Hidden
in an alley off Hatton Garden (Ely Court runs between it and Ely Place), this
is one of those pubs which can be hard to find, and many is the City worker who
has worked ‘just around the corner’ for ‘years’ and hasn’t quite managed to
find this place. This is despite the fact that it’s been here for a very long time
– it dates back to 1546 and was originally established to provide refreshments
for the people who worked in the Bishop of Ely’s palace which stood on this
site (which explains the name).
If
you can find it, though, you shall have your reward in the form of a pint or
three in a lovely pub that time appears to have forgotten about (although you
can pay with plastic – even in 2012, you can’t do that in every pub). Small it
undoubtedly is, but it has two bars and a very snug snug called ‘Ye Closet’.
It’s a Fuller’s pub so it has London Pride on cask – always
a good sign. It had Deuchar’s
IPA as a guest beer when I visited, which is a rare but welcome sight in London. It also does very
reasonably-priced bar snacks, including toasties for (just) under £2.
Be
warned that if you want to drop in on a weekend, you’ll be out of luck as like
many City pubs the Mitre is only open on weekdays.
By
one of those fascinating quirks of history, the pub is technically part of the county of Cambridgeshire – a legacy of the Ely
connection. It’s said that jewel thieves on the run from the police after
trying their luck in nearby Hatton Garden used to come here because they thought the
City of London Police
didn’t have jurisdiction!
Ye
Olde Cheshire Cheese
Wine
Office Court,
145
Fleet Street EC4A
2BU (nearest Tube: Blackfriars)
Establishments
using the words ‘ye olde’ in
the title can indicate a tourist-trap, but like the afore-mentioned Mitre, the
Cheshire Cheese is entitled to use those words. Rebuilt after fire – the Great Fire (of
1666) to be precise – it’s located just off Fleet Street and consists of a
series of dark passageways which lead to a number of dimly-lit bars. The word
‘labyrinthine’ springs to mind. Even regulars are said to get lost occasionally.
In
terms of beer, the Cheese is a Sam
Smith’s pub which means that although it may not be the best beer in
London, it is by far and away the cheapest by some distance (for a Yorkshire
brewery, Sam Smith’s is very well-represented in Central London, other
noteworthy pubs of theirs being the Princess Louise and the Cittie of Yorke,
both of which are on High Holborn). This is because the brewery’s policy is to keep prices to a minimum by only increasing them in line with alcohol duty rises and inflation, and in addition to that they only sell beer from their own brewery (rest assured, they produce a wide range of beers). Another cost-cutting quirk is that you can’t get big-name-brand spitrits of soft drinks - it’s all unnamed brands.
When I say this pub is old-fashioned, I mean it – if you want to sit on a sofa while watching the football on a big screen and listening to loud pop music, you’ll be severely disappointed as the Cheese has no TV, no music and, for that matter, no sofas (it’s bar stools and mis-matched wooden chairs here). That the place oozes history can be seen even before you go in – by the door, there’s a list of all of the Kings and Queens of England for as long as the pub has been open. It’s said to have been Samuel Johnson’s local – although there’s no written evidence to say that the great lexicographer drank there, he lived very close to it and would have had to walk past it if he wanted to go to Fleet Street so I think it’s safe to assume that he popped in for a pint every now and again. Famous patrons for whom documentary evidence exists include Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson and Mark Twain.
When I say this pub is old-fashioned, I mean it – if you want to sit on a sofa while watching the football on a big screen and listening to loud pop music, you’ll be severely disappointed as the Cheese has no TV, no music and, for that matter, no sofas (it’s bar stools and mis-matched wooden chairs here). That the place oozes history can be seen even before you go in – by the door, there’s a list of all of the Kings and Queens of England for as long as the pub has been open. It’s said to have been Samuel Johnson’s local – although there’s no written evidence to say that the great lexicographer drank there, he lived very close to it and would have had to walk past it if he wanted to go to Fleet Street so I think it’s safe to assume that he popped in for a pint every now and again. Famous patrons for whom documentary evidence exists include Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson and Mark Twain.
174 Queen Victoria Street EC4V 4EG (nearest Tube: Blackfriars)
A
Victorian pub (built in 1875), the Black Friar is a narrow wedge-shaped
building jammed up against the railway line. It, and the nearby station, gets
its name from the Dominican priory that existed on this site in Medieval times.
What’s really extraordinary about this pub is its interior, a real work of art
which is unlike that of any other pub. The walls, clad in green, red and cream
marble, are covered with depictions of merry monks. Above the fireplace, a
large bas-relief bronze depicts them singing carols and playing instruments.
Another, called ‘Saturday Afternoon’, shows them gathering grapes and
harvesting apples. The work on the interior began in 1904. In the 1960s, the
pub was threatened with demolition but was saved by a campaign led by the poet John Betjeman (who is
also credited with having saved the façade of St Pancras Station from
demolition).
This pub is owned by the Nicholson’s chain, which is well-known in these parts for offering a wide choice of guest ales. Like its sister pubs (two of which are within very short walking distance from my office!), the Black Friar has an ever-changing selection of cask ales from all parts of the country. When I last visited, it had Sharp’s Doom Bar and Mordue Northumbrian Blonde to name but two.
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