Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 21 and Version 18 of Finch's, EC2A 1AN
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| [[Category Young's|Young's]] pub not far north of [[Moorgate Station]]. |
Decent enough [[Category Young's|Young's]] pub not far north of [[Moorgate Station]]. Note that it closes early on weekends. |
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It was previously known as the Master Gunner (see <a href="http://london.randomness.org.uk/wiki.cgi?id=Finch%27s%2C_EC2A_1AN&version=18">earlier version of this page</a> for more details), but was refurbished and renamed to Finch's in 2014. |
The bar runs along one wall to the right as you enter, and the pub stretches back quite a long way, with seating tucked away behind screen dividers. Flowering plants in small tin buckets sit on the tables. Exposed floorboards around the bar provide standing space, while elsewhere the floor is covered with a patterned carpet. A dais at the back has additional seating, and there's also some outside seating at the front in a cordoned-off area of pavement (some high chairs, some normal). Down some stairs is a bookable basement bar. |
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Today, the pub stretches back a fair way from the street entrance, with the bar along one wall and the rest of the space broken up by pillars and glass-and-metal room dividers. The floor is wooden throughout, and exposed brickwork adds interest. |
When [[bob]] visited on a Friday early evening in 2007, it was relatively crowded. The sausage platter was OK, and the beer was drinkable. Ales available were Young's Special, Young's Bitter, and Bombardier. |
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It opens out a bit more towards the back, where large windows let in the natural light that's mostly absent in the other areas of the pub. A square of flooring here is painted in an abstract design which alongside the windows, room dividers, and distressed hoop-backed wooden chairs gives it almost the feel of a summerhouse. In the basement is a bookable function room known as Henry's Den. |
When [[Kake]] visited on a Tuesday lunchtime in the week before Christmas 2008, there were about a dozen people in at noon, and more kept arriving; by 12:15 it was really filling up to the point where I drank up and left to free up my table. There was no music when I arrived, but they turned it on shortly before I left (Christmas music, though not annoyingly loud). The ale choices were the same as before (Young's Bitter was £1.55/half). |
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[[Kake]] visited on a Tuesday morning in September 2017. There were just a couple of other customers when I arrived around 9:15am. Music was playing, not too loud. Three of the five handpumps were clipped for Young's Bitter, Young's London Gold, and Belleville Calif-Oregon Amber, with Young's Special and Southwark LPA marked as coming soon. |
[[Kake]] visited again on a Thursday early evening in September 2012. The ales were more varied this time: Young's Bitter, Young's London Gold, Bombardier, and Oxfordshire Marshmellow. A pint of lime and soda was £2.05. There were a fair few people in at 5:15pm, and it continued to fill up over the next hour, but there were still free tables at 6:15pm. Music was playing at a reasonable level when I arrived, but was turned up a little before 6pm to the point where it could start to impede conversation. |
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From the breakfast menu, I chose the kale, spinach, and chilli pancakes with bacon and poached eggs (£9.50) <small>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/36893057592/ photo]</small>. The pancakes had a undercooked, gluey texture, and the promised chilli seemed to be entirely absent. The eggs had properly runny yolks, but unfortunately also a rather too high proportion of completely uncooked white. The bacon and watercress were fine. |
According to the Master Gunner website as of October 2012, food is served noon-10pm Monday to Friday and 11am-6pm on weekends. It's not cheap — specials noted on a December 2008 visit were priced between £9.25 (roasted vegetable dauphinoise with red wine jus and watercress) and £16 (8oz sirloin steak with dauphinoise, shallots, and green beans). |
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A pot of English breakfast tea arrived weak as requested, with a bite-size piece of chocolate brownie on the edge of the saucer. |
Accessibility: Ramp to get in, level access to the bar and most of the seating once you're in. Some of the seating is up a few steps on a dais. There's a dedicated accessible toilet (think it might have been RADAR locked). Other toilets down a flight of stairs (with a sturdy rail on one side and a landing in the middle). |
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Child-friendliness: There's a pull-down nappy change table in the accessible toilet Accessibility: A ramp to get in, then step-free to bar and seating (the dais that was here in its previous incarnation has been removed). There's a RADAR-locked accessible toilet on the level, with low sink and hand dryer but no grab rails or alarm cord. |
