King’s Lynn – Live & Let Live Pub

This was a pub that I didn’t get to on my previous trip to King’s Lynn but it comes highly recommended and is listed in the Good Beer Guide, meaning that Łukasz had high expectations. Well, I did anyway. The lack of active signage did though make me wonder whether they were shut as we approached. Although to be fair, I can’t imagine there’s much passing trade on Windsor Road in King’s Lynn that’s being tempted in by signage, their reputation is already strong enough to ensure they’re busy. Anyway, I digress. The pub has a substantial history, it has been here since the early nineteenth century.

I don’t much like formulaic interiors that some pub companies seem to go for when they periodically rebrand and refresh their failing pubs, this sort of traditional, cosy and homely feel is much better. The service was warm and polite, with the pub being reasonably busy for a Friday afternoon (I waited for customers to move from the above table to take the photo). It has two bars and it’s one of those places where the character of the pub is evident when walking in. They also accept cards which was handy as we had limited cash on us. For those visiting between Mondays and Thursdays there’s 50p off pints between 14:00 and 16:00, a sensible way to get a bit more extra trade in during those hours.

This arrangement surprised and delighted me. Let’s start with the crisps, I’m not sure that I’ve ever had these before and they were suitably beefy (they’re made with real Devon fore rib beef apparently) as the packaging had indicated. That meant they complemented the Elgood’s Brewery Black Dog nicely, both strong flavours and this is a pub that tries to always have a mild on which is a very sensible policy decision. The pub is also known for its cider selection and has won numerous CAMRA awards for that.

The phrase “proper pub” is I accept a hackneyed term, but it feels appropriate here since the pub has character, it has a decent beer range and also excellent crisps. And what more could anyone want? Definitely worth the 10 to 15 minute walk from the town centre.