Description: 42 Ludgate Hill, London, EC4M 7DE
Having visited St Paul’s we were ready for a drink and some lunch so determinedly we set out to find a typical London pub close to the Cathedral. We didn’t have far to look and just down the hill we spotted "Ye Olde London". Initially the name is sure to put you off, but we fought against an intense desire to carry on and checked it out. A couple of criteria were met. Firstly it did pub grub and secondly they had real ale behind the bar. Indeed we were to be spoilt for choice because they had several on tap including their own Young’s cask ale Fuller's London Pride, Greene King Abbot Ale, St Austell Tribute, and one of my personal favourites, Bombardier.
Ye Olde London did look to be a traditional English Pub and as well as the ground floor there’s a downstairs bar and also an external courtyard. The weather, however, was not conducive to eating out and so we chose to stay on the ground floor level. Having selected our drinks – I decided to try the Tribute Ale from St Austell – we settled down to check out the menu.
The menu boasted that Taylor Walker pubs "have been serving the British pub food and drink for over two centuries" and so we anticipated a real treat. The menu listed the "pub classics" including fish and chips, steak and ale pie, roast dinners, filled Yorkshire Pudding, sausage and mash. I’m a sucker for Steak and Ale Pie so that was my choice. Although I did consider going for the Roast dinner, which unusually hey serve here 7 days a week.
The meal took about 15 minutes to arrive at the table. Always a good sign as it suggests that the food isn’t sat on a serving tray waiting to be dished out. It was piping hot and there was plenty of it. I can’t pretend that I’m a connoisseur of Steak and Ale Pies but as they are high on my preferred pub meal list I reckon I’ve had a few of them over the years. This one was tasty and an ample serving and it certainl kept me going for the rest of the day. Well at least until we sat down for our evening meal!
We quite liked the atmosphere in the pub and found the staff very helpful and friendly. It seemed to tick all of the boxes for being an old and traditional London Pub, although I’d have preferred it if the pub had a different name!
Around the walls were loads of black and white photographs of the area and it was fun when we got out to recognise some of the buildings that we’d seen in photographic form.
If you’re in the area its worth popping into this hostelry, but I’m not sure that I’d make a massive detour to hunt it out.
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