Under the Helmsley Arches

Short pub crawls are the new long; back in the day, a dozen pubs, lengthy meanderings, and numerous stumblings en route (not to mention kebab stops) made ‘the crawl’ more of a marathon. Now, as the hair turns to silver in front of my eyes, it’s quality that counts above all. When the time comes for the best shirt and a many-venue’d evening, those that are closest together are becoming that much more tempting. Take, for example, London Fields, on a hot Sunday evening. I’ve been there three times now (still yet to see fields, or green space, of any kind), most recently to check out two of the newest (to me, at least) under-arch drinking opportunities. And, creaking knees rejoice – they are almost literally next door.

Helmsley Place is home to the London Fields Brewery – a place I last visited just as they were preparing to start out, back in mid-2011. Two years on, they have moved along a little, to a larger space, as well as opening a brewery tap and have taken an interest in hosting events for Hackey’s eager drinkers. One such event is Feast in the Fields, which takes place on the last weekend in the month, and features their beer served with a collection of invited street food traders, who set up their covered areas in the courtyard of the brewery. Following on from the much-criticised London’s Brewing Festival, it’s great to see the brewery coming back strong with another event.

There must have been about half a dozen food options at the brewery, with a similar amount of London Fields beers on offer. This kind of crossover event is becoming the norm – breweries fill space at their facility with independent pop-ups, who keep people there for the food, and thereby get more beers in. It’s a great idea, and benefits everyone involved. Being a Sunday evening, it was pretty quiet at the Fields, and we had a couple of good pints of Hackney Hopster; a ‘debonair young chap of a Pacific Pale Ale’. Being London, people had spilled good-naturedly out of the gates and were sitting on the pavement, catching the sun as it moved around to the other side of the railway arches.

After those couple of beers, time to head on to the next Arch (almost literally), at Climpson’s, about fifty yards away. It brought back strange feelings of déjà vu, as they have taken over the original site of the London Fields brewhouse, so all was very different since the last time I stuck my head through the metal gates. What a difference – Climpson’s roast their coffee at the back, but in the front a colossal (three tonne) wood fired oven sits, with chefs busying about behind. It’s Licky Chop, run by street food specialists Lucky Chip, and goodness me if it isn’t fantastic.

I’m not much of a foodie, or food-writer, but having a few pints of Camden Pale and Kernel Table Beer with the offerings from Licky Chop was one of the best eating experiences I’ve had for a long time. Incredibly juicy griddled chicken and a salad of black pudding, cauliflower and sage was sublime. I know this post is creeping dangerously close to being a Sunday supplement restaurant review, but sitting there in the late evening sunshine was an utter joy. Just look at the picture above – wouldn’t you want to drink there? If it’s the last weekend in the month, there’s the added bonus of Helmsley’s shortest pub crawl, too.