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Detail Pages
Balfour at St. Barts, Smithfield, EC1
EC1
EC1A 9DY
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about St. Barts Brewery
Curiosity nearly killed this cat,I just had to investigate given the name,but it's a misnomer and no brewing takes place here.It's vast inside and you have to ascend some sharp stone steps even to get through the front door.So large infact that a mezzanine gallery has been built and this too was packed.There is a high section by the front door ,and even two small sofas on the way to the subterranean loos,if you can't quite make it that far.
The very high ceiling and an ear splitting Drum and Base soundtrack with the Base turned up to 11 felt like some kind of FSB torture technique as my innards shook.
The bar just offered 1 real ale,the dreaded Doom Bar so I selected from the 16 kegs although several had run out,some were mainstream multinational crap with Beavertown Gamma Ray seemingly the best option,served in a dimple half by a friendly barmaid.
It's a young person's hangout with shouty men who know nothing about beer and desperate nurses from Barts.Unedifying and no reason to revisit.
On 2nd March 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about St. Barts Brewery
Upmarket corner pub / restaurant, owned by the people behind the Hush Heath vineyards in Kent. Features a ceiling tall enough to fit in a decent-size mezzanine, and semi-modern furniture and decor throughout. Still no sign of any brewing, with the only tanks being for Meantime beer. Just Doom Bar (£4.75) on handpump, with two hooped founts of mildly interesting craft beers.
On 9th December 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Komakino . left this review about St. Barts Brewery
Since the last reviews this has become St Barts Brewery, one of a handful of bars / eateries on Long Lane, behind Smithfield Market and easy walking distance from Barbican Tube. Steve's review of 2012 still rings true decor-wise - the new incumbents have gone for a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' approach. Predictably busy on a weeknight considering the postcode, this had no real ale available, despite a solitary handpump being spotted (with a reversed clip). A half of a keg thing called Goose Midway IPA set me back £2.90 for a half. No sign of brewing going on, nor brewing paraphernalia. Tick it if you wish, but if it's on your list, don't enter with any expectations.
On 15th November 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1075 recommendations about 1075 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Distillers
This is a very smart pub with balcony and big chandeliers.No real ale but Affligem is a beer I like so that was me sorted
On 13th October 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Distillers
Formerly a Jamies bar, this current incarnation was launched a while back by the team behind The Distillers in Hammersmith and The Bedford in Balham.
It promotes itself as a modern British pub, but in reality it’s more of a gastro restaurant and wine bar hiding inside a pub skin.
Downstairs its one large open plan space whose décor is more flock curtains and chandeliers than traditional pub, mainly laid to tables around the two windowed walls and in the open space. There is an area up by the long bar, but this is not the type of establishment that you would envisage large groups going in for vertical drinking. And then a large stair case on the left leads to an upstairs mezzanine floor type section which has some pleasant, out the way booths along the walls, and an additional separate function room for hire with its own small bar.
It mainly focuses on wine and continental Lagers from what I could see, although there is two handpumps on the bar which had been dispensing Caledonian 2.8 and Adnams Regatta but both were off for my Saturday lunchtime visit, which was extremely ironic as I was only there for a GroupOn beer tasting event being hosted on the premises.
I’m sure this place provides a viable alternative for the workday crowd to the more traditional pubs available nearby, and has the advantage of being open on a Saturday when other establishments around Smithfield and the Barbican are not, but I can’t see myself returning here again.
On 12th April 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]