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* [https://www.yelp.com/biz/finchs-bar-london Yelp comments] * [https://whatpub.com/pubs/ELC/14764/ WhatPub entry] |
* [http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/comments.shtml/8346/ Beer In The Evening comments] * [http://fancyapint.com/pub/409 Fancyapint review] * [http://www.youngs.co.uk/pub-detail.asp?PubID=426 Young's website] * [http://www.qype.co.uk/place/82838 Qype comments] |
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<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], September 2017. Opening hours taken from Finch's website, September 2017.</div> |
<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], September 2012. Opening hours and food times taken from the Master Gunner website, October 2012.</div> |
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category='Accessible Toilet,Breakfast,Function Room,Pub Food,Pubs,Real Ale,Step-Free Access,Young's' edit_type='Normal edit' fax='FinchsPub' formatted_website_text='finchspub.co.uk/" class="external">finchspub.co.uk' host='81.187.166.218' hours_text='Mon-Fri: 7am-11pm; Sat: 10am-11:30pm; Sun: closed' |
category='Accessible Toilet,Function Room,Pub Food,Pubs,Real Ale,Step-Free Access,Young's' edit_type='Minor tidying' fax='MGunnerMoorgate' formatted_website_text='themastergunner.com/">themastergunner.com' host='46.43.34.31' hours_text='11am-11pm Mon-Fri; 11am-7pm Sat-Sun' |
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major_change='1' |
major_change='0' |
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node_image='https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4385/36667125550_44343a5d53_m_d.jpg' node_image_copyright='Kake' node_image_licence='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/' node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/36667125550/' opening_hours_text='Mon-Fri: 7am-11pm; Sat: 10am-11:30pm; Sun: closed' |
node_image='https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2493495676_2c5bd8258f_m.jpg' node_image_copyright='Ewan-M' node_image_licence='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed.en_GB' node_image_url='https://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/2493495676/' opening_hours_text='11am-11pm Mon-Fri; 11am-7pm Sat-Sun' |
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summary='Young's pub near Moorgate, previously known as the Master Gunner.' website='http://www.themastergunner.com/' website='http://www.finchspub.co.uk/' |
summary='Decent enough Young's pub near Moorgate.' website='http://www.themastergunner.com/' website='http://www.finchspub.co.uk/' |
Decent enough Young's pub not far north of Moorgate Station. Note that it closes early on weekends.
The bar runs along one wall to the right as you enter, and the pub stretches back quite a long way, with seating tucked away behind screen dividers. Flowering plants in small tin buckets sit on the tables. Exposed floorboards around the bar provide standing space, while elsewhere the floor is covered with a patterned carpet. A dais at the back has additional seating, and there's also some outside seating at the front in a cordoned-off area of pavement (some high chairs, some normal). Down some stairs is a bookable basement bar.
When bob visited on a Friday early evening in 2007, it was relatively crowded. The sausage platter was OK, and the beer was drinkable. Ales available were Young's Special, Young's Bitter, and Bombardier.
When Kake visited on a Tuesday lunchtime in the week before Christmas 2008, there were about a dozen people in at noon, and more kept arriving; by 12:15 it was really filling up to the point where I drank up and left to free up my table. There was no music when I arrived, but they turned it on shortly before I left (Christmas music, though not annoyingly loud). The ale choices were the same as before (Young's Bitter was £1.55/half).
Kake visited again on a Thursday early evening in September 2012. The ales were more varied this time: Young's Bitter, Young's London Gold, Bombardier, and Oxfordshire Marshmellow. A pint of lime and soda was £2.05. There were a fair few people in at 5:15pm, and it continued to fill up over the next hour, but there were still free tables at 6:15pm. Music was playing at a reasonable level when I arrived, but was turned up a little before 6pm to the point where it could start to impede conversation.
According to the Master Gunner website as of October 2012, food is served noon-10pm Monday to Friday and 11am-6pm on weekends. It's not cheap — specials noted on a December 2008 visit were priced between £9.25 (roasted vegetable dauphinoise with red wine jus and watercress) and £16 (8oz sirloin steak with dauphinoise, shallots, and green beans).
Accessibility: Ramp to get in, level access to the bar and most of the seating once you're in. Some of the seating is up a few steps on a dais. There's a dedicated accessible toilet (think it might have been RADAR locked). Other toilets down a flight of stairs (with a sturdy rail on one side and a landing in the middle).
See also:
List all versions