London Pubs

The great part about being a New York area resident is that it's easier to visit a friend from Texas when they travel to London than it is to fly down to land of boots and buckles. I spent a long weekend in London with my friend and returned to a couple of my favorite pubs and also ventured into Wapping to visit a couple real waterfront ale houses.

Quick Tips:

Don't rush in Wapping--it's a long afternoon trip.

Best Way To Get Around:

Take the tube if necessary, but walking is the best option if the weather permits.

On the Strand just up the hill from the Embankment Metro stop (0171 930-1408)

Don’t be fooled—this place is regulated like a pub so at 11:00 PM they start rousting out their always-reticent guests who hate to leave such a unique establishment. Gordon’s is a bit hard to find, but well worth it once located. As you walk down into the pub/wine cellar there is typically an array of cold and warm eats available including rice dishes, cheeses, etc. After you select your grub, then you saunter up to the wine steward (more like a bartender) and order whatever they have in stock that day (a bottle of decent wine usually runs about $15 which isn’t too bad for London). After you have your food and drink in hand, you proceed in the wine bar which is converted sewer dating back a few hundred years. At its highest point, the ceiling is only about 5’10" so you have to lean over as you find our table. The cavernous atmosphere replete with candlelight is something that every pub aficionado should experience at least once (I, myself, go there whenever I am in London).

Tel: (020 7488 2685)

If you are the adventurous sort and driven by a love of classic English pubs then a trip down Wapping Way is right up your alley. Heading east from the Tower, you begin to enter a predominately residential neighborhood that is home to many Bangladeshi immigrants. After some time you will begin to enter the curious borough of Wapping. Wapping was once a sailors’ settlement, with the usual complement of lodging houses, brothels and inns, some of them kept by "Virginia widows" whose husbands had gone off to seek their fortunes in the New World just opening on the other side of the Atlantic. However, this area, once infamous for the pirates and other scalawags that prowled its riverside streets, is now relatively quite. Your first stop on a Wapping crawl should be the curiously named Town of Ramsgate, a long narrow pub next to an alleyway known as Wapping Old Stairs. The stairs lead down to the riverside where fishermen from Ramsgate, in Kent, sold their catch. The pub, once known as the Red Cow, is linked to a time when this was a bustling wharf and when men were press-ganged (or shanghaied) into serving on ships. In the 17th century the notorious Judge Jeffreys, was caught here whilst trying to flee the country. Jeffreys was Lord Chief Justice to James II and was known for his ruthless punishments. When James was deposed in the Glorious Revolution, Jeffreys got his turn at the gallows. This is also the location of Execution Dock, where Captain Kidd was hanged in 1701. From the back of the pub is a beautiful view of the Thames. You’ll find Bass, London Pride and Young's on tap and the bartender will happily sell you some unique crisps to go along with your perfectly poured pint.

Tel:(020 7481 1095)

The Prospect of Whitby, at the eastern corner of Wapping Wall, hanging right over the water by Pelican Stairs, is said to be the oldest in London. The sign out front claims "London’s Oldest Pub circa 1520." Once a den of iniquity where drunken sailors were robbed and tossed in the drink, the Prospect of Whitby has come a long way. These days the place is rather more sedate, and the landing stage pretty with benches and weeping willows. Though the present building is probably only 200 years old, an association with brewing and ale selling on that site goes back to medieval times. The immediate forebear of the Prospect was known as the "Devil’s Tavern." The outside of the pub is quite attractive and the inside, with converted ships’ masts acting as columns, is equal in charm. If I am not mistaken, a recent British Airways commercial was filmed here. Nourishing grub is readily always available and the barkeep pours a nice pint of Speckled Hen. Out in the back is mock gallows that stands as a reminder of more exciting times at the Prospect. The walls are adorned with replications of newspaper clippings (some over 300 years old) telling tales of criminals that were nabbed at the pub trying to escape the long arm of the law. The Prospect is an excellent place to wrap up a tour of Wapping—sit next to raging fire and dream of darker London, whilst you down a few beers and munch on some fine English fare (main dishes are about $15 to $25.)

Tel:(0171 407 1577) Nearest Tubes - London Bridge & Borough

For over 800 years a pub has stood on the site of the Anchor at Bankside. Rebuilt twice itself after devastating fires in 1750 and 1876, the ‘Anchor Inn,’ an unpretentious timbered tavern frequented by dockworkers and warehousemen, is today patronized by office workers and the intrepid tourist that meanders across either the Blackfriars or Southwark Bridge. The pub, characterized by old dark oak beams, brick fire places, creaking floorboards and cubbyholes, is quite large, encompassing a minstrels’ gallery, five bars and three restaurants. The view of London proper at night is quite spectacular and the patrons are not sent packing with such remorse, as is the case with other London pubs when the clock strikes 11:00 PM. The Anchor has received some international attention since Mr. Cruise and his buddy Ving filmed a bar scene here for the motion picture Mission Impossible, but don’t let that deter you from checking out this great pub.

The Hobgoblin occupies an interesting nearly triangular building surrounded on three sides by Bath's narrow streets this makes it easy to find when you are sober, but is a major complication when leaving and trying to get your bearing through the blessed cloud of inebriation. Wood floors, high ceilings and a younger crowd are the highlights of this pub. The music is not as egregious is found at many of the pubs in England and the crowd is boisterous with being raucous. The pints are reasonable and the bartenders are no greenhorns. I will always remember this little pub since I picked up a couple of T-shirts from Wychwood Brewery thinking I would be able to subsidize my rather sparse wardrobe—unfortunately, the shirts were so permeated with years of smoke that they proved utterly un-wearable through the first two washes. The pub is part of the Hobgoblin franchise supported by Wychwood—for more info, go to www.hobgoblinns.com. Bath is truly a fantastic Georgian town, and with a pub like this it’s a must-see if you are heading west out of London.

Tel: 01225 460785