As yesterday was my birthday (or, as I like to put it, the 26th anniversary of my 29th birthday) we took the day off and Sarah and I went up to London to visit the Ideal Homes Show. Only plastic beer available in the bars at Earls Court, but there was a temporary bar in the Food & Drink area where we got a half-decent pint of San Miguel – mind you, for £3.80 a pint, I expect it to be at least half-decent!
Anyway, on the way home, we decided to stop off for a drink and something to eat. Being a fan of Fuller’s beers, and only being able to get bottled versions of most of them, we decided to go to the Mad Bishop and Bear in Paddington Station. We’ve been there before, and we know they do good beer and decent food, and I was looking forward to a pint of Chiswick Bitter, or maybe Discovery. So, we settled ourselves down and I went to the bar – two pints of Chiswick please. Sorry Sir, the Chiswick has just gone off. Hmmm – two pints of Discovery then. The barman goes off up the other end of the bar and comes back with – one pint of Discovery. Sorry Sir, the Discovery has just gone off as well. I ended up with a pint of London Pride – which is no hardship really (I was gallant enough to let Sarah have the Discovery, though did have a little slurp myself). Much as I love London Pride, I’d really set my heart on Chiswick – ah well, it went down well with the steak and ale pie (though another little gripe of mine is pies that are served in their individual little dishes that you can’t eat out of properly and can’t tip the contents out on to the plate because they are too hot to handle).
We decided to miss one train and stay for another drink – Chiswick still off, so I had another pint of Pride – Sarah had a St. Austell Tribute (again, I managed a decent slurp of that). The Tribute was a bit sweet and flowery for my taste – but maybe that was just because I was tasting it after the London Pride.
All in all a bit disappointing, but the Mad Bishop and Bear is a decent pub, especially considering it is in a main line railway station. The staff were pleasant, the food was good and arrived quickly (important if you’ve got a train to catch) and the beer was excellent – just a pity that the beer I really wanted was off. Never mind, I travel through Paddington often enough that it won’t be too long before I get another opportunity. I must find out how the pub got its name.