Paddington is of course famous for one little bear from Peru who’s partial to marmalade and is recognised all over the world.

But now there’s a new Bear in town with the opening of Paddington’s latest pub – The Bear which occupies the former Cork and Bottle wine bar on Spring Street, near the station.

The business has been taken over by The Craft Beer Company and is the company’s ninth London outlet offering a bewildering choice of 41 beers all sourced from small independent breweries.

General manager Kiran tells me his food menu is limited to eight kinds of burger and fish and chips – as he wants to do one type of food and to do that well.

Kiran and Nicole – The management team at The Bear

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Seats once occupied by the likes of Diana Ross, Mike Tyson. Phil Collins, Elton John, Mike Jagger, Joan Collins, Robert Redford, Pavarotti, Sean Connery, Liz Taylor and Rod Stewart are now shared by all the Sussex’s customers enjoying the end of lockdown.

The Sussex has undergone a phenomenal refurbishment during the pandemic and now features plush black leather seating, genuine airplane fuselages mounted on the walls, funky airport style signage, and a comfortable upscale business class lounge at the rear of the pub.

So, when next visiting Paddington be sure to check in at the Sussex – and enjoy the flight.

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Customers are still forbidden from enjoying the experience of sitting in the interior of this remarkably well preserved genuine Victorian public house with its fabulous engraved glasswork and stunning gallery of nineteenth century Royalty displayed on every surface.

However, the pub’s landlord and landlady, Chris and Helen (pictured above) tell us that they are really excited to be opening again after so may months during which the locals have told them they have really missed their pub.

Tiny Rebels’s Boogaloo – a passion fruit Indian Pale Ale – is an innovation waiting for the Victoria’s first returning customers, though the establishment’s booze hounds will probably be supping something a little more traditional.

Seating capacity outside is at 60, and the kitchen will be back in operation on 12 May. Paddington is slowly is coming back to life and as Queen Elizabeth told the nation right at the beginning of this awful pandemic: “We will meet again”.

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The same is true at the Heron with the outdoor space at the back of the pub becoming a busy meeting place for thirsty locals starved of human companionship for so many weeks.

Paddington’s locals are truly showing a ‘Blitz Spirit’ as they brave the temperatures, finally able to enjoy the freedom of a pint or two in a happy neighbourhood atmosphere after weeks of lockdown.

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And these are the cafés that I use all the time, having eaten everywhere in the area, and judging these to be the best for quality, value for money, and the welcome you receive from the people that own them and work there.

Two of them are located on London Street – the street you come onto when leaving Paddington Station from the main exit. Straight away on the right-hand side you’ll find Lite Bite which might be an ideal spot to decamp for a while if you’ve arrived in London ahead of the check-in time at your hotel. Maybe dump your baggage where you are staying and have a coffee at this cozy little cafe just off Norfolk Square – a perfect spot to watch the world go by.

Further down London Street you will find Mimo’s, another friendly café offering moderately priced meals from breakfast-time to lunch and dinner, with a main focus on Italian dishes. It’s also only two doors away from The Sussex Arms, which allows you to take your Mimo’s takeaway into the pub to eat, if you order drinks there.

If you want to enjoy the best breakfast in the area, try out the Craven Cafe on Craven Terrace. There you will see your English breakfast or pancakes being prepared in the open kitchen in this little gem of a place by the only two staff that the place can accommodate. It’s a little pricier than the other local cafés, but that’s because they take a great deal of care to get everything right – the bacon is good quality, the fried eggs are spot on, and the butter packets for the toast isn’t granite hard for spreading. This café is where you’ll find local people of a morning tucking-in at their leisure while perusing the day’s newspapers.

Just around the corner on Craven Hill is La Costa Café (not the be confused with the big coffee chain – this is a small privately owned business), which serves affordable freshly prepared Italian fare to eat-in or take away, including rolls, pizza, really really good pastas (I am one of their best customers) and other meals of the day.

