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Iconic London pubs- your recommendations please

135

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  • Big William
    Big William Posts: 3,841
    Argyll Arms - Argyll Street near Oxford Circus, amazing Victorian interior

    Ship and Shovell  - Craven Passage (Ooh er) near Charing Cross, split between two buildings either side of said passage.

    I was in the Freemasons arms in Long Acre at the weekend, another decent pub, where they drew up the first laws of football in 1863. That set of laws didn’t include VAR, so they deserve your support.

    As I like a drop of Fullers, I’d throw in the Admiralty on Trafalgar Square, also the much older Lamb and Flag in Rose Street Covent Garden (difficult to find, but worth the effort).

     
    Argyll Arms £25 for 2 white wines (can’t recall if medium or large).
    Actually it was the night I saw you across the road in The Palladium.
    Who was he staring as.
    I was just Pretending, but there were four better ones on the stage......
  • CAFCTrev
    CAFCTrev Posts: 5,978
    The Dolphins Minge, Bermondsey. 
  • Huskaris
    Huskaris Posts: 9,849
    Big fan of The Dovetail in Jerusalem Passage in Farringdon. 

    Serious beers in there!
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 26,856
    The Tipperary in Fleet Street, the oldest Irish pub outside Ireland.

    Nah, it's a long way .....
  • Covered End
    Covered End Posts: 52,008
    edited November 2024
    Argyll Arms - Argyll Street near Oxford Circus, amazing Victorian interior

    Ship and Shovell  - Craven Passage (Ooh er) near Charing Cross, split between two buildings either side of said passage.

    I was in the Freemasons arms in Long Acre at the weekend, another decent pub, where they drew up the first laws of football in 1863. That set of laws didn’t include VAR, so they deserve your support.

    As I like a drop of Fullers, I’d throw in the Admiralty on Trafalgar Square, also the much older Lamb and Flag in Rose Street Covent Garden (difficult to find, but worth the effort).

     
    Argyll Arms £25 for 2 white wines (can’t recall if medium or large).
    Actually it was the night I saw you across the road in The Palladium.
    Who was he staring as.
    Chrissie Hynde.
  • iaitch said:
    Not sure it's been mentioned but does anyone know what that pub in central area which has a bar in a circle with several private drinking areas separated by marble glass and small wooden doors that you have to duck through. 
    The Princess Louise, mentioned above, when it was refurbed it had a circular bar split by glass partitions not sure about the wooden doors though, not been there in quite a few years.

    Here's a photo not sure how old it is and whether the pub is still like it.

    Partitioned Room  by Michael Slaughter Published on

    Yeah must be that. They had small doors linking the bars together. Why did they change it? 
  • Baldybonce
    Baldybonce Posts: 9,648
    CAFCTrev said:
    The Dolphins Minge, Bermondsey. 
    Well known for fish fingers.
  • Redmidland
    Redmidland Posts: 44,700
    Has to be 'Dirty Dicks' opposite Liverpool St station. Loads of history, (look it up) and still the same. Also serves Winter Warmer from November to end of March.
  • Redskin
    Redskin Posts: 3,113
    edited November 2024
    The Harp opposite Charing Cross nick was my favourite.
    Tiny but serves some cracking beer and when you sit upstairs it’s like being at your Granny’s (well it used to be…..it’s over 10yrs since I was there 😞).

    You'll be pleased to know it's the same as it ever was, 'littlesis. The Harp is my first port of call when I'm at Charing Cross, and one of the two of my favourite pubs up West.
    Fullers bought the pub from the lovely old Irish landlady who had run it for decades, and they had the good sense to change nothing, save the the Gents which was in dire need of a refit.
    Superbly kept beer, and barstaff who know how to pour two rounds at once; it can be three deep at the bar and you'll never wait more than five minutes to be served.

    I've been going to The French House for over 40 years and it rarely disappoints, although I now find lunchtime a better experience than evenings when it's invariably crushingly busy.
    They also do  fabulous calves' brains  upstairs in the small restaurant.
  • Lamb & Flag, Soho
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  • Plenty of good pubs already recommended. You mentioned literary connections, so I'll add a couple:

    The Lamb in Lambs Conduit Street. Not only a unique interior but was frequented by Dickens and the Dickens Museum is close by.

    George Orwell was a regular in the Dog and Duck in Soho and there are pictures and memorabilia inside.

    The Wheatsheaf was one of a number of pubs in Fitzrovia frequented by Dylan Thomas.

    All goood pubs with decent beer.

    The Cheshire Cheese and the George have already been mentioned.  


  • Athletico Charlton
    Athletico Charlton Posts: 14,275
    edited November 2024
    I would highly recommend him looking up Paul Talling of "Derelict London" and seeing if he is doing one of his walks whilst your mate is over.  Music Venues and Pubs are a big speciality of his, amongst other things.
    Not London but I sadly had to admit to Paul that even though I have spent much of my life in Beckenham I was not aware of the Mistrale Club and the quality of performers that had played there.
  • Chunes
    Chunes Posts: 17,349
    I think Dickens used to drink in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese so that certainly fits the brief.
  • The King and Queen in Fitzrovia

    Is where Dylan played his first gig outside of the US (in December 62).  There were more people there than the 7 6 game.
  • For railway history

    The Metropolitan spoons by Baker Street has a lovely interior, and a strong railway connection as a former restaurant for the Metropolitan Railway.

