Latest reviews from Aldwych
| 62 /100 George (Greene King) (Bar) 213 STRAND “(Visited Nov 2023) Friendly old school pub just across the street from the Royal Courts of Justice and around the corner from the Essex Brewery. Long bar, cozy seating area at the front, dining area at the back. Around ten real ales, interesting enough, with some from local brewers (Sambrooks, Southwark), well kept. Swift and friendly service. Quite crowded on a Wednesday eveving, but managed to find a seat. Good pub food. Not the most interesting beer selection, but worth a visit.“ |
| 70 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “(Visited May 2023) Brewpub in the basement just off Strand, across the street from the Royal Courts of Justice. Interior is quite modern, but a bit rough, with concrete and wood. Six handpumps, three or four of the beers from their own brewery, and 16 keg taps, with a mixture of craft beers and decent macros. Good pub food. Swift and friendly service. Fairly crowded on my visit (Wednesday evening, Champions League semifinal on the TV). Centrally located, some interesting beers. Well worth a visit.“ |
| 72 /100 Knights Templar (JDW) (Bar) 95 CHANCERY LANE “Visited quite a few times now, last time Nov 2022 - really nice JDW this, one of the best aesthetically at least, lovely old building and décor to match. Service pretty good even on a week day with lots of suits around. Cask has always been in good order when visiting, overall one of the better spoons.“ |
| 66 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Visited August 2009.“ |
| 78 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Visited with Heidi and her husband 13.12.21. An absolute gem of a pub. No music, local friendly atmosphere. The walls are plastered with old advertising posters and the ceiling os covered in different coasters. 7 beer engines, on which there were three on at my visit. One of the cask ales was the Harvey’s Best Sussex Bitter in superb nick. They also have several keg beers. They also serve toasted sandwiches with chips. Ah, yes, a proper pub, not a gastropub.“ |
| 72 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Large number of beers, split between their own and guests. Fairly quiet on a Monday afternoon.“ |
| 64 /100 Wellington (Nicholson’s) (Bar) 351 STRAND “Traditional corner pub towards the top end of The Strand, and in the usual ilk of Nicholson's Victorian-esque designs. Long and thin, the bar mirrors this and has a couple of rows of cask and some crafted keg lines, all of which are from the current selection from this chain - good but not that exciting.“ |
| 64 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Subterranean brew pub just off the madness of Aldwych on the western end of Fleet Street. Very busy on a Friday evening but we did manage to grab a previously booked table where the bookers hadn't turned up. Bolshie staff still managed to have a go at us a few times though. Good selection of their own beers although their beers are a touch dull. It's worth a visit if in the Covent Garden area.“ |
| 72 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Visited January '19 on a Wednesday evening. Ground floor bar fairly busy & conversation from a neighbouring table was a little too loud at times. Not all handpumps in use on this occasion. Breweries represented were Crouch Vale, Castle Rock, Redemption, Caledonian & New River. Beers I drank were well kept.“ |
| 72 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Set in a basement in central London, this place had an odd smell that may have been fermenting beer grains but also kinda smelled like dried dog food..... it dampened the mood. Beer selection was pretty good, lots of things to try, and decent service. Much more rustic than other traditional pubs in the area, a unique experience for the 'hood. A pretty good stop if you're looking for a change of pace from your usual London pub.“ |
| 78 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Brewpub close to Australian High Commission in London. Brew vessels are in display as you walk down the stairs into main room with central bar and run-down industrial feel. Good selection of beers and even a house cider. Friendly service, worth the visit.“ |
| 56 /100 George IV Inn (Bar) 28 PORTUGAL STREET “Corner pub just past the LSE buildings off Holborn, and just around the corner from the Ye Ole White Horse. It's a better option than the aforementioned to with a bigger cask and keg selection, and much bigger open plan room very much in the traditional sense, with large glass windows all around its perimeter. Despite more options the selections are limited in scope and appeal, but I did find something new here in both tap formats.“ |
| 54 /100 Ye Old White Horse (Bar) 2 ST. CLEMENT’S LANE “Small side street pub just past the LSE buildings off Holborn. I couldn't get in here initially due to its small size, which I didn't realise until I returned, but as they were showing the Champions League football it was impossible to get in when I arrived, so went around the corner to the George IV first. After the football it had emptied and one of the three cask ales on offer for me was new, although not that exciting. The bar is on the left after you enter, with the very small seating area on an elevated platform at the back.“ |
| 58 /100 George IV Inn (Bar) 28 PORTUGAL STREET “Visited on a Wednesday evening. Very busy with mainly young student crowd. Lively atmosphere. Quite a large place with good amount of room, with on street drinking (in plastic glasses) also a popular option. Beer range mostly mainstream, Black Sheep Best Bitter was best option available. Service was very good.“ |
| 56 /100 Ye Old White Horse (Bar) 2 ST. CLEMENT’S LANE “Visited on a Wednesday early evening. Compact busy pub, with seating at quite a premium. Beer selection limited to a couple of cask ales (Lees and Butcombe) and little else of interest. Good atmosphere. Irish, and rugby, themes. Not a bad pub to pop into, though not really for the beer.“ |
| 78 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Cool vibe. Mix of worn down and second thoughts. Enjoyed two Scotch Eggs, they were delicious. The two beers I had were great. Service was attentive and helpful. I'd visit again.“ |
| 72 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Good spot this, nice underground bar, atypical decor for London/the location. Big range of beers, a few casks mostly from Essex St, which were ok, and a wide range of mostly crowd pleasing keggy crafty stuff. Prices ranging from ok to steep. Didn’t eat. I’d go back here.
Re-rate, having gone back. The house beers really aren't great.“ |
| 82 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Located in the cellar was a bit of a hassle to get the suitcase down. However nice interior, quite basic, lots of wood. Guy behind the bar was helpful, offered us several different beers, definitely seem to know his beers. We tried some Cloudwater, they had some quality micros on other taps. Also some new releases in bottles and cans which we tried at Leeds and/or Beavertown fests. I'd recommend checking out this pub.“ |
| 70 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Visited on the Monday afternoon, the place was pretty much empty. Traditional pub, lots of pump clips on the walls. Selection is quite limited to 8 casks, most of which are usual suspects. I'v opted for Dark Star Revelation. Decent place for a place tick/crawl.“ |
| 62 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Nice place, not fare from underground. Service was great, counted 23 taps and did not see any bottles, but good and varied on tap and lot of own brewed too. Interiour was rouff style,but nice. Window into brewery for those that wanted to have a look. Nice, worth a visit. Visited 02.12.2017.“ |
| 76 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Not at all what I expected for a venue in this area, it's actually really good and very unpretentious. Downstairs seating is quite rudimentary yet functional, service was great, atmosphere busy with folk enjoying a decent beer selection. What was available on cask was quite average but the keg selection was very good. Bottle selection also good. Prices not ridiculous for central London. Palates of 3 x 3rds available for between £4 and £5.50 depending on what's ordered. A place I want to go back to.“ |
| 82 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “UNEXPECTED. Good selection of taps - eg Beavertown, Anspach & Monday, Kernel, Weird Beard . Food was tasty. Atmosphere relaxed. Tables bookable. Fine option in this part of town. DEYA tap takeover on most recent visit.“ |
| 62 /100 George (Greene King) (Bar) 213 STRAND “Visited on 6th May 2017. Large Greene King house which has a focus on food mostly. It’s got a nice exterior and a modernised interior that does have a little charm, but not much. Plenty of seating and we managed to squeeze into a table quickly. A reasonable beer range, nothing earth shattering but not all Greene King offerings, service and prices OK. Food was OK. Wouldn’t dash back but it’s OK“ |
| 66 /100 Seven Stars (Fuller’s) (Bar) 53 CAREY STREET “You can’t help but love the Seven Stars. Though the ghost of poor Tom Paine has floated up to kitty heaven, this pub still has an amazing spirit. It olde-worlde without being too terribly twee. It just... is, and it has a great convivial feel. The beer isn’t all that exciting, but it’s solid: five sessionable casks on my visit from Adnams (x2), Sambrooks, Sharp’s and Harvey’s. I opted for the Sambrooks Session, which was in perfect condition. The menu looked really good, small but again solid. Typical London prices. Strangely I ran into an old friend from Bedford, so you never know who you’ll see. I’d recommend stopping in.“ |
| 74 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Visited many times through the years. Local feeling and well kept beers.“ |
| 66 /100 Knights Templar (JDW) (Bar) 95 CHANCERY LANE “Large ´Spoons with some atmosphere.“ |
| 64 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Twin floored traditional pub with a good emphasis on cask ale. There’s a long row of wickets along the bar on its inner wall, although I only found one new beer from a full selection on my visit and ironically it was one produced in the Yorkshire town I live in! Fairly quiet on a late Tuesday afternoon in June.“ |
| 62 /100 Edgar Wallace (Bar) 40 ESSEX STREET “Average English pub with great decoration“ |
| 92 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Great brewpub with marvellous barley malt smell in the air“ |
| 66 /100 Knights Templar (JDW) (Bar) 95 CHANCERY LANE “Visited many times over the years. One of the better Spoons in central London with a quite upmarket clientele. An impressive ex-bank building inside and out, although the latter is somewhat tempered by the identikit Spoons furnishings. Can get busy. A dozen or so handpumps with a better chance of something interesting than some other Wetherspoons venues and they usually put on a decent show for the festivals. Worth a look.“ |
