Sunday, January 10, 2016

The Lion and Eagle Pub, Boca Raton, FL

An English street pub in Boca!

http://thelionandeaglepub.com/

It used to be difficult finding a nice bar with good draft beers in a strange city on a Sunday evening.  

Then smart phones with Google Maps came along and voila, we have a list of pubs in Boca Raton.  

The Lion and Eagle English Pub was close to our current location in the Cinemark parking lot, so off we went.

We weren’t really expecting an English pub, but what we got was very close to a city pub in Clapton or Bermondsey or Camden or any of the other inner suburbs of London, UK. These are essentially a shop (store) in an otherwise non-descript strip mall.  In London the shop would open directly onto the sidewalk on the street, at least here there was a parking lot fronting the highway.

There were a few tables outside on the wide sidewalk with perhaps a half-dozen customers drinking, and inside on the right a bar, with seats, of which three were occupied.  Behind the bar were a dozen or so taps for draft beer. On the left against the wall were tables, benches and chairs for small groups.  It was cozy and comfortable, a nice place to sit and have a drink, especially when there were few patrons, like tonight.

The bartender asked what beer I liked, I said IPA and he recommended a recent arrival called Due South Category 5 IPA that was only brewed when the right hops were available.  I knew it was going to be strong when he served it in a 13 oz. stemmed goblet.  It was strong, 8.5% ABV, with a big surge of hop flavor bursting through on the palate.  This is a sipping beer that is not for everyone, I loved it.

Perhaps the beer tickled our taste-buds, and we suddenly decided we were hungry. Unfortunately the kitchen at the Lion and Eagle closed at 10.00 pm on Sundays, so the bartender recommended we visit the Dubliner Irish pub, a mile or two up the road, where the restaurant was open to 1.30 am.


I liked the Lion and Eagle pub, even though we were only there a short time and will make a point of returning the next time we are in Boca Raton.

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