Travel Blog – Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels

We’re never ones to shy away from a challenge, especially when it’s a challenge involving our palates. So when an invitation came through the door to take part in a taste test at one of the best pubs in London, we were queuing up for ring-side seats…

The Draft House pub on Tower Bridge Road played host as Charlie McVeigh, owner of this trio of boozers (outposts can also be found in Battersea and Clapham), and Tom Harrow, aka the Wine Chap and esteemed Smith reviewer, each argued a case to decide whether beer really can be better than wine. They take their food and drink very seriously at the Draft House, focusing on things like provenance and cellarage, so it was a perfect setting for the contest.

My dad always told me to never mix the two, but there were four of each to try. We were treated to Belgian blonds (click to see funny gnomes), pink fizz homegrown on English soil, honeyed ale from Clapham Junction and silky chocolate-y stout from Colorado,all washing down the delicious dinner: foot-long pork scratchings, scotched quail’s eggs and Welsh rarebit to start, followed by two mini burgers – the Yolk and the Smoke – and some Rabot Estate chocolate, made with cacao from St Lucia.

Despite packing some serious punches, Charlie’s ales were trumped by Tom’s wine titans. The trial continues, though – there are several more duels to come over the winter, including a clash of California’s finest on 29 November and a struggle between England’s best on 24 January.

Kicking off next month, Extreme Grape Vs Grain evenings cost £35 a person. To book, ring +44 (0)20 7378 9995.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Eating & drinking, Events, London. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.