The Market Porter, SE1

Visited on Tuesday late afternoon towards the end of a crawl and we actually managed to get a space to stand and drink. Something like eight or nine pumps on but, to be honest, I didn't take too much notice as I was absorbed by the fantastic collection of pump clips adorning the walls.

Occupying a prominent street corner position on the very edge of Borough Market is The Market Porter, one of the most well known of all London’s pioneering real ale free houses. It’s a smallish wood floored pub with a woody well worn ale house feel to it. Seating is limited, mainly wooden tables and chairs with a number of beer barrels acting as tables for stand up drinking. Despite the bare boards, leaded dimpled windows contribute towards a traditional pub atmosphere and a number of wooden and half height glass screens divide the interior up a bit. An extension towards the rear has a brighter lighter feel and some exposed brickwork, although again, seating is at a premium. Of particular note is the extensive collection of pump clips covering almost every available space on the ceiling beams and much of the walls besides, reflecting the wide variety of real ales sold over the years. The L shaped bar has 2 separate banks of handpumps and at least 10 beers are usually on. Harveys Best appears to be the only regular beer on, with a strong emphasis on microbreweries for the constantly changing selection of other beers. The lack of seating and space causes drinkers to tend to congregate around the bar area which often makes it difficult to see what beers are available at any particular time. High up on one wall, a small, barely noticeable, blackboard details the beers on, but it only details the beers names and gravities ( and not the brewery of origin ) and, with no tasting notes or comments, I’ve always considered this blackboard to be of limited value. Reflecting the proximity of Borough Market, the pub is also open between 6-9 am on Monday to Friday mornings ( with last orders at 8.30 am ) and, perhaps not surprisingly, there’s a wide customer mix at all times of the day. On my recent early evening visit, beers on included Box Steam Brewery Xmas Box, Plain Ales Inntrique and Severn Valley Dursley Steam. 3 Meantime Beers – Helles, London Pale Ale and Cranberry Stout – were also available, served through a tall keg font. The pub is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular, but I’ve found beer quality unreliable here over the years. Interestingly, given the variety available, Harveys Best seems to account for an unusually high proportion of the real ale trade and, with a good throughput, this beer is usually in good nick. I’ll probably continue to call in occasionally, but it’s always far too uncomfortably crowded for my liking and this, coupled with the inconsistent beer quality, will restrict the frequency of future visits, for me at least

Basic alehouse off the Market, the wood floored room follows the bar around a horse shoe. A little too basic and tatty for me, even for one of these type of London pubs, and seating is sparse, presumably to allow more standing. There are 10 real ales, which is a redeeming feature, but the quality was only reasonable.