Fancy a picnic in style?

Straight across the street from La costa is Laurents, a French-owned delicatessen offering a fabulous selection of continental foods ideal for taking away for a posh picnic in nearby Hyde Park, or even back in your hotel room. It’s by no means cheap, but everything on sale here is top quality, including its breads, seafood, salads, cheeses, and savoury and sweet baked goods, as well as its enticing selection of cakes on display in the window. I’m a sucker for the lumpfish caviar, unfortunately not recommended for the budget traveller.

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Ordering at the bar

Unlike bars in much of the rest of the world, table service is quite rare in the UK. Food and drinks are ordered at the bar when you arrive and you will be expected to pay the whole bill (check) for that order there and then. Most places will allow you to ‘run a tab’ where your card is either held behind the bar or run through a machine so the bar can collect the amount owing should you forget to pay when you leave. If your card is behind the bar you simply settle up when you are ready to leave.

Tipping

In days gone by, the correct form when tipping was to say to the bar person when ordering “Have one yourself” whereupon the member of staff would ring up half a pint of either bitter (ale) or lager (light beer) and then drink it while they were working, or consume it after time (bar closed – half an hour to drink up) when the staff would sit down after their shift to have a relaxing ‘lock-in’ drink together. This tradition has gone out of fashion a little with the current trend of forbidding consumption of alcohol when working. Staff will still ring in a drink at the till should you offer, but changing times means the etiquette has become a little hazy nowadays and some bar staff (many of whom are not UK born) may ring in drinks probably more expensive than you were intending to pay for.

Cash tips have traditionally been confined to restaurants (often as a mandatory service charge over which you are not expected to supplement), black cab drivers and women at the hairdresser’s. These days it’s fair to say that the best way to show appreciation for the service you are receiving in a pub is to offer a cash tip. Sometimes the staff will put these gratuities into a communal jar behind the bar and share the proceeds at the end of the night, especially if there are kitchen staff hidden from the customers. Almost everyone working behind a bar is earning minimum wage or a bit more, so your gesture will always be gratefully appreciated.

Rounds

There’s a very long-standing tradition in Britain of groups of friends buying ‘rounds’ of drinks for each other when they go to the pub, where they each take turns to buy drinks for all members of the group. This doesn’t mean that each round is identical in cost, as people change their drink choice over the course of the evening or skip a drink if the haven’t finished, or as people join and depart from the group. The attitude is “what goes around comes around” and that everything evens out over time. People who join in rounds and then regularly disappear off to the loo (restroom) when their turn arrives to pick up the tab are soon rumbled and will earn the scorn of their compatriots.

If you meet someone you’ve never met before in the pub and get chatting it will not be at all unusual if they offer to buy you and your partner a drink. While strictly speaking reciprocation is not a hard and fast rule, there’s an unspoken expectation that you will return the gesture when you are both ready to order again. Then you keep taking turns until the end of the evening or until one or both of you collapses.

Personal space

Talking to strangers is absolutely fine in British pubs, particularly if you’re standing or sitting at the bar. It’s one of the joys of our pub culture that the duke and the dustman (garbageman) can meet on absolute equal terms in the boozer and will often get along famously as the drinks flow. As a caveat, there’s an old maxim that you “Never discuss religion or politics in the pub” which is probably sage advice until you get to know your new mate (buddy) a little better and can judge where the land lies.

However, although you can chat freely to anyone at the bar – and can have discussions with people at nearby tables, don’t park yourself uninvited at someone else’s table, particularly if you are a guy and that someone is a woman on her own.

No offence meant

One rather peculiar aspect of the British character is the habit some of them have of sometimes saying seemingly insulting and derogatory things to their closest friends. This can take some outsiders by surprise but it should not. This is just a manifestation of the British sense of humour which veers towards the absurd and self-mocking. Just look at it this way – the more the British like you, the more likely they will be to take the mickey. Don’t take it personally if you are gently teased.

