The Blackbird

Rating: Very good
Meal:  Dinner for 2
Price: 45 GBP
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes:  3 small beers, pie/beer sampler, cheese board

We really love meat pies, and lo and behold, one of the top rated pie-houses is right near where we are staying by Earl's Court station.  This lovely pub/hotel is a classy joint.  We started by asking for beer recommendations given our Pacific NW hophead nature.  They were free with their tasting and we both settled on a couple of small glasses before perusing the menu.

Of course we wanted all the pies, so we decided to try the pie/beer sampler which came with 3 of their pies and 3 more beers.  The pies were very delicious, especially the steak and minced pies.  The third veggie cauliflower one was just ok.  The beers were typically British, not that great, so I reordered the beer I had originally. The beers were all by Fullers Brewery, and the one I liked best was the Honeydew.

We finished off with a cheese platter, munching on stilton, brie and cheddar (I think).  The stilton was the best...but all quite delicious with the circular crackers.  We were glad we got there early as it became quite crowded towards the end of our meal.