| 56 /100 George IV Inn (Bar) 28 PORTUGAL STREET “Visited a few times over the years. Fairly unremarkable Victorian pub with some architectural flourishes. Chiefly notable for being owned and actually operated by the LSE, so it’s student bar of sorts and that can show at times. There are three casks but they were not particularly interesting last time I stuck my head in - Deuchars, Landlord & London Pride - and I don’t think they change much. So not really worth a visit unless you’re passing and can’t make the 100 yards or so to somewhere better without grabbing a pint.“ |
| 62 /100 Ye Old White Horse (Bar) 2 ST. CLEMENT’S LANE “Visited many times over the years. An unpretentious "proper" pub with a homely feel in an area that’s short of that type of pub. I’s quite small so can get uncomfirtably busy at times. Owned by the LSE although leased by an individual (unlike its near neighbour the George IV, which is operated by the LSE). Four cask ales with Landlord as a regular and the chance of something more interesting (if traditional) among the three changing guest beers. Worth a peek.“ |
| 64 /100 George (Greene King) (Bar) 213 STRAND “Visited many times over the years. Slap bang opposite the front entrance to the Royal Courts of Justice but not as popular with legal types as the Seven Stars round the back of the Courts. The exterior is more impressive than the interior - even if it is mainly a Victorian confection rather than the real thing. Beer range is much improved in recent years (although not particularly big on "modern" or "craft" offerings) so it’s probably time I paid another visit.“ |
| 62 /100 Wellington (Nicholson’s) (Bar) 351 STRAND “Visited a few times over the years, not really with a conscious decision to do so - just happened to be passing and fancied a pint. Quite ornate with a tidy, if somewhat "corporate" interior. Currently a Nicholsons pub so the beer range will be decent if not spectacular. Will pop in and flesh out my review if I find myself passing, but I wouldn’t go out of my way.“ |
| 90 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “What luck to stumble upon this wanderful watering hole, after having been beating the pavements all Saturday afternoon! Superb service from a well informed and enthusiastic bartender, and all the beers on my sampler tray were fresh and tasty. Hereby firmly noted in my to-do list for future visits to London.“ |
| 72 /100 Seven Stars (Fuller’s) (Bar) 53 CAREY STREET “This tiny and wonderfully atmospheric pub is an outpost of Soho, said to have been built in 1602. Inside, political humour dating back to the battles between Whigs and Tories sists alongside old film posters. Located almost opposite the rear entrance to the Royal Courts of Justice. Very limited selection of ales, but definitely worth a visit even if you’re only remotely interested in traditional British pub culture, which makes it a must for me.“ |
| 60 /100 Ye Old White Horse (Bar) 2 ST. CLEMENT’S LANE “Small, cozy pub with a college bar vibe right on the LSEU ccampus. There seemed to be more seating available downstairs, but it was pretty tight inside. A plus for having Landlord on cask.“ |
| 90 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Visited 4th October - another great new London pub. Went through the whole range of their excellent Essex St Brewery beers and were privileged to talk to the brewer, Vanesa. We also sampled her "experimental beer", made from wild hops gathered an East London park, and reminiscent of one the best Lithuanian farmhouse beers. They also did a good selection of kegs and food was top class“ |
| 58 /100 Seven Stars (Fuller’s) (Bar) 53 CAREY STREET “Here’s an interesting place. Four or five cask ales plus a Euro lager. Lots of character in this pub. It seemed to get crowded with the after-work crowd. Well worth a pint on a crawl.“ |
| 60 /100 Seven Stars (Fuller’s) (Bar) 53 CAREY STREET “There may be grander pubs in London, but this small pub has real character. As mentioned, not a massive selection of beers but should be includedon any crawl. It got crowded - however can forgive this due to its size. Am planning to go back - one of my mates turns in to a more left wing Billy Bragg when he’s had a few so became convinced the barristers were plotting against us - would like to see it in a more relaxed mood!“ |
| 64 /100 Knights Templar (JDW) (Bar) 95 CHANCERY LANE “The Crosse Keys is the Spoons which has the rep. Whilst is has the better range of beers this place for me has got beat it in terms of the building. Most impressive Spoons I’ve been to in London. Can be super busy though.“ |
| 80 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Not to be confused with Temple Bar one block over. This is a nice brewpub with several home beers on keg and cask, plus many guest beers of high caliber (mostly British). Good balance of modern comfort with charming basement atmosphere. Cheerful, friendly staff will gladly talk beer and serve up samples and flights.
