Heading South, Balham Bowls Club

So let’s head South …

As you may know by now I am actually a South Londoner (not originally though) so I do have many favourites down this way.

It’s also great to have so many great pubs to call my local, that are all stumbling distance from home.

I’m going to start in my current hometown Balham, a lovely smallish town about half an hour (by tube) out side of Central London.

A definite recent desirable place to frequent and reside, with some lovely boutique style shops and cafes and have course some great boozers.

First on my list...

The Balham Bowls Club

My first love of Balham, the place where I’ve had many pleasant evenings, met many pleasant people and been to many exciting events.

The history of the Balham Bowls Club is a fascinating one, first established in the late 1800’s and became a social, Bowls club and meeting place for the residents of Balham.

In the beginning ladies were not aloud inside the main building (tut,tut) unless invited by a member and only on special occasions. The ladies were then built a pavilion house out the back were they could meet for maybe they're weekly WI meeting.

The Balham Bowls Club now is just a pub and restaurant but they have tried to hang onto their community spirit, with a display of local events, groups and misalliances posts on their notice board in the hallway.

They are of course apart of the Antic chain of pubs that reside around most south London boroughs these days, but like most of the Antic pubs it does hang on to its individual charm and character, that was once an actual Bowls Club.

With many different rooms/areas to sit and investigate the experience at the bbc is an exciting one. The bar has been kept in a social club nature, small, old school bar top with old wooden frames and metal shutters. 

The beer they have on offer is of a good variety, Heineken, Amstel, Grolsch, Blue Moon, Guinness, Meantime PA and an ever-changing selection of Cask ales on their pumps. Beer prices range from £3.95 — £4.80 for draft beers to £3.50-£4 for cask ales.

They also have a decent wine menu, ranging the regions from France – Argentina; they also stock a good selection of spirits.

The food is very good and offers a variety of hearty food, good to see a seasonal menu and you can’t fault the Sunday roast (served every Sunday 12-4pm),

The restaurant is always packed so get in there quick and reserve if you fancy going for dinner. Food costs £4.50-£8 for starters, £11.50-£20.50 (for a ribeye steak), puddings average around £5.

Every time I go the garden out back gets bigger and on a sunny Balham evening it’s a great place to chill and relax with a pint.

If you do like quiet boozers then I wouldn’t recommend heading here on a weekend, they are normally very busy and it gets very loud. Good days for a quiet pint or date would be a Monday, Wednesday, possibly Thursday and a Sunday evening.

If you like to get involved with something a bit different then why not check out their events, Indeedy Musical Bingo has a monthly regular slot and they're monthly craft and vintage fair is back on Sunday, October 5th 2014, 12-5pm.

Most of their events take place in the fantastic ballroom upstairs and they have even added an extra function room (The Barantini Lounge) for smaller parties.

The staff... What a bunch of lovely folk, young energetic and fun. They do make it a fab place to visit and hang out. This is the main reason for my many returns.

Oh... the Balham Bowls Club, you are close to my heart and will always remain that way, so keep up the good work and keep it rocking.

4.5 pints out of 5

LPD xx

The Balham Bowls Club (not Bowling Club), 7-9 Ramsden Road, Balham, SW12 8QX.

02086734700

www.balhambowlsclub.com

Heading to East London

Over to East London…

As you may know from reading my previous blogings, East London is rather a fond favourite of mine. I’ve made many trips to new resto’s, bars and breweries over East and for the third year running still finding some of my favourite places in London.

I'm now looking to find a mix of cafe's and restaurants who also serve beer, which is mixing two of my favourite things in life... coffee and beer. So firstly I would like to introduce a great little cafe, bar and restaurant The Hackney Pearl, nicely tucked away around the corner from Hackney Wick over ground station and in the heart of Hackney Wick. 

Once you find it you'll have no regrets.

It first opened its doors in 2009 and has kept growing in popularity from then on. Hackney Wick is rather a cool place to be seen with trendy warehouses, studio spaces and a very interesting nightlife, so this trendy little place fits in well.

The feeling is light, open and cosy, with an open kitchen next to the bar.

The bunk seating with vintage cushion covers gives it a great place to chill, drink coffee, use the free WIFI and later meet up with friends.

I enjoyed rather a boozy night here, but had great fun catching up with an old friend and learning about cool places to go round this neighbourhood.

The coffee is delicious here and made to perfection, they take this very seriously and you can tell by the pretty leaf picture created on the top of the foam. They also have an impressive selection of cakes and cookies to nicely add company to your coffee. 

We had cocktails as it was 2-4-1 The Basil Berry Spritz and The Hot Dark & Stormy, which both tasted great and fresh, the hot meaning a chilli kick. They have cocktail happy hour from 5-7pm every Monday to Thursday, so a great way to start your evening during the week.

The cocktail menu is seasonal and so is the delicious food menu so always changing and always new and interesting ingredients to be tried. They make all their own syrups for their cocktails and all their foodie ingredients are sourced locally but often with a European twist.

I was of course happy to see they stocked a healthy selection of craft beers, Meantime on draft (Yakima red, Pilsner and Pale Ale) Pints costing £4.50-£5, bottle beers seemed to be all from London, Beavertown Gamma Ray 5.5% abv, Kernel Table beer 4.8% abv, Five Points Railway Porter 4.8% abv, Pressure Drop pale ale 5.1%. All bottles cost between £4.5-£5 and all from local London Breweries.

If you’re joining them for brunch then I do recommend the brekky bap, a delicious combo of streaky bacon, house made egg mayo & chilli jam, served in a bap with rocket, Also a fond favourite are their scrambled eggs.

Why not check out their menu and see what’s going on here www.thehackneypearl.com.

The Hackney Pearl truly is a fab little gem to the Hackney Wick community and loved by many around the area, if you like good food, good coffee and decent brews then come check it out.

Food prices range from £4-£5 for sandwiches, £5-£9 for brunch, there is a mid-week lunch special for £8, dinner for two people 3 courses with drinks would cost between £70-£90. They also do a set dinner menu mid week two courses for £15 and three courses for £18.

Another great thing about The Hackney Pearl is the staff, they are a great bunch that only want to help and make your experience here a good one to remember. Good work guys!

Hey Hackney Pearl I will be back for more very soon.

4 out of 5 pints.

The Hackney Pearl

11 Prince Edward Road, Hackney Wick, London, E9 5LX

www.thehackneypearl.com

LPD xx