DARKSTAR! Nope, I haven’t been down the Intrepid Fox for a few cider and blacks but instead have found a SUPER new ALE called Darkstar Hophead. From Darkstar Brewery (strike ONE!), located somewhere in ANSTY (sounds like angsty => strike TWO) i[…]

Weblog Response: To make up for the lack of a comments facility, if you’ve got something to say about Pumpkin Publog and want to make it public, this is the thread to do it on. (We’ll be adding this as a permanent link somewhere prominent[…]

Malic acid transforms candy from a snack into a form of commercially acceptable child masochism
Great sub-head from an old (1999) and longish Wired article about Extreme Sweets and ver kids that wuv them. Yesterday I saw a new device on my newsies co[…]

Bert’s Bar in Stockbridge, Edinburgh is an absolute gem. For starters, they had Deuchars IPA on, which was absolutely lovely. They also did Scotch pies (with Desperate Dan holes in the top) at a superb ‘1.50 each. With gravy. Steak and pe[…]

You’ll always find me by the fire at Barbies. It is probably the control freak in me. Luckily it also functions as an eating inhibitor, being in charge of sixteen sizzling items at a time means you rarely have time to ram one of them down your […]

Etiquette of entering unfamiliar pubs you may not end up drinking in: see HE couldn’t remember the name of the pub – actually the Rose and Crown in Church Street – and gave me what seemed on paper heroically vague directions. So whe[…]

It was a nice day and a nice meal (a wedding supper), but does someone teach caterers to write like this, and if so, does it affect how and what they think to cook?
To start: Basil crust chicken Caesar salad with grain mustard croutons
To follow: Sea[…]

Moving house is usually a pretty hideous process. At the moment we’re pretty much restricted to moving to “any area which we can afford”. However, Simply Indian has now limited my choices to the following postcodes: SE1, SE16, SE11,[…]

Memorably grim nightspots #1: a double birthday celebration, maybe five years back, at the Troy Club in Hanway Street, and one of the birthdays – we didn’t know this till we got there – was the landlady’s. OK, you’ve rea[…]

Tom talks about San Miguel below – I had the privilige of driving past one of its main Spanish breweries last night (a welcome adjunct to Malaga airport). I must admit however it is not a beer I favour. There is a very metallic tang to its tast[…]