Thirsty Thursdays: Top 5 Bars in St. Helier, Jersey

Drinking in the Channel Islands is pure bliss. I have fond memories of being the only tourist in the pubs in Sark and Herm back in 2009 and I remember pub-crawling through St. Peter Port in Guernsey one night, including a pub that the Guinness World Records class as “the closest pub to an operational church in the world without touching it”. This time, I toured the pubs of St. Helier. St. Helier is the capital city and largest settlement in Jersey. I toured the sights of Jersey, stayed at the Ommaroo Hotel after getting the ferry from Poole in England. Here were my personal favourite bars in Jersey.

1.The Peirson
My mate Austin and I decided we had to visit St. Helier’s oldest pub and after a few chats with locals and some queries as to which one is officially the oldest, we decided on the Peirson. It seems to be the oldest pub in the city that is still in operation these days.

The interior is decidedly Victorian style. Low rooves, poky corners and British decor make this a great pub to chat with locals and get a flavour for Jersey pub life.

2.The Office
We loved the idea of a pub named “The Office” as my mate Austin and I enjoy watching the BBC sitcom of the same name. We watched the football in here – a decent pub with atmosphere and some Burnley FC fans.

3.St. James
St. James is where we tasted the true St. Helier night life. While the downstairs is an old style pub, upstairs houses a dancefloor and the locals party all night here. There is a dancefloor platform with a see-through bottom and girls joke that guys below can see up their skirts. Realistically, it’s too blurred for that but this did seem to be one of the pick up joints in the city.

4.The Troubadour
The Troubadour makes the list as it marked the first ever time I’d had a pint with Austin outside mainland Great Britain. To date we had drank in England and Wales (Abergavenny and Hereford trip). It was also my first beer in the Channel Islands for 6 years which I Instagrammed.

5.Soleil Levant
A cool wee poky karaoke bar is Soleil Levant. I think that translates into English as “sun rise” and you can party the night away here listening to karaoke tunes and dancing. I sang my special Common People by Pulp, not quite the performance from my glory night in Melbourne in 2010 but still a good wee bar.

We actually visited about 10 bars over the course of the weekend we were there and I have been to a few others on my previous ventures to Jersey. However, this was the top 5 I have picked out for you, hope the beer goes down well! Try the local stuff – Mary Ann and Liberation Ale on draught.

Here are a few videos I took in 2015 in the pubs of Jersey: