Great London Pubs and Taverns

Great Bars, Public Houses and Other Drinking Establishments to Visit

Apr 8, 2009 James Lincoln Ray

London is home to some of the most historic, most storied, and in some cases, the most raucous taverns in all of Europe.

London is an amazing, timeless city. Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower, Hyde Park, the Cabinet War Rooms. All great. Really, truly fantastic stuff. Then there is Trafalgar Square, SoHo and the Theater District, Parliament, Big Ben and Tower Bridge. There are also beautiful neighborhoods like Chelsea, Mayfair, and Bloomsbury that a tourist can explore for days on end, just to enjoy the architecture and the hundreds of garden squares found throughout the neighborhoods.

But any vistor to London should really take the time to visit some of its wonderful public houses, better known as pubs, including these four:

The St. James Tavern

45 Great Windmill Street, London Phone Number: 020 7437 5009

While most pubs in London close at 11:00 p.m., the St. James Tavern remains open until 1:00 in the morning. If you have ever been in London with a few too many pints in you at 11:00, that little bit of information could prove to be a life-saver.

This gem of a real English pub is located just off Picadilly Circus. The bar has a great selection of ales and ciders for the thirsty traveler in search of refreshment and enough liquid courage to recover from a morning of pounding the London pavement. The St. James also serves food all day long. Have the shepherd's pie and a John Courage. They are both outstanding.

Warning: if you go into this place, you may not leave until closing time.

The Lamb and Flag

33 Rose Street, Covent Garden Tel: Phone (020) 7497 9504

Where Floral Street meets Garrick Lane, Rose Street cuts between the two. There you'll find the Lamb & Flag, a small wooden fronted pub. It's the oldest in Covent Garden, and possibly one of the oldest in London if claims of a Tudor past are true.

The pub used to be known as the Bucket of Blood because bare-fisted boxing matches were held there for over a century. In addition to the indoor violence, in days of old, the pub was also a fairly dangerous place to leave late at night. In 1679, the poet John Dryden is said to have been attacked by hired thugs in the alleyway at the side of the pub and was nearly killed. The upstairs bar is called the Dryden Room in his honor.

Downstairs, there's a simple cosy atmosphere created by low beams, wood panelling and bare hardwood floors. To the rear of the pub is a fireplace surrounded by wooden setties. The Lamb fills up in the evenings with office and shop workers. Oftentimes, it can get a bit too busy, and in the summer, drinkers spill out into the courtyard, which isn't necessarily a bad thing

For the hungry, the bar food is simple wholesome fare: potato skins, sandwiches, sausages and the like. There's also a vast selection of real ales to wash it down.

The Bunch of Grapes

207 Brompton Road

A well known pub with Harrods, its world famous neighbour, just a couple of hundred yards away. The Grapes is popular with tourists, no doubt seeking relief from shopping fatigue. They're in for a treat, as this magnificent pub has retained much of its original Victorian decoration.

The Grapes has an extensive menu of very good food, including delicious versions of such obligatory English selections as Fish and Chips, Steak and Kidney Pie, and Ploughman's special.

Also, if you are looking to watch a sporting event, this is the place. The pub has a giant screen television that is supported by three or four more smaller flat screens throughout the pub. Perfect for Wimbledon, the British Open, World Cup or a Formula One race.

The Museum Tavern49 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London, Tel: 020 7242 8987

The British Museum is big. Actually, it's gigantic. Humongous. It is also filled with some of the greatest relics that the British could haul back from the many exotic locales they controlled during the height of the Empire. There's a Sphinx from Egypt, carved statues that were lifted from the Acropolis and one of the largest collection of mummies in the world. The place is fantastic, and it will take a lot out of the average vistor who wants to see the best that the Museum has to offer.

Afterwards, such vistors would do well to visit the Museum Tavern across the street. Here they a can absorb culture of a different kind, including some real ales and fish and chips.

The pub has a long, rich history. In the early eighteenth century a pub called the Dog & Duck stood here, its name reflecting the hunting that took place on the surrounding swamps and ponds. The British Museum was built in the 1760's and the pub changed its name to suit. The pub was expanded in 1855 and much of what we see today dates from then or a little later. Although the partitions that divided Victorian drinkers have gone, much of the carved wooden fittings and etched and cut glass remain.

This elegant pub was the work of architect William Finch Hill and is probably his only surviving work, save for the Hat & Feathers in Clerkenwell, which is closed and looks fit for demolition. Hill was well known for his music hall designs but alas these too seem to have all gone.

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St. James Tavern

Museum Tavern