Same Kind of Animal

A FRIEND won some money on the gee-gees leading to an evening of frivolity. A bottle of Porter from Meantime came first, at Brew Wharf, Borough Market. Whilst affected by its cork closure, it was perhaps not adversely so, the funghi notes adding extra facets to this dense, beefy-beer. A bottle of stunningly good Heartsease sparkling mineral water from Wales accompanied, the bubbles being small, sparse and creating a sensation not unlike 'Fizz Wizz Popping Candy'.

Next, numerous vials of floral, crisp, slightly bitter Staropramen at the Suffolk Tavern, a stones throw away, evoked my last visit to Prague in 1999, where I was paying the equivalent of 26pence per pint. Indeed, the Catacombs below this pub reminded me of certain Bohemian absinthe dispensaries. In one I was served steak with a coating of cannister cream and instructed the combo would work because it was from the same kind of animal.

Finally, onto Belushi's, Borough High Street, an establishment so retro it's post-modern (see traffic light above). The clientele harked back to those attending soirées in the black hole (tinged with crome) hangar of the Epping Forest Golf & Country Club.

We asked for Champagne but got PREMIUM Perry in the guise of Babycham, but not as classy. The ABV was bungalow-low at 5.5p/c and the taste so base I yearned for some more Heartsease.