The Hoop and Grapes, City Of London

After five days in this lovely city I am about to depart to Paris. I was surprised to see the comment below and gratified to some extent since I have regretted not acting myself that day. I was in that intimate little pub in one of the secluded stalls and I heard that obviously inebriated man. The language he refers to went much further than the word he mentioned...he had a foul mouth. I felt very sorry for those young waitresses having to hear how he referred to them as women. As a lone woman I did not say anything because belligerent drunken men can react in very mean ways. However, having just walked over from a wonderful day at the Museum of London and having been much entertained by the exhibit on The Great Stink of 1858, I couldn't help wishing the Fleet River didn't still run by the door of this pub so that the man could have fallen in and been pulled with the rest of the sewage into the sea. I was glad the proprieter ejected him and only regretted he didn't put a boot to his backend and dust his hands off at the same time.
At any rate, the pub is a charming intimate one and the French chef Philippe is a treasure. I ate this salmon dish with a sauce to die for, and confess that I washed it down with a fabulous PORTER that rivalled the Yeungling Porter I quaffed in Pennsylvania..Yeungling being the oldest brewery in the U.S.
The pub is located in a wonderful old section of LONDON made for walking, and the proprietor very knowledgeable about the history of the area. Not only did he send me round the corner to the obvious St. Paul's Cathedral, he sent me round another corner to an old old medieval church that was compelling for its ancient silence and long ago footsteps of Henry VIII. It's just next the spot where he cast off the mantle of Rome and announced the creation of the Church of England. Not only that it's next the spot where William Wallace was hung, I still can't watch the end of that movie, and there were bouquets of Scottish thistles by the plaque...it was very moving. There are no end of other sites to see walking around this neighbourhood. Ask the proprietor of this charming pub, knock back a porter and say hello to Philippe. Enjoy! I'm off to Paris.

3 Feb 2006 08:33