pub crawl generator - blog - Out of Town

Singapore - the pub crawl

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:10:00 -0700

Our friend Kim sent through the following post. Undoubtedly one of the best ways to get to know a city is to pub crawl your way through it - or at least as much of it as you can before passing out in a gutter somewhere. I had a couple of days layover in Singapore and a lazy Saturday afternoon to fill in so I decided to try a few of the bars around Boat Quay, which is located on the Singapore River with nice views across the water to the city. As my natural preference is for quiet, practically empty bars where I can read in peace I decided to kick off around 3pm to ensure I beat the tourist crowd. Started in Circular Road, a little strip of bars and restaurants right behind the main river walk. This certainly ticked the 'solitude' box as the street was practically deserted, but on the down side most of the bars were still closed. Luckily the couple that were open were quite good. First drink was at a little micro-brewery called the Archipelago. I don't know if on-site breweries have taken off in Singapore, but this is certainly the first one I've seen and I was curious to try some of their range which include Traveller's Wheat, Trader's Ale and Strait's Pale. Unfortunately there was a problem with the taps so I had to settle for a bottle of Heineken instead. Despite this minor setback, it's a nice place for a quiet drink, at least at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. The walls are pierced by a series of large arches which open onto the street on two sides giving the place an almost beer garden feel. They also serve food and the menu looked quite eclectic, though I didn't eat anything. Just down the road from the Archipelago is Molly Malones, which was practically deserted as well. This is your typical Irish pub that looks like it was assembled from an Ikea flat pack (in fact, I believe Malone's actually was) - the only thing missing was the stag head mounted over the bar. Not that there's anything wrong with Irish pubs. Like Mcdonald's you always know exactly what you're going to get. My usual drink of choice is red wine which definitely doesn't lend itself to 33 degree heat and 90% humidity, and I tend to feel bloated after even a couple of beers. Luckily Malone's has Strongbow on tap, so I ordered a pint as there's nothing more refreshing on a stinking hot day than an icy cold glass of cider. I sipped my cider in the back parlour which, amongst other quirky decorations, had some of the rules to Irish football written on the wall. Malone's serve food too, including of course an Irish Stew, and they also have live music on Wednesday nights which leans towards the traditional. Just meters from Molly Malone's by the side of the river is Boat Quay. Boat Quay is a strip of bars and restaurants all of which have covered wooden decks by the water with tables and chairs, which is where most of the patrons tend to congregate. This was much livelier than Circular Road, ie. the bars were actually open. My next stop was a traditional English-style pub called Penny Black. It's worth having a drink here just to enjoy the the building, which really does look like a Victorian Public House with it's dark wood bar, ornately carved shelf brackets and time bell. The staff are friendly as well, and were heavily engaged in decorating a large Xmas tree in anticipation of the festive season when I arrived. I switched to bourbon and coke (another good tropical alternative), which at SD $8.50 is one of the cheapest drinks you're likely to find in Singapore. Had one last pre-dinner drink at a bar called Dallas directly across from the Asian Civilisation Museum. Dallas is set up as a bar on the ground, but the two upper floors are basically restaurants. Wherever you sit, the views across the Singapore River to the Asian Culture Museum are beautiful. I sat out on the deck (where a cool breeze off the water took the edge off the heat) and nursed another bourbon and coke. If you're interested, I had dinner at a restaurant in Clarke Quay called the Coriander Leaf. This received very good on-line reviews, and rightly so. I ordered a glass of ordinary French merlot for $12, but this was more than compensated for by the $18 tapas tasting plate which consisted of lobster bisque (including a whole seared scallop lieing in wait at the bottom of the cup), chicken croquette, grilled prawn, fetta and watermelon skewers, and olive and anchovy bruschetta ? all delightful!

Fed Square Microbreweries Showcase

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:54:00 -0700

Due to some poor planning on my part, I only allowed 2 hours to taste 20 beers of the many on offer at the Fed Square Microbreweries Showcase held earlier this week at Fed Square in Melbourne. Aside from the time limit, the extra dimension to the challenge was to recall the 20 beers we tasted. [More]

A Saturday afternoon pub crawl in Fitzroy.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:09:00 -0700

We really need to road test www.pubcrawlgenerator.com.au. We decide to pick Fitzroy for no reason other than we hadn't been there for a while.... 12:30pm Little Creatures Dining Hall. The beer is flowing. We share several dishes. The kransky on sauerkraut is judged "a damn fine kransky". We are getting right into the beers on offer and all completely forget is supposed to be a movable feast. The Rogers and White Rabbit seem to be the popular brews. Three pints each and we are way behind "schedule". [More]

Great British Beer Festival - Part 2

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:08:00 -0700

Every now and again we will post something relevant from out of town. This is the second and final installment in a two series post on an Australian's visit to the Great British Beer Festival held in London this August ....So they are out of Grains Tamarind IPA, which I was really looking forward to, so under pressure to make an order I order Mauldons blackadder stout. " Smoky, dark, complex, rich, deep with a faintly sweet aftertaste. Stout like you Imagine stout should taste." [More]

Great British Beer Festival - Part 1

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:39:00 -0700

Every now and again we will post something relevant from out of town. This is the first in a two series post on an Australian's visit to the Great British Beer Festival held in London this August I buy my pint glass and start with a piping home made pastie and take a stroll. This is like the Melbourne food and wine show, except that it is fun. It's kind of like the slow food festival with beer and without the wankers. At this stage, this is about as far removed from a giant piss up that I can imagine, though that may change over the course of the afternoon. The quotes in italics are my tasting notes from the day edited slightly for readability. I am far from the only person making tasting notes here today. [More]