Up for the Olympics

Having got evening tickets for the athletics, and knowing that transport was likely to be busy, we figured it would be best if we stayed up in London.  Seeing the prices being charged for accommodation, we were very pleased when some friends who live in Kentish Town invited us to stay with them. 

We arrived with John and Paul the Wednesday evening so that we could make the most of our tickets by getting to the Olympic Park a bit earlier on the Thursday.  Knowing that we had just come back from South America, and having been to Argentina a few times themselves, they suggested a newish Argentine restaurant in Camden.  But before we went there, we headed to a brewery and bar in the arches of Kentish Town West.

The Camden Town Brewery is now apparently the third largest producer of beer in London, which isn't bad since they only started in 2010.  Jasper Cuppaidge, whose grandfather was a brewer in Australia,  was brewing a small amount in his Hampstead pub, but was frustrated that he had to import most of his lagers and ales.  So he bought a brewery, complete with recipes from the past and started making it himself.

Having successfully established their beer, they opened up an on site bar at weekends, and it seems to be very popular.  They have a regular range of ales, but they also supplement this with specials.  When we were there, the main special was the very topical 1908, which is brewed to the same recipe as an ale that was produced in 1908 especially for the first London Olympics held that year.

So having had an aperitif there, we went for a taste of Argentina including empanadas and steak.  Was it as good as in Buenos Aires? No, sadly not.  The empanadas were quite nice, but the steak just wasn't as good as it should have been.  We perhaps should have known that this would be the case when we saw on the menu that some of the beef was Irish.  Not that there is anything fundamentally wrong with Irish beef - it can be very nice - but using Irish beef in an Argentine restaurant is just not right!

Still, we had a reasonably nice meal in good company, and John and Paul were excellent hosts for the two days that we were there.  And they recommended a great cafe (Mario's) for brunch too.  Thanks guys.