The Four Thieves (Bar)

Top 10 things to know about The Four Thieves pub:
 
1) Madness could’ve easily penned the line “Welcome to the House of Fun” whilst on a visit to the Four Thieves. When a man is tired of London, he’s clearly not been to The Four Thieves.

2) As you approach, you can’t help but notice the sheer variety of entertainment nights on offer: Gentleman Tim and The Contenders – a swing and blues night - and a Bad Jumper Christmas Eve Party, for example.

3) Thursday really is the new Saturday. Despite having two large rooms, the pub literally had no seats on the Thursday we visited, and it’s not even on the high street.

4) They ended up opening their performance room early for the spill-over guests, so we were serenaded with a series of 1-2, 1-2, testing, testing, 1-2.

5) This pub is all about gin: they have a Tanqueray-sponsored covered courtyard; they grow their own lavender and use it to distill their own gin; and it’s no coincidence the pub is located on Lavender Gardens.

6) If your preference is for more robust fun, their own distillery offers a steady flow of craft ales up to 40 casks a week. That’s 1440 pints to quench beer-thirsty revellers. They have their own keg pale ale, their own Czech style pilsner served straight into the glass from tanks. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything they don’t offer.

7) Their pan-European, pan-Asian menu is almost as varied as their roster of entertainment nights. You can enjoy slow-cooked pulled pork and kimchee bap or a traditional roast pork belly. Opting for the latter, I enjoyed a rich, indulgent dish with plenty of mash and gravy.

8) Service is unsurprisingly prompt considering the volume of party-goers, although it might be slightly lacking in attention at times. It was a devilishly complex exercise in demolishing the pork belly with a butter knife given the portion size looked almost like a hog roast.

9) The word boredom just doesn’t exist at this venue. There are talking points aplenty. You can admire industrial-sized antique cameras en route to the bathrooms or order drinks from a boat-shaped bar.

10) The Four Thieves is the place to watch in 2015, as they’re about to launch their voluminous upstairs function room which used to be a Victorian music hall....read more