Ye Olde Mitre, Holborn – London’s best-hidden pub and a gem of a boozer

The Barbarians are always in for a good challenge. So when fellow travel blogger David from Stray with David recently visited town and suggested we should meet up for a couple of quick pints at London’s best-hidden pub, we turned it into a competition who would find it first. We literally bumped into each other at the signposted entrance to the tiny alleyway off Hatton Garden and called it a draw. Apparently the entrance at the other end of the alley is much harder to find. Half way through the passage the path widens and opens to the sky, letting a healthy amount of light in, and there it is: the beautiful, award-winning, top-ranking, famous Ye Olde Mitre with its oak-panelled ground floor façade and dark leaded stained-glass windows. Even though the only thing that remains from its initial existence today is a single corner stone, the pub traces its […]

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The Seven Stars – Quite Possibly London’s Quirkiest Pub

Located just behind the Royal Courts of Justice in the borough of Westminster (the border to the City runs through Chancery Lane, a stone’s throw away), this tiny little pub, which was built in 1602 as an alehouse, is famous for the case closing celebrations of barristers. However, it’s by no means solely frequented by lawyers and sees its fair share of builders, bankers, office clerks, local residents, and students from nearby King’s College and the London School of Economics, two of the best universities of the country.    It’s crammed with people nearly all day every day. We usually just stop by for a quick pint after work. Today was the first time we actually found a table and stayed for a meal. My wife (Ms B) ordered roast chicken and mash (£12), I went for the lamb burger (£12). The menu is a mix of English, Italian and […]

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Sunday Lunch at the Alfred Tennyson

Sunday lunch at The Alfred Tennyson is something we had planned to do for a while. We had been to this gastropub a few times before, but usually just went for a quick burger or fish’n’chips. The owners also run The Thomas Cubitt, The Orange, both of which we’ve been to before and liked (even though the staff at The Orange can sometimes be a bit snippy), as well as The Grazing Goat, which we still have to check out. It is named after Lord Tennyson, Queen Victoria’s Poet Laureate and still one of the most popular British poets. Formerly known as The Pantechnicon Rooms (after the nearby cinema), the restaurant stretches over four floors, with the upper floors being the more elegant ones. We chose the ground floor bar, which has precisely the same menu as the other floors, but a much more relaxed pub feel to it and […]

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Saturday dinner at The Thomas Cubitt

My wife, MsB, had wanted for some time for us to have dinner at Belgravia’s posh pub The Thomas Cubitt in Elizabeth Street, just one stone’s throw from where Kensington & Chelsea begins. So tonight we finally made it. We went for the ground floor bar, where the menu includes burger, pie, and fish’n’chips for roughly £15 to £16 (whereas the elegant first floor dining room has more sophisticated and expensive meals on the menu, all focused on seasonal British cuisine). The Cubitt is very popular with the local West London set and tourists alike. It ranks a very decent #532 out of 17,837 restaurants in London on Tripadvisor, with a Certificate of Excellence thrown in on top for good measure. The owners also run The Alfred Tennyson, The Orange, both of which we’ve been to before and liked (even though the staff at The Orange can sometimes be a […]

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