and mainstream drinks on offer. The White Lion has nailed this in my view.

HolbornFox · August 2016

Perfect for a light and airy continental style (good) coffee / (good) beer / (good) wine place.

Ali · August 2016

I agree since Weatherspoons closed the real ale around here has got inconsistent. It might be the hotter weather but I have noticed that I have been getting sold crud which doesn't clear and go bright as it should and has to be changed to something else. Happened to me on Saturday in The Stapleton. The bar man was quite happy to sell it to me but it went straight back and no I wasn't drinking wheat beer.

CityOfSin · August 2016

Given the number of pubs nearby, it would be interesting to see if something different might work - maybe something more wine-focused? Somewhere you could go for good wine and bar snacks (charcuterie, cheese etc - simple stuff, no kitchen required). Has anyone tried Nickel (next door to Oddbins on Crouch Hill)? (Cocktails, small plates, brunch - so I realise it's probably not an SG forum type of place...) https://twitter.com/nickellondon

tosscat · August 2016

Maybe a gay bar; perhaps called the Flag? #pluscachange

miss annie · August 2016

I rreckon the area needs a MOTH club. Somewhere that stays open very late, attracts a mixed crowd and where one could have a little dance.

Sutent · August 2016

I remember dancing in chapter 1

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