Bunker Bier Hall

If you're going to stop at Bunker, I recommend doing it before going to Belgo Centraal across the street. Brewpubs are few and far between, so this was the only one I had a shot of doing on my short trip to London, but I'm glad I didn't go far out of my way.

The downstairs bar was dark and seedy, and a lot of young, hipsters types, mostly drinking cocktails and malternatives. Only about a third of the people I saw were drinking beer. I wasn't expecting much after reading the reviews, but the bartender warning me the the Soho Red is more of an ale scared me--rightlyfully so. I sat and drank the astringent red w/ little body for a bit and decided that it was worth the effort to finish, so left it sit on the table and walked out. Guessing that if I had tried some of the lagers, I would have had a better experience, but at 3 pounds a pint, it adds up fast with the poor US currency rate, so $6 dollars seemed too high a price to test my theory when we were running low on pounds near the end of the trip.

Oddly, at the Royal Oak, I met Richard, who said he is a rep for Freedom beer, and that he was sad to hear my negative experience. From the discussion, it seems that Freedom is working hard to improve and brew good beer. Maybe the lagers are better, maybe I had a bad night. My very short experience was not good, but probably also not a fair test. I wish them luck.

Bunker Bier is a brewpub in a trendy London shopping district. Located in the basement of a store block, the facility is quite large. The stand up bar is about 40 feet long. The dining area and kitchen probably extend another 50 feet. The beer-making equipment, a copper ten barrel system with four fermenters, is at the other end. The center of the bar area has a half dozen sofas and some leaning rails. There are very large booths throughout, and several of the tables in the dining area will seat 12. The beer is brewed in the German tradition and seemed true to style. There are also bottled beers. The Japanese bar girl wouldn't discuss beer as she is a non-drinker. The brewer was on vacation, and the manager was busy.

A lower-ground fl. brewpub within easy reach from Covent Garden but not easy to spot from the outside. Actually the main entrance is right opposite to Belgo Centraal and offers a completely different atmosphere and drinking experience.

The interior is quite chic, and anything but bright. With the kind of IKEA-tables and chairs in the dining area and main drinking area, the sofas on the side are welcomed and more relaxing. A long bar with, say, ten taps with five on each end, but serving just three beers... The beers on tap, Pilsner, Bok and Freedom's Organic lager are on form, but can be inconsistent in terms of quality as far as my previous visits are concerned. The bottled beer range is anything but decent. I think the brewer could invest more effort in their nice-looking lager brewing vessels and making some more continental beer-styles. Never tried the food, but the menu features semi-gastropub food at quite good price (in central London, that is). Overall, a young, relaxing beer hall awaiting improvement in beer range and quality.

This place was in walking distance for us, so it became a destination.

You walk down an industrial looking staircase and the rooms opens up on the right with fermenters and serving tanks behind glass. The room is filled predominantly with long tables bier hall-style, with comfy U-shaped sofas along one wall and a long, stainless steel bar w/o stools along the other. There were some smaller tables and booths on the far wall opposite the fermenters.

Three beers were abailable, Bok, Pilsner, and Organic, however when we were there only the Pils was available. It was really nice, though it got a touch corny when it warmed up at the end of the pint. The rest of their beers were lacklustre imports (Dos Equis, Corona, blah blah, blah). Service was friendly, though they could have given me a small discount since they were out of the first 2 beers I ordered.

I would go back there to try the other two brews, but I probably wouldn’t go there after that. The house beers seem to be little more than a novelty (but the pils was pretty good).

This brewpub bar is located in the former site of a Freedom brewpub, and they still have a guest tap for Freedom beer, but they are a separate business. They are located in the Thomas Neal's mall on the lower level.

The interior is all bright wood (tables and floors) and shiny stainless steel. The ceiling is brick, arched, and painted white like a cellar. The bar is long and steel with no bar stools. The copper brewing kettles are visible behind glass walls off to one side, near the entrance. There was alternative music playing from speakers during my visit.

They have 5 taps, though on my visit only 3 were working: a Pilsener, a Bock, and a guest tap of Freedom Organic. The beers were pretty decent, though seemed to have been brewed a bit rushed. Beers are served in pints, steins, and pitchers ("jügs"). They had 9 bottled beers (Dos XX, Pilsner Urquel, San Miquel, and some east European beer). Full liquor and some wine also offered.

Seemed to be a comfortable place to have a beer. There is some kind of fascination with umlauts at this place (bünker, gülp, jügs) and with German (?) -- restrooms are labeled Himm and Herr. A little hokey, but a harmless little theme.