London pubs - favourite (quirky, historic?) ones

[SquirmOfEels]

I need to get out more - and I mean it literally (well, possibly metaphorially as well, but that's another story) and was thinking about visiting interesting pubs, either for lunch (en famille, teenage DC) or early evening (adult) drinks.

Happy to go anywhere in London (that's kind of the point - getting out a rut)

I saw this BBC article - Tales from the bar, a tour of London's great pubs' which gave me the idea and some ones to start with.

What others could I put on the list?

The cross keys in Covent Garden, tiny pub but very busy outside in the summer, the pub is so small but if full of so much stuff!

I believe Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is the oldest. It's in the City down a little alleyway - should be easy to Google. Very atmospheric, good ales.

Gordon's wine Bar at the bottom of Villiers Street (near Embankment tube Station). Fantastic spot. On the other end of the spectrum there is the Crobar up in Soho if you fancy a bit of metal. Xx

We used to go to a few of the pubs in that book when I lived in London
Favourites were;
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese- it's like a rabbit warren
The Lamb on lambs conduit street, near great ormond street. Small, cosy, beautiful Victorian bar.
The ship behind Holborn station- always felt like a secret bar.
The lamb and flag- another cosy old pub.

There used to be loads of nice old pubs scattered through the city, Holborn, soho and Covent Garden. Hope they're still there!

Ooh yes, had one of my first dates with DH in Gordon's!

The Grenadier in Knightsbridge
The Castle near High St Ken
The Dove in Hammersmith

The Mitre just off Hatton Garden is exactly how I imagine the Leaky Couldron to be (ignoring the film one). Princess Louise is fun - on High Holborn, there are booths that go directly onto the bar (so the short end of the booth is the bar) and nice snuggly sofas and fires upstairs.

There is also a lovely little pub in the residential streets around Waterloo - The King's Arms, I think it is called. Just tucked onto the end of a terrace of houses, like a 'normal' pub would have been.

Doggets and the Founders Arms are either side of Blackfriars Bridge and have outdoor areas overlooking the water (not so great for now, but if you bundle up they are cosy) - they get very busy in the summer.

I've been to The Lamb And Flag yonks ago. When I've walked past it recently, it seems to have hordes and they're all over the pavement.

Is that simply all the smokers, or is it jam packed most of the time?

Prince Alfred in Formosa St nr Warwick Avenue tube - it's all separated into little bits - the Warrington Arm up the road used to be a bordello so i'm told (hence there are vaguely erotic victorian tiles around the place - Gordon Ramsay took it over in 2008 ish - not sure if it's still the same?
Both were my locals back in my London days
*usual HQ disclaimers apply

Prospect of Whitby is cute....right on the Thames over looks an Antony Gormley statue

They have a foodie bit upstairs, I think, and bar food ...we just fell in for a G&T as we boiled to death when we were down in the summer.

It's a couple of minutes walk from the Canary Wharf river bus stop.

oh and this might not really be a pub....The English Restaurant at Spitallfields, just opposite the market

they def had a lovely looking bar, nice tables, little banquettes/booths, we had a lovely breakfast in there and spied on people pretending to meet by coincidence :o

I'm waiting for a errrr...ummmm... just waiting. For a eeerr...ummm friend said the guy when the waiter asked if he wanted coffee.

plus the woman who sidled past our table to one of the booths, clutching her phone,peering at a text who announced "ooooh HERE you are" to the mystery guy in a booth.

Oh yes to Prospect of Whitby, the Dove, Lamb and Flag, Gordon's Wine Bar

Also The George in Borough is last proper coaching inn in London and Dickens used to go there.

The Royal Oak in SE1 is a proper old pub with no music and a snug. All the Orchestra musicians go there after rehearsing round the corner at Henry Wood Hall.

The Market Porter in borough market used to be the only pub with a license all. Hint. At 6 am you can go and have a pint while the market porters have their 'lunch'

Th Coach and Horses in Soho

The Trafalgar in Greenwich is fantastic - all Georgian and on the river

There's still a pub that opens at 6am?

I thought that died out after the war (though to be fair, my entire knowledge was based on 'Murder Must Advertise')

Does anybody know any good pubs near Euston/Kings Cross, by any chance? Somewhere that a super-cool 21 year old would like but not too hip for her aged mother? :)

And yes to The Trafalgar - best window ever!

If you want super cool near kings cross try German Gymnasium. Maybe more of a bar/restaurant than a pub but smart and achingly cool.

Thanks. Was looking at that earlier, coincidentally. I am not at all cool though - more indie than hip.

Or at the other end of the scale, if you both like cider Remus, try the tiny Euston Tap in a little gate house directly in front of Euston station. Not glamorous like Gymnasium though!!

Is there anywhere in between those two?

Actually it doesn't even need to be Euston/KC. Could be Soho or Holborn or anywhere really, I guess.

Love the Trafalgar (and the function room upstairs has an even better view).

If you're heading to Greenwich, I also like the Union which is just behind Greenwich South St - off the beaten track so likely to have fewer tourists in there (but quite often rammed with locals instead!).

We always go to the Union when in Greenwich! Dp loves it. Not going to Greenwich this trip though.

One of my favourites was always Bradley's...it has the most eclectic juke box and a really cosy basement. It's just off Oxford St. The Tottenham Court Road end.

https://www.bradleysspanishbar.com/

Thanks. :)

Princess Louise in Holborn

http://princesslouisepub.co.uk

it's got nothing to do with the fact that my name is Louise or anything, no no no