They recently revamped their food menu and seem to have succeeded. The dishes, while not what one would call light, come with good helpings of green vegetables. I know this is a low bar, but this was the best meal I had on my recent turn through London.
The best place in town for own-brewed beer plus a good meal.“ |
| 76 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “ We visited The Temple Brew House on Saturday 21st May 2016. We been on a walk around Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in the morning and got the Jubilee Line from Canada Water back this way, nipping into the Waterloo Tap first before crossing the river and heading this way. The Temple Brew House is on Essex Street, however on the street before called Milford Lane we saw a bar called Temple Bar thinking this was where we were looking for we went there believing it might link through to the next Street (Essex Street) it doesn’t and it absolutely wasn’t the place we were looking for, so just a precautionary warning. The door at street level leads downstairs straight away and to a good sized one room cellar bar on the LH side as you go down the stairs you’ll see what appears to be the brewing kit. Plenty of tables and seating around the outside walls and quite a few people having food on our visit. Despite being a Brewpub strangely I elected not to have one of their own beers and instead, played their spin the wheel to randomly select a beer, however having got Vale IPA on my first spin I cheekily asker and was allowed to spin it again, this time I got Sierra Nevada Porter, I’d not had that beer for years so happily accepted that, Loz just chose her beer and went for a Gamma Ray. I thought the staff were very friendly and appeared good fun. I never really explored the place as we were limited on time as we had tickets for the Sky Garden, but as mentioned it’s a one room cellar bar, nuff said really, it’s tidy, plenty of wood it’s fine, liked it.“ |
| 82 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Visited for a major family occasion, the staff looked after us very well and much appreciated. The selection of beers available was very good, and the food was hot and reasonably priced.“ |
| 76 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “Visited august 2015. Easy to find, cosy downstairs pub, where they have a good range of beers on tap, both their own and guest as well. Lots of seatings, but seems to get very noisy, when getting busy. Nice deco, friendly atmosphere and helpfull staff. Beers were served with a smile and in good condition. They do food and bar snacks, didn´t have anything this time, but will for sure be back another time :-)“ |
| 68 /100 Seven Stars (Fuller’s) (Bar) 53 CAREY STREET “A small and narrow old pub dating from 1602 - I’d guess judging from the website address. Located almost opposite the rear entrance to the Royal Courts of Justice, which is effectively the tradsmens entrance for the briefs and judges with their chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. In days gone by Lord Denning was often to be seen doddering across the (thankfully not very busy) road at a snail’s pace. A rather eccentric place, as are some of the customers. Of course there are often quite a few legal types in evidence too. Avoid busy times unless you want to stand outside on the pavement. The long-serving landlady is the rather bizarrely named Roxy Beaujolais. The famous / infamous pub cat - equally bizarrely named Tom Paine - is sadly no longer with us. Until relatively recent times the pub had no toilets, supposedly because it was exempted from normal sanitary requirements by virtue of being situated within the precinct of Lincoln’s Inn. Gentlemen were obliged to use a pissoir, still visible (but locked up) down an alleyway on the left hand side of the street heading towards the Knights Templar spooneria. Ladies could ask nicely to use the private toilet in the living quarters upstairs. Not really a beer destination in itself although it does have three or four (sometimes five) casks usually including something from the higher quality end of the spectrum - e.g. Dark Star, Crouch Vale. Although I’ve been in here scores of times over the years I’ve never eaten - to be honest I’ve rarely had the option of a table at which I could have sit down to eat had I wanted to. You should definitely visit this place, if only once, and unfortunately no longer with the spectacle of Tom Paine terrorising any customer straying too close.“ |
| 66 /100 George (Greene King) (Bar) 213 STRAND “A nice old-school boozer that sometimes has a few interesting items on tap. You won’t likely find much in the way of ’modern’ craft beer in here, but you can expect some good, traditionally styled stuff on cask. The staff is adequately efficient, the pricing average. Not a must visit by any means, but it’s worth popping your head in if you find yourself nearby.“ |
| 76 /100 46 ESSEX STREET “A nice earthy basement bar, no pretentious nonsense going on here! The taps are dominated by the brewpub offerings but there was also Beavertown and Portobello and others available. Bottle selection is reasonable and Kernel were well represented. Service was fast and friendly. The house brews are not too bad, no real off flavours I could detect but they could be cleaner and crisper. I thoroughly enjoyed the few hours I spent here, chatting to the bar staff and the punters. Nice place.“ |
