Dovetail

In a small alleyway just north of the Clerkenwell Road, this little shop unit does a very good line in Belgian beers, a lot of which are the popular choices from the country so they may be familiar, but it’s an extensive enough list of keg or bottle options, however it offers up something a little different in this part of town. They serve food here although I only supped and sat in the seats by the front window. The small bar is behind this with seats deeper into the building beyond here.

a great haven for Belgian beers. over 100 available with a couple of guest taps on. can be absolutely rammed on Friday nights but the staff are always fantastic and very helpful and knowledgeable. great food menu too with of course mussels & chips.

Ok, so. We are pretty much all in agreement that Belgian beer is amazing. Right? Ergo, any bar offering 107 Belgian beers (albeit mostly in bottle) must be damn near perfect. Well. Crowded on an early weekday evening (i.e. in need of space management), offering more than a few sub-par Belgians, this is a place to admire rather than love. Having said this, all but the most seasoned ticker will find something new here, and it is nice to see a temple to the (arguably) greatest beer country. So, not a destination, but certainly worth a stop if in the neighbourhood.

A place that I used to frequent regularly before joining Ratebeer. Still good on a recent visit which produced a couple of ticks. Generally a decent atmosphere in here but it can get busy and inevitably when that happens service slows down. Some staff here are pretty knowledgeable, others not so much, luck of the drawer. The food here was very nice but I didn’t have any on my most recent visit. On the right night, this is a great place to chill out and enjoy the Belgian Beverages.

Before London developed its own beer scene Dovetail was by all accounts one of the go-to places for beer aficionados and well known for its Belgian beers. It does actually feel like a place you might find in Belgium. It has a slate tiled floor, green tiled table tops, pointy Leffe-style arches behind the bench seats and Tintin posters on the wall. The windows open onto a passageway off St John’s Square. There are 14 taps with some of the more popular Belgian brews on offer but the treat for us was the guest beer - Gollem’s Precious IPA, which was remarkably good, as was the Chimay Triple. (Visited 15 April 2015).

Decent beer selection, all Belgian (obviously). Interior is a bit more plain than I was expecting. Service was fine - a bit curt and impersonal but I suppose that just depends on the day. Might have to come back to try the food, having read other reviews!

Small bar, wooden interior. Old furniture, nice old memorabilia on the wall. Visited early afternoon, so no drunken Brits, but during the weekends it can be quite nasty Ive heard. All belgian selection, not the most exciting around. Not really knowledgeable staff. Nice looking menu and food, didnt try it though. Ok bar if you want to get a Belgian shelf turd.