Another leaving do. Anthony's this time. He had reserved an area in the Elusive Camel pub in Wilton Road, Victoria. Not the best decision as it turned out. When I arrived at about six o'clock I tried ordering a pint of Becks, only to be told that there was "a problem" with the beer pumps, but they should be back on in 20 minutes. OK, these things happen. So what bottled beer do they have? "None". So, this is a pub in a busy area of central London on a Friday evening and they have no beer of any description. I reluctantly settled for a vodka & orange. The draught lager did return briefly later in the evening, but it was pretty flat, and they turned the pumps off again shortly after. By then they had managed to get some crates of Sol and Peroni from the nearby Sainsbury's - I saw one of the bar staff wheeling them in in a supermarket trolly.
This is supposed to be a trendy, up-market, modern pub, but the lack of beer, sullen bar staff, and bland tawdry decor (I hadn't realised there were that many shades of beige) make this pub a pretty bleak and soulless affair. Thankfully, Anthony's guests more than compensate for this. There are quite a few people from my earlier posting in DCLG that I haven't seen for a while, including Louise who came down from Glasgow specially. So not such a bad night after all.
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