There are not many places in Turin where you can drink a hand-pulled real ale on a Wednesday night. Paddock Bistrot & Public House is one of them. It is, as far as we know, the only one that matters.

Paddock Bistrot & Public House

Corso Casale 18b. Two minutes from Piazza Vittorio, which means it's practically our local. On warm evenings there is a street terrace outside. On cold ones you stay inside and lose track of time anyway. Either way you are not leaving soon.

The beer is the point. Denis, owner, chooses everything himself. The real ales, served at cellar temperature: proper English-style, the way they are supposed to be. Everything else comes on tap, and the selection rotates. There is always the Paddock Ale, their own English session ale, biscuity and soft with a clean bitter finish. Bishop's Finger is currently on. Ask Denis what else is pouring.

And then, occasionally, something extraordinary happens: they ship a barrel over from the UK. Last Wednesday it was a Cornish golden ale from St Austell — golden brown, aromatic, the kind of pint that makes you stop talking for a moment. These barrels are announced on their socials. Follow them. You will want to know when the next one lands.

When the evening stretches, and it will, there is also a serious whisky list waiting. We have never left early.

The food is pub food done properly. Burgers, chips, pasta. And also some fritto misto for the locals. The staff know what they are serving and will guide you through it. This is not a place where you point at a menu and hope.

Paddock is not a theme pub. It's the real thing, which is rarer than it sounds, and rarer still when the people who built it learned to love British pub culture from the outside.

We go as often as we can. It is never often enough.

Open from 7pm. Closed Tuesdays. Follow them on Instagram — the barrel announcements are not to be missed.