Acceptable or even GOOD pubs in London city centre?

you have to eat though but i think some of that grog will help with the meeting of minds.

If you go into Mayfair then Ye Grapes on Shepherd's Market is pretty good as well but only if you go at off-peak times, otherwise it'll be full of braying property industry types. Marylebone still probably a better bet.

Anyone got any Old St / Hoxton / Shoreditch recommendations for a quiet catch up drink with an old friend?

Good ale / microbrew selection would be a welcome bonus.

before anyone else says them, the obvious choices would be mason and taylor on bethnal green road (sort of a bar, newer uk and american ales, huge selection, decent food), the wenlock arms (old fashioned, ales, v cheap for a good pint of something, old man pub) on i think, wenlock road, sort of beyond the old st roundabout. in shoreditch good pubs are a bit thin on the ground imo.

the old fountain, just off the city road by old st tube, is a nice put with a decent beer selection imo.

* a nice pub

The Reliance on Old Street itself is decent as well.

Otherwise, nowhere else that hasn't been mentioned. RIP the old Owl & Pussycat.

The Slaughtered Lamb?

good mixer?

wait what? i meant the water poet

Slaughtered Lamb is Clerkenwell really, and that has loads of good pubs. The last few times I've been to the Water Poet it's been horrible, victim of its own success I think.

if options run out or you can't be bothered to walk too far electricity showroom is not so bad - you can get a seat usually at least, and has scampi fries. drinks were a little expensive though as i remember.

Thanks very much everyone.

The last few times I've been to the Water Poet it's been horrible, victim of its own success I think.

otm

that's sad to know actually - it has been a while... had some good times at the water poet.

although there was that time when ronan and louis and i (and nick?) were going to play pool there, and it was absolutely rammed

the only pubs i really fuck with in the area are

- the pride of spitalfields (just off brick lane)
- the gun (the corner of brushfield st and bell lane)

the gun can be a bit city in the week but at the weekends is nice for an unpretentious catch up.

i need to check out mason & taylor actually.

oh i also like the red lion on hoxton st but haven't been for a while.

the carpenters arms on cheshire st also a good pub but gets rammed.

ilx should do its own fancyapint

Princess of Shoreditch just east of Old Street was quiet on the thurs before xmas when everywhere else was rammed, very pleasant spacious high-ceilinged place, some good beers on tap but not a massive selection.
http://www.theprincessofshoreditch.com/

Usu. end up in the Barley Mow when out carousing in this neighbourhood, but only because a former workmate swears by it as the only proper pub in the area

The food upstairs at the Princess is terrific and it's a really nice room - they've opened another pub in what used to be the King's Arms in Bloomsbury. Downstairs was okay, felt a bit All Bar One though.

i quite like the george & vulture on pitfield st. it's fuller's and feels a bit more like a local than lots of the places around hoxditch. when even that feels too lively i have been known to drink in the prince arthur just north of old st, which really is a throwback and must be the least trendy pub in the area, apart from that place on old st near the roundabout that i've never dared go into.

otherwise, tpp otm re: pride of spitalfields, that place is great.

Re; Pride of Spitalfields, a few years back somebody told me that the landlord/bar staff aren't very accommodating to Asians. This maybe now untrue or a load of rubbish. I've been avoiding it due to this, probably completely unjustly.. The Bell on Middlesex St. is sometimes good.

if options run out or you can't be bothered to walk too far electricity showroom is not so bad - you can get a seat usually at least, and has scampi fries. drinks were a little expensive though as i remember.

this place should be shit but of all the big brand shoreditch pubs it's actually pretty good imo, especially if it's a quieter time. always has a good pale ale on tap and a few good bottles in the fridge and it's a pretty nice room.

just avoid if any "events" or whatever are on, and prob don't even look at it on a friday or saturday.

i agree about carpenters arms too, great little pub, but yeah, fills up easily.

w/r/t Bond Street. Cross over the street and take the short walk to The Golden Eagle on Marylebone Lane. It's five minutes. If you insist on drinking in Mayfair, the only place I'll sometimes go into the Guinea Grill just off Berkley Square. It's full of c***s but the beer (and food apparently) is good.

The Bell on Middlesex St. is sometimes good.

yeah i forgot this one! just around the corner from me.

when even that feels too lively i have been known to drink in the prince arthur just north of old st, which really is a throwback and must be the least trendy pub in the area, apart from that place on old st near the roundabout that i've never dared go into.

Wow yeah, this place really doesn't feel like it's changed since the 1970s.

Thanks for all the recommendations. Ended up in Mason & Taylor and it was spot on.

I went to the Craft Beer Company, Leather Lane, at the weekend. Excellent selection- one of the best I've ever seen, including a number of American IPAs and German and Danish lagers- and a nice plain bar with high seating banks and plenty of standing room. Not cheap though- the beer is priced by strength- with the cheapest pint costing £3.30. Compares badly with e.g. Southampton Arms.

yeah, the selection is insane - I was a bit overwhelmed tbh, but for the enthusiasts I was with it was long night in heaven.

Luckily I'm going again next weekend for a wedding reception, so I'll be able to plug the gaps...

the queen's head, kinda king's cross area, anyone been here?

http://www.timeout.com/london/bars/venue/2%3A29845/queens-head

best new discovery of the year for me i reckon. massive beer selection with mikkeller and stuff on tap, genuinely friendly in a normal neghbourhood pub way, and it's a nicely divey old room.

maybe this is old news to ilx, not sure if i've seen it mentioned.

I have, a couple of times - agree! A great pub.

Passed on it on the bus many's the time, never been in it, will check it out! Many thanks!

https://mobile.twitter.com/thegunmakers/status/288804634531856384/photo/1

hmmm....

saw that, this morning. i seldom go to brewdog these days, in part cos i find it a bit over-branded, and in part cos the cock tavern is better. that area is brimming with amazing pubs, but i'd still be curious about checking it out.

I haven't been to either of the Brewdog pubs in London, believe it or not; I feel like they're for the young people, which is all well and good. Mikkeler's beer is more interesting, and their brand is aimed more at me, I think. I am interested to see how this thing turns out.

Vaguely discussed this before, but I am very happy with Brewdog as a standard and supermarket friendly beer, if it was in place of like Carlsberg or whatever in places that show sport that'd be a godsend. But the pubs seem to attract a slightly diff crowd, not total wankers or whatever, just like, there's a noticeable shift since they took over M&T, and it's designed for standing, it seems to me.

I've had a few really good Mikkeler beers on tap recently after initially seeming to get fairly average bottles of it.

Yeah I know you like their beer, I'm less of a fan but agree that they're a cut above yer supermarket swill (though oddly I've always thought Carlsberg the best of that bunch); I think you're right, they like their bars loud and their drinking vertical. Which fair enough but not my preference these days. Never was. come to think of it.

Mikkeller's beers are a lottery - it'd be a miracle if they weren't - but usually interesting I think. Their bar in Copenhagen is very basic and stripped-down, no loud music, just a bunch of their beer, really. Would be interested in one of those in London, especially if they can find a way to make the cost a bit more reasonable than the £4 - £5 a half you tend to pay for their stuff.

Oh yeah I'm fine with Carlsberg if pushed, just picked it as a random example. It is better than some.

Don't suppose you've tried the new Sainsbury's beers? I note they have some brewer in NY making them a Taste The Difference range. Saw it in there last week but given it was Jan 2nd wasn't exactly stocking up.

The various Draft Houses are a much better example of how to roll this sort of thing out while still making them feel like pleasant places to actually drink.

The Tower Bridge Draft House has gone downhill fairly swiftly, in terms of food and general atmos, imo. It's pricey too. Starting to notice major price variations even among newer or imported beers, from place to place.

Oh hang on, the Gunmakers? That building is not really going to suit typical Brewdog vertical drinking however they do it so this could be interesting.

Haven't seen any new new ones; was pleased to see St Peter's making something for them (though that seems to be sold out permanently in SE22 which may say something about the stocking policy or may say something sbout SE22). Think they were using Shephernd Neame for another, and I still haven't forgiven Shepherd Neame for (a) the Spitfire ad campaign or (b) the taste of their beers, which live down to the drubbing Eli was giving Boring Brown British Beer on here the other month.

xpost I've failed to warm to the Draft House in East Dulwich also...

It's not taking over the Gunmakers, just that guy posted that he'd seen it. It's some disused restaurant nearby.

Gunmakers is nice, I have to say. If all pump ale was as good as theirs it'd be a lot more popular.

Ah right, I get it.

I basically never eat pub fish and chips but I make an exception for the Gunmakers, it's excellent there.

Where's good in Soho or Covent Garden for a drink? Don't mind a pub if it's actually nice and not rote central London style place, and don't mind a bar if it actually had a bit of class, cocktail bar even would be a possibility.

Eating at Opera Tavern later but want to go somewhere after. Or maybe I should just stay there?

If you like gin: http://www.thestaratnight.com/