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Speight's: The vast majority of the clientele are ex-pat Kiwis
Over here in the dear old England, the conventional view of Antipodean ale is more or less limited to Foster's and XXXX and, on the odd occasion if you're lucky, the odd pint of Toohey's or VB.
You might also come across bottles of Boag's or Coopers, but it's all usually Australian (OK, and Tasmanian). If you're interested in anything from New Zealand, basically, forget it. Well, a bunch of enterprising Kiwi's - the brewers of Speight's beers - spotted this golden opportunity and decided to redress the balance.
But rather than ship over a few crates and let the beer wither and die in a dusty warehouse along the way, they decide to bring over the whole bloody pub. After an intrepid journey, across the Pacific, through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic, the pub, has now come to rest on the top of Temple tube station.
Was it worth the journey? In our opinion, it certainly was - the beer is excellent, all thoughts of gassy, pissy liquids dismissed on the first sip - and there're five beers to choose from. The beer of choice appears to be Speight's award winning Gold Medal, but our favourite was the malty Old Dark.
Beer, apart, the Speight's boys have done a good job with the two 40 foot containers that comprise the structure of the pub. The atmosphere is as refreshingly informal as you'd expect, with the vast majority of the clientele being ex-pat Kiwis, mostly blokes.
We can imagine that the pub's prime location, on the terrace on top of the tube station is going to make this a very popular in summer (and with smokers now). The only real downside is the absence of loos - for now, you have to use Walkabout downstairs should you feel the need, but once that matter's addressed, Speight's will become a very fine addition to the London beer lover's itinerary. Cheers mate!
CLIENTELE: blokes, mates
NEAREST STATION: Temple station
FEATURES: outdoor seating, Sky (HD) TV - two screens
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