    The Euston Tap, located in one of the original gatehouses outside Euston station.
    I was in the Metropolitan bar today. The interior is indeed quite a sight. And stacks of railway memorabilia all over the place.
  • se9addick said:
    Carter said:
    The blackfriar is one people get fizzy in the gusset about but it falls into the same category a lot of London pubs do (and none of this is a negative) cramped, small toilets down flights of stairs, most people move outdoors to get some space and air. 
    The blind beggar if thats your thing. 
    The Wheatsheaf in Borough Market and the Mudlark just underneath there are two I like. 
    I work next door to the Cheshire Cheese so the Blackfriar is close. Not sure why people like it so much, it’s fine, but that’s about all. 

    It does have a stunning interior. 


  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,026
    The Sherlock Holmes is amusing. Confusingly, it's near Embankment, not Baker Street.
  • MrOneLung
    MrOneLung Posts: 26,856
    The Lamb, Leadenhall Market
  • The Anchor Bankside.  Our hockey mates used to meet there for birthdays.  A beer I remember was Youngers No 1.  Lethal.

    The Prospect of Whitby rings a bell Bob.  I seem to remember that was the pub where the landlady existed solely on Guinness, maybe a ploy for punters to buy her as many drinks as she could handle.  This is a memory from the late fifties early sixties.  Long before your time.
  • AFKABartram
    AFKABartram Posts: 57,825
    Tell you what Prague, after the nonsense of you being provided with 128 different public transport routes from Eltham to Charlton only for you to get a bleeding parking permit, your man better visit these bloody pubs. 

    Having nightmares already of him just texting you back post-trip ‘Wetherspoons’ 
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  • Stewart
    Stewart Posts: 2,451
    Not read the thread but the pub that spring to mind for me is the Cheshire cheese in Fleet Street. 
  • red10
    red10 Posts: 834
    edited November 2024
    Dirty Dicks opposite Liverpool St station. Lots of old fashioned charm imho.
    Old Dr Butlers Head, just off Colman street, Moorgate. Had a decent upstairs dining room a while back.
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,037
    red10 said:
    Dirty Dicks opposite Liverpool St station. Lots of old fashioned charm imho.
    Old Dr Butlers Head, just off Colman street, Moorgate. Had a decent upstairs dining room a while back.
    I always thought that place was a total dive and hadn’t been in for ages. Went in for a pint on the way back from Southend the other week and it was actually pretty decent with good beer. 
  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,026
    Tell you what Prague, after the nonsense of you being provided with 128 different public transport routes from Eltham to Charlton only for you to get a bleeding parking permit, your man better visit these bloody pubs. 

    Having nightmares already of him just texting you back post-trip ‘Wetherspoons’ 
    If it's Spoons he wants, I can recommend The Liberty Bounds and The Crosse Keys. The Sir John Oldcastle is OK, though it doesn't have the classic architecture. Can't remember much about Pendrels Oak other than it was crowded and I came out battered. The Sir John Hawkshaw, might be convenient if he's staying in SE London, though it does have an atmosphere borrowed directly from Cannon Street Station. I used to really like The Knights Templar but it's been taken over by another company and rebranded The Last Judgement. I can't pass judgement as I've not been in the new version. I was thinking of The Old Bank of England too, but apparently that never was a Spoons; it just looks like it should be.
  • As a tourist spot for historic looks - Dickens Inn at St Katherines Dock. 
  • ken_shabby
    ken_shabby Posts: 6,256
    edited November 2024
    Pride of Spitalfield. Real old school pub.
    The Harp. Charing Cross
    The Marquis. Charing Cross
    Ship and Shovel. Charing Cross

    All good beer.
  • Pride of Spitalfield. Real old school pub.
    The Harp. Charing Cross
    The Marquis. Charing Cross
    Ship and Shovel. Charing Cross

    All good beer.
    Pride of Spitalfields is a good one. Carpets and a piano. 
  • TelMc32
    TelMc32 Posts: 9,055
    MrOneLung said:
    The Lamb, Leadenhall Market
    Which John Wayne once smashed up!
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,848
    The Tipperary in Fleet Street, the oldest Irish pub outside Ireland.

    I thought that had closed down.
    Been open again for a while now - including a (relatively) large beer garden!
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,848
    I love a pub.

    I've worked near The Blackfriar for the last 8-10 years and find it one of the dullest, darkest, most uninspiring pubs I can remember going in.

    Sure, the interior is different, if you're into pictures of monks doing fuck knows what. It can be impossible to get served and the staff are generally incompetent. On the plus side, there's space to stand outside because they never rebuilt the building on the corner after it got flattened in the Blitz. The only positive.

    On the plus side - lots of great pubs named here. I would add in my vote for the Lamb (Lambs Conduit Street) the Dove (Hammersmith) The Harp (Charing X) and also chuck in the Lord Clyde (Borough) , which I can't see has been mentioned yet.