Great beer and hospitality makes this Irish pub the toast of London

“Good selection of well-kept ales, super-friendly staff, comfy decor, open fire.”

“Best Guinness in London.”

“Great Irish music on Thursday nights.”

These are just some of the online toasts in praise of the Blythe Hill Tavern, an Irish pub which has just been voted the best boozer in London.

The Victorian pub on Stanstead Rd in the Forest Hill area of the city, impressed judges from the Society For The Preservation Of Beers From The Wood (SPBW) with its fine beers, hospitality, and friendly service.

“They make you feel very welcome. The staff are polite and the beer is amazing,” said Roger Jacobson of the SPBW, a society set up by seven disgruntled beer drinkers in 1963.

The pub is run by Con Riordan, 55, from Limerick, who set up the business 27 years ago and serves a wide range of craft beers, its most popular being Dark Star Hophead bitter.

Con puts his success down to good service and being part of the local community.

“The key is the people who are here and the old fashioned Irish hospitality they give which is very important in the modern age,” he told John Murray on RTÉ Radio yesterday.

He also stressed the importance of his bar staff.

“I have a manager for 16 years, Terry McSweeney from Cork. I have a barman, John Craven from Co Down, who is 78. He has been in the trade a long time. People skills are very important.”

He doesn’t just employ Irish staff, but people of all nationalities while he continues to cater for the immigrant Irish as well as locals.

“The first generation Irish are, sadly, dying off but we have their children and grandchildren coming in.”

The hospitality on offer even extends to what his bartenders wear.

“The staff wear collar and ties behind the bar and table service is a big part of our operation, as well, which you don’t get in many pubs in London.”

The bar is very popular with sports fans.

“We sponsor local hurling and football and camogie teams and soccer teams and we are very big for Irish and Munster rugby.” He and his staff also help raise funds for local charities.

Con, from Templeglantine, Co Limerick, where his 81-year-old mother still lives, has no plans to retire any time soon and still enjoys the work, despite the long hours. “If you enjoy what you are doing, it is not really a job but a lifestyle,” he says.