Pub review: Plume of Feathers, Park Vista, Greenwich

NEXT time someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, tell them you want a pint of TEA instead. Yes, it may sound crazy but this is one of the drinks served up to thirsty pubgoers at the Plume of Feathers in Greenwich.

Don’t be too fooled by the drinks I sampled, because the pint of TEA (£3.10) is not made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.

It stands for traditional English ale — because that’s what it is — so it would be very unwise to put milk in it.

Milk would have ruined the malty bittersweet taste of the pint and also, almost as importantly, made the other patrons in the pub think I was insane.

Judging by the chatter at the bar one of them had just been promoted, which was pleasing to hear, especially in these economic times.

I don’t know who he was or what he does but I’m sure he will do his new job even better than his last one.

This is the problem with being PubSpy — if I had asked too many questions someone might have got suspicious.

Instead of chatting to him — also known as trying to get a free drink — I decided to fail trying to do the crossword while looking around at the piece of history I was in.

The boozer dates back to 1691 when King William III and Queen Mary II ruled the country.

Not being an expert on the past I cannot tell you how much of the original structure survives from then but it did all have an olde-worlde feel to it.

The glass windows and fireplace look very old and I would care to wager they had not been altered in many a year, aside from cleaning of course.

Its history is one reason to visit, or you could go for the good beer and friendly staff.