I have to work in Jersey next week and have never been there.
Does anyone have any knowledge of the Island and can recommend anywhere I should make a beeline for ?
Cheers
I have to work in Jersey next week and have never been there.
Does anyone have any knowledge of the Island and can recommend anywhere I should make a beeline for ?
Cheers
Only been once for weekend and the fact that I can't recall anything about the pubs is, perhaps, indicative of their (lack of) quality. A quick search around seems to bear this out, but a couple to look out for appear to be The Lamplighter (St Helier) & Le Moulin de Lecq (St Ouen).
As a friend of herself has recently moved over there, I'll keep an interested eye on this thread, and on your reportage GH, in case I end up heading back there.
My only trip was mid-80's and I don't recall the pubs being particularly great, especially in the larger towns. I remember the Mary Ann Brewery doing a passport where you get so many stamps and you get a free pint and a glass for it (I still have the glass). Mary Ann seemed to pretty much rule the island but I don't think I have ever seen them here on the mainland so either they are still pretty crap or they don't travel well!
Well been here a couple of days and still to explore properly - work keeping me too busy !! However I did stumble across the Lamplighter as recommended by Trainman and it was very good. Two ales out of eight served straight from the barrel and the Skinners Lighter Fuel (I guess a house ale for the pub) at 4.2% was exceptionally good.
Hope to find a few more places over the weekend when I will have more time.
Jersey was the place me and the first wife spent our holidays in the 80s which is not a lot of use for recommending pubs today. In those days beer and fags were cheap with food being the same price as the UK. I always rented a car, never took my own. The roads were narrow and the locals none to keen on stopping if they put a dent in your car. Back then it was notorious for drink driving. People were friendly enough. I remember most pubs were tarted up for the tourists with only the odd dead basic drinking place. The local bitters were not then to my taste but would probably like them now .
Enjoy your stay Grailhunter...ps I dont recommend going for a paddle...it would be bl88dy freezing.
Ventured into a few more hostelries last night. I was surprised that St.Helier was as rowdy and boisterous as a typical UK town on a friday night. For some reason I thought it would be a bit more sedate. Anyway, visited the Prince of Wales in the town centre which had five ales, two Ringwood, one Skinners and Courage Best and Directors. Had the Skinners Ginger Tosser which was pleasant enough but I couldn't taste any Ginger ! Nice pub but I didn't like the fact that they had Fosters, Strongbow and John Smiths Smooth clips attached to hand pulls. I do think that that can mislead innocent punters.
Then visited the Pierson, a basic pub, no concessions for tourists, but the Jersey Liberation Ale was good and within two minutes of propping myself at the bar I was offered some complimentary sausage rolls by the landlady. Nice pub this.
Then into the Cock and Bottle (must find out the origins of the name), where I got charged £3.35 for a pint of Carlsberg (no ale). Studied the price list and saw that Carlsberg should have been £2.95 !
Round the corner then to the Lamplighter. Lovely pint of Ringwood 49er. This is still the best pub I've found. They also had Morrells Varsity (although sadly no longer brewed in Oxford - couldn't bring myslef to drink this), Marstons Royal Ryder, Jennings Crag Rat. They also had straight from the barrel, Ringwood Old Thumper, Jennings Sneck Lifter and Jersey Liberation Rouge (4.5%), which I finished off with.
I happen to have recently opened a gift copy of 'The Old Dog & Duck' (Albert Jack), which describes the origins of pub names, and the Cock & Bottle is said to derive from a sign used to advertise a tavern selling both bottled & barrelled beer. The 'cock', in this instance, being the peg of the barrel from which the ale was drawn. I can only surmise that the tavern which drove you to order carlsberg(!) could be falling foul of advertising standards!
Yep getting a bit of practice in.
Last night found me in the Ha'penny Bridge near the harbour. Only one real ale here but it was the Jersey Liberation Ale which is pleasant. Noticed that a number of the pubs here seem to only stock one or two ales rather than a wider range, which is a good thing in my book if it ensures the quality.
Finished off back at the Lamplighter again, where I tried Snecklifter, Old Thumper and Jersey Liberation Rouge. All straight from the barrel and all cracking !
Enjoyed the darts on the TV as well but left before the Lewis/Taylor match so missed the upset.