London’s suburban pubs are giving the fashionable inner city joints a run for their money. More spacious and with less queues, you might actually get a seat on a Friday or Saturday night.
One bar leading the way is Acton’s show-stopping house of fun, Aeronaut. A real ale brewery and live performance venue hosting an array of events including comedy, dance classes, quiz nights and a weekly packed Friday and Saturday circus. The latter is an entertainment extravaganza not to be missed, with the combination of talented performers and keen audience participation creating spontaneous thrills to the night’s proceedings.
Visually, Aeronaut is somewhat of a technicolour dream decorated with aviation bits and bobs, disused fair ground ride machinery, an operating theatre lamp, a taxidermy wild boar head, hot air balloon basket, big factory warehouse lamps and an epic back-garden with individual circus themed huts.
The onsite brewery is one of three operated in London by the Laine Brewing Company. Each site has a five brewer’s barrel brewery, which means each batch produced creates 1,440 pints. A sample of what’s on tap: Aeronauts best selling pale ale titled The Stinger, named after The Wasp Football Club. A tasty Acton Ale made with oats. The regular bitter goes by the name of Lanes Best. There is a trusty Dark Porter to warm the heart. And finally strong on the hops are the ESB chocolate oat stout and The Long on Acton Cricket Club.
Expect trusted pub classics on the food front, British favourites with popular American twists. On our visit we devoured the Angus beef burger and butchers board with an array of meats including game pate, pulled pork croquettes, minted lamb ballotine and a scotch egg with pickles hot sauce. This is hearty food to keep you drinking and enjoying the show all night.
Aeronaut’s multi-layered venue provides a space for socialising and entertainment that would not function the same in the over-populated areas of East and Central London. Definitely worth the extra journey for those based in zones 1 & 2. It’s up to you to try something different and discover an exciting venue bursting with adventure.
The Aeronaut
www.aeronaut.pub
264 High St, Acton, Greater London W3 9BH
T: 020 8993 4242
Written by Justina Terese, Food Writer and Recipe Developer www.foodforaking.com