Chris_OGrady

This is looking like a right faf now. I'm booked onto the 10.35pm back from St Pancras. Looks like I might have to do a King Power Stadium special... I suppose there's no point pre boozing round London Bridge anymore either

Yeh same! I'm even going to Belfast in August because of this thread I lived in London for 5 years and looks like I missed out on so many of the good pubs. I'll be putting that right though the next few times I go down! One city that I felt the thread was a bit light on was Liverpool (I went Uni there). Recommendations seemed to be limited to Ship and Mitre and Rigby's on Dale Street, when in reality you want to be over the side of town in the Georgian Quarter. Loads of good pubs within walking distance of each other and each with distinctive character.

Some decent pints over the bank holiday weekend: Thursday: Swan in the Rushes Loughborough - Charnwood Brewery Moon Door - very nice! Friday: Colmore Birmingham - Jaipur - decent Friday: Real Ale Classroom Leicester - London Black and one of the specials on Cask - okay Saturday: Malt Shovel Shardlow - one of their own beers on cask - decent I'm sure some of you already know this, but if you type a place name in speech marks into the search box of this thread (eg "Birmingham") it brings up all previous mentions of the place. I got bored one afternoon at work and searched all the major cities in the UK and saved down all the best pubs on my google maps . For example I had the Colmore (even though the reviews were mixed) saved down from this thread. The recommendations on this thread are absolutely bang on and much better than any internet site (European Bar Guide is also very good though). Up the Foxestalk!

Sorrel is very good now isn’t it. I love walking down the canal in summer from Barrow and stopping off at the Navigation and Swan. What’s the deal with Pinsent? Haven’t been there yet. Don’t really get it

I still thought it was decent, but I prefer the Gujarati/East African ones we have in Leicester. Also preferred Hen & Chickens in Birmingham to Soho Tavern.

Just been to Soho Tavern in Birmingham. It was decent but nothing special. The mixed grills look good for Instagram but there’s not much else. Leicester’s the place!

I went in the TTL last Tuesday and there was a few in there tbf. Was expecting it to be completely dead

I hear Adnams have been struggling recently so make sure you drink plenty of their beer when you are there! Sole Bay Inn is a great little pub

I agree with your point though about most people staying in the villages rather than venturing out to Leicester because of perception. For a lot of people the food is secondary and it's all about the surroundings and vibe. Hence why a lot of people enjoy overpriced boring shite I don't know any pure East African places, but there's Afrikana on Charles street (no idea which part of Africa it specialises in). Also went to the Frame last night which was pretty good. Town was also reasonably busy for a Tuesday night.

Ah yes, I remember that about the Seville ultras now! I think Spain is consistently pretty poor, but has the ability to really pop off for a big game. it's kind of the opposite of Germany which is consistently very good, but you don't get those catchy chants and full stadium lift offs. I think Italy has the best balance of both which is why it’s my favourite for atmosphere.

I get the points that people are making, but I think the food in Leicester is actually quite good and varied. I've not really got much interest in high-end and traditional restaurants. There's a great range of cuisines in Leicester, for example the East African Indian restaurants, south Indian restaurants, lots of Turkish restaurants, good Italians, and lots of other interesting places like Karamay and Mitsuki to name a few. There's also a decent cluster around St Martins. I actively come into Leicester to escape the generic, overpriced, tasteless, pub grub you get in Charnwood. All comes down to personal taste I suppose!

I remember people on here saying Legia were insane. Imagine how loud it would have been there for a semi final! Might look to go over there for a game at some point. I was very, very impressed with Roma. I've been to two Milan derbies and they weren't as loud as that. Quite enjoyed just watching their fans tbh after our end gave up. Totally different to when I watched them in a league game vs Juve. Only other one I did that year was PSV who i thought were pretty poor by European standards (decent by English). In the Champs League I thought Bruges were poor (obv game went against them), Copenhagen decent (good ultra end but not sure rest of ground would ever get rocking), Seville decent and Atletico good.

Roma was the best home atmosphere I've ever been to

Not sure tbh. I just bought a few bottles from the shop. Quite pricey, but very tasty!

Charnwood Brewery Masquerade is the best non-alcoholic beer I've had.

Few in the TTL and Castle before the game- really enjoyed both! That side of town is very pleasant.

Broadway is pretty decent! My favourite 3 are probably Paddy's (even though it's expensive now), Little Club Bar and Grill, and Ghurka New Delhi in Mountsorrel (partly because it's closer to me and I can go to The Swan and Sorrel Fox for a beer). There's loads of other decent ones though (Three Kilns, What A Shot, Indian Queen, The Taj). It's quite fun just trying a different one each time. I'm off to Birmingham next month to see what the competition is like!

I went Paddy’s last night- the food was excellent but it’s so expensive now. It’s also the second time they’ve tried to swindle me on the bill. Think the Harrow Inn is the same people who took over the Three Crowns in Barrow (previous owners). It was pretty rubbish when they ran it. There’s a new owner at the Three Crowns now who is also doing Indian food and it’s decent.

Were you in the Castle Rock ones? They're very good

Going to Istanbul with the Mrs for 4 nights in March. Going to do most of the standard stuff - Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar etc. Any recommendations for bars/restaurants/cool areas and stuff off the beaten track, or any general advice on how to do the standard stuff, would be great.

Rome is great but flights are expensive. Milan is very accessible (cheap flights) but not as nice as other Italian cities. Combine it with Bergamo/Verona/Bologna- all very nice and well connected by train.

Pint of Tiger in the Rutland & Derby for the first pint of the year! Was absolutely dead in there though...

I’ve really been enjoying the Lucky Saint Lager and Hazy IPA over January. Also just cracked one open for the game…

Not counting glory supporters (I don't consider them as football fans) Loughborough was 60/40 Leicester to Forest when I was growing up, and I imagine it's swung more in our favour since winning the league. Hardly any Derby in Loughborough. Once you go north of Loughborough it's heavily Forest and vice versa south with Leicester. If I am to consider glory supporters, then I would suspect that there are more Liverpool/United followers in the city of Leicester than us. I used to work in Leicester and I was outnumbered by Liverpool and Man United followers. Lived in London for 5 years and Arsenal and Tottenham are comfortably clear of Chelsea.

Went a few years back and loved it. It's just a great place to walk around. I didn't get a chance to do it, but you should deffo head up to Santuario Madonna di San Luca and do the portico walkway all the way back into town. I think it's the longest covered walkway in the world and you go by the Bologna stadium (https://bolognauncovered.com/2019/01/18/walking-bologna-portico-san-luca/). Parma, Modena and Florence are all short train rides away too for a day trip. Here's some of the standard stuff I liked below: Piazza Santo Stefano - lovely little piazza to have a drink/relax Mercato Di Mezzo - Indoor food market with traditional Italian vendors. It's good in the evening and even got a craft beer place in there too Cremeria la Vecchia Stalla - best ice cream i've ever had Mercato delle erbe - more of a fresh fruit/veg market but still a few decent food stalls and lots of bars nearby Cluricaune Irish Pub - good for the footy and one of the better Irish pubs abroad Via del Pretello - seem to remember this being the best area for bars, but might be wrong