The Dovetail
A hundred bottles deep in Belgian beer, nineteen of them Trappist, with gueuze and lambic on a shelf that almost no London bar bothers to keep (CAMRA).
Why go
Lambic is the reason to take this seriously. It ferments from whatever wild yeast and bacteria drift into the cooling vessel, ages in barrel for years, and comes out as gueuze after blending and a second fermentation in the bottle, which is why it tastes sour and cidery and nothing like the beer next to it on the tap wall. The Dovetail has been running this list since the late 1990s off Jerusalem Passage: 101 beers on the permanent menu with 14 on draught, plus guests, seasonals and alcohol-free Belgian bottles (venue). They also keep the Belgian glassware convention, a specific shaped glass per beer, which is not decoration; the bowl and the etched nucleation point in the base control how much foam comes out of solution and how fast the aromatics leave. Food is Belgian brasserie: carbonade, stoemp, mussels, and an Antwerp fish stew.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a gueuze from the bottle list, then Shetland mussels or the beef carbonade, which is stewed in beer. Save room for a waffle; the kitchen runs eighteen versions.
- Avoid: turning up Sunday. It is closed, and Monday and Tuesday the doors do not open until 4pm.
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA (WhatPub, East London & City branch):
an excellent range of a hundred bottled beers, the vast majority of them Belgian, including nineteen Trappists, gueuzes etc.
1 - Time Out London:
The Dovetail is a modern European restaurant with a heavy influence from Belgium in both its food and its drink offerings.
2
Good to know
- Timing: 4pm to 10pm Monday and Tuesday, 4pm to 11pm Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 11pm Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday.
- Booking: the venue asks you to pre-book if you want to eat. Drinking is drop-in.
- Beer: no cask, but bottle-conditioned beer is on the list, so there is live yeast in the glass if you want it.
- Dietary: the venue states vegan alternatives on the sharing platters. No gluten-free or allergen statement is published.
- Access: step-free entry, no accessible toilet. Dogs welcome.
- Location: 9-10 Jerusalem Passage, about 350m from Farringdon.
Craft signals (beer: depth, which is why no evolution: value is recorded)
Rotation is the wrong axis for this bar and marking it static would misread it. A Belgian specialist's craft is the archive: 101 beers held permanently, 14 of them on draught, nineteen Trappist, rare lambics on the shelf, and guests and seasonal specialities layered on top of a list that has been maintained since the late 1990s. The second signal is the service convention, the correct glass for each beer, which is stated policy and materially changes the drink.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Belgian beer bar" REAL.
Verdict
should-visit — Worth the detour, and the previous ruling scored the wrong thing. The craft here is depth, which is how a specialist bottle list should be judged: 101 beers on a permanent menu with 14 on draught, the vast majority Belgian, including nineteen Trappist beers, plus guests, seasonal specialities, rare lambics and alcohol-free Belgian bottles. It has been running that list off Jerusalem Passage since the late 1990s, and it keeps the convention most UK bars dropped, the right beer in the correct glass, which changes what a gueuze or a Kwak actually tastes like. There is no cask and there is no need for any. Carbonade, mussels, stoemp and an eighteen-waffle list back it up. Small room, closed Sundays, jazz on the speakers; go for the archive.