Pubs around Westminster - if you notice someone running out of a pub in the area when a bell rings he is likely an MP. The Parliamentary division bell is installed in all local bars to make sure they don't miss key votes (Read about this bell just yesterday while reading The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine).
Photo taken in October 2009 while there with my niece and girlfriend.
Drink with politicians in the Red Lion
The Red Lion, on the corner of Whitehall and Derby Gate, is a magnet for politicians and civil servants, despite being overpriced and at one time allegedly suffering from a dubious bill of health from Westminster City Council. The pub sits across the road from 10 Downing Street, the Treasury and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and is also surrounded by office buildings for the Houses of Parliament and the Department of Health.
The St Stephen's Tavern, on Westminster Bridge Road and named as a result of the various connections between St Stephen and the Palace of Westminster, is the closest pub to the Houses of Parliament and it is a great place for a swift half if you work in the area, or if you find yourself touristing there and in need of a rest. In the summer you can even stand outside and enjoy unrivalled views of Big Ben.
Westminster suffers from a dearth of truly lovely pubs, but the Speaker bucks that trend with style, tucked away as it is on Great Peter Street not far from Parliament and Westminster Abbey, in the heart of civil-servant-land.Named after that small chap who sits at the front of the MPs and says "Order, Order", the Speaker is a good ales pub, with friendly staff and a good atmosphere. This is a traditional place, with no music, big screen sports or shouty lager kids. It's also, like so much of the area, only open weekdays, from noon until closing, with very rare weekend openings for special events and festivals.
The Tipperary, at 66 Fleet Street, is London's oldest Irish Pub, originally named 'The Boar’s Head' records show that it certainly dates back as far as 1605, and possibly longer. The pub became an Irish pub around 1700, and was apparently the first pub outside of Ireland to serve draught Guinness.
Oddly, it was actually renamed The Tipperary after the First World War, in a nod to the song, "It’s a