Well, hello again blog readers! As you can see, I have now adjusted from the hell that is jetlag and feel human again. My most recent trip brought me to London, UK and several parts of Lithuania (which will come in another post soon).
Whenever I visit my old home, London, there is usually one thing on my mind... pubs! Nowhere like the UK (okay, maybe Ireland) does pubs better. NYC? Yeah, right... Australia? Keep dreaming. The UK is the birthplace of the Public House. Therefore, it's a duty of yours, if you visit, to consume food/drink in them. Pubs are an integral part of British culture, somewhere that it's fine to go at 9am, because they serve coffee and most likely, breakfast! It's not just a watering hole like people think (NYC/Australia), it's a community center point. If you miss this, then you aren't really understanding what a pub really stands for.
My trip started on a Wednesday evening. I planned on cooking some native lamb (I miss it so! :( ), however my mate Justin (Irishman) and other mate Aisling (Ash-ling, an Irish name) usually go to a certain pub called "The Faltering Fullback." Justin advised me that they'd both be going there.
"The Fullback" as it's referred to by those that frequent the place, is basically (for those in Albany, NY) an Andy's Sports Bar. It's a place where tag-rugby players (similar to our flag football) congregate after the match. As you can imagine, it's bumpin'!
The Fullback is located in the Finsbury Park area, which is along the Victoria and Piccadilly Tube lines in the Northeast portion of London. It's an okay area, nothing to write home about, but this is where you find the real Londoners, not the poncy transplants from all over that hang around the West End (avoid at all costs!!!!).
The Fullback is literally, huge. It might have the biggest beer garden in the whole city. It has double level decking out back with one large room, that is attached to two separate bar areas. I don't even know how many people were there that night, but it was crazy. A friend of mine from NJ, Joe joined on our evening out.
Okay, the food. Now, most of you think of pub food as heavy, with potatoes, etc. You'd be right, however in this case, this pub serves Thai food. I am pretty certain that the Landlords of this pub sub-contract out the food portion to a Thai family, that operates the kitchen. Their food is outstanding, probably along the lines of the some of the best Thai I have even eaten. The best part? The price. You can get a main course for roughly £6.00, which I recommend any of the curries (beware, they're really hot). I was told that the Pad Thai is amazing, maybe next time...or perhaps a duck dish?
I ordered the Kang Panang Curry. The flavours blended so perfectly together, that I really didn't even mind the heat. Each curry comes with an ample amount of white rice to sop up all that goodness. The apps are nice as well, we ordered spring rolls (homemade) and spicy prawn crackers (look it up if you don't know). All of this for about £12.00 (cheap by London standards). Beers and ciders are in the £3.50 range, which is normal for London.
If you're looking for a cool, down to earth pub with loads of real people... come here. It's a great place to meet folks and they're all friendly. The only downside is that it's a bit out of the way. However, if you ever find yourself going to an Arsenal match, this is a great place to start out at, or go afterwards (Emirates Stadium is quite close). When I was living in London, I wish I had found this place, it's a real gem and should not be missed.
More London Pubs to come shortly....
Cheers!
-Al
The Faltering Fullback
Their location
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