So, I hope you now feel comfortable to pop along to your nearest watering hole and enjoy a convivial time at one of the many great pubs in W2 and beyond. And please free feel to add your comments, advice or personal experiences below. Cheers!

As always, we would greatly appreciate it if you share this article.

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Paddington boasts more than its fair share of great pubs to enjoy food and drinks during your stay in London, and it’s arguably the best place in London for pubs.

This local of 40 years Charles Wheeldon suggests some of the best watering holes to drop into.

All of Paddington’s best pubs are just a few minutes’ walk from the hotels in the areas and I’d like to tell you a bit about the ones that I’ve grown to love after many years living in my home village, Paddington.

The Fountain’s Abbey run by my old pal Roy is a spacious pub on Praed Street opposite St Mary’s Hospital where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Its staff are really friendly and attentive and the pub has several screens showing the day’s live sports events, particularly football. You only have to cross the street to visit the Fleming museum to find out all about the Nobel prize-winning discovery of the antibiotic.

The Monkey Puzzle on Sussex Gardens is a locals’ pub where you are guaranteed a warm welcome from Gary and his long-time staff. This is a great place to enjoy a drink in the outdoor garden area with its benches and chairs under a canope next to its famous monkey puzzle tree. Go to the end of the bar and you’ll find a very large map of seventeenth century London where the original streets and villages of the old city are all detailed.

The Victoria is a genuine Victorian gem with a cosy atmosphere, original bar and glasswork, and the walls festooned with royal memorabilia, particularly of Queen Victoria and her extensive family. The local clientele here are a quirky bunch who gather round the bar for a chat – or you can sit outdoors on the benches to enjoy watching the world going by.

The Sussex Arms on London Street is a contrast to most of the pubs in the area. Owner Paul has transformed it with an airplane-themed interior featuring some of the seating from an original Concorde supersonic jet. Manager Maxine and her staff are great fun and many of the locals are working blokes from the north who enjoy a drink after work and will start chatting to you if you look like you’ve no one to talk to. Its jukebox features just about every song known to mankind and it’s not unknown for the everyone in the place to burst out in song when things get going! It’s drinks and bar snacks only though, as The Sussex doesn’t serve hot food – but you can fetch your own from the fish and chip shop or café next door so long as you order a drink from the pub.

The Sawyers Arms, also on London Street, is a higgledy-piggledy sort of a place popular with commuters on their way home as it’s close to the railway station. Fans attending the day’s sporting events will often congregate here for a pre- or post-match drink or two.

The Pride of Paddington is a gastropub serving food and drinks all day popular with visitors and tourists and serving American portions. Jason, Jackson and the staff are a jolly and diverse team always offering a warm welcome. The Pride has a hostel on the upper floors so there’s often a crowd of European backpackers livening up the place.

The Swan is situated on busy Bayswater Road opposite Hyde Park with plenty of outdoor seating for experiencing the hustle and bustle of one of London’s main thoroughfares. It also features some pretty decent live music at the weekend. Though the building has a history extending several centuries, be sceptical of its claim to be the ‘one for the road’ pub that prisoners used before getting back ‘on the wagon’ to be carted off for hanging at infamous Old Tyburn just down the road. The jail was in the opposite direction!

The Mitre on Craven Terrace is yet another Victorian gem with its original features and glasswork situated in a quiet back street next to a cobblestone mews. Not much has changed here in a hundred and fifty years. This is another pub frequented by Paddington’s friendly locals with outdoor seating and plenty of dining space indoors. It’s now quite a gastropub with its Lord Craven’s dining room upstairs where you can enjoy a meal from its impressive menu. And local legend claims the pub’s Old Mary’s basement cocktail bar is haunted by the lady herself.

This is just a small taste of the many boozers Paddington has to offer our visitors from all over the world – try them out and let us know below about your experiences…

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