London’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars updates
Central London – Holborn and Legal London
Old Bell Tavern, London EC4
Traditional pub (Nicholson’s/Mitchells & Butlers)
95 Fleet Street EC4Y 1DH
T (020) 7583 0216 W www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/theoldbelltavernfleetstreetlondon
Open 1000 (1200 Sat)-2330 (1800 Sat, closed Sun). Children welcome until early evening, with children’s menu.
Cask beer 7 (Fuller’s, Sharp’s, St Austell, unusual guests) Cask Marque, Other beer 2 bottles, Also Some wines
Food Nicholson’s breakfast and pub grub menu, Wifi.
One of Nicholson’s smaller pubs, but handily placed at the City end of Fleet Street, the Old Bell claims a license dating back 300 years. It also claims it was designed by Christopher Wren and once housed the stonemasons that accomplished his building projects after the Great Fire of 1666, but I suspect what you see today is much rebuilt. The front section of the pub, with its flagstone floor, is clearly distinct from the floorboarded rear with its open fire, backing up the claim that the main part of the building was originally set back from the street in its own court, and there’s a rear exit onto an intriguing back alley. You’ll also spot the remains of a Victorian partition. Seven pumps dispense the chain’s standard London Pride, Doom Bar and Tribute plus guests that explore the more exotic reaches of Nicholson’s seasonal guest lists — perhaps Downton, Oakleaf, Moor or RCH. An eighth pump has real cider. A pleasant retreat.
National Rail City Thameslink Underground Chancery Lane, St Pauls River Blackfriars Cycling NCN4, LCN+7 Walking Jubilee Walkway, link to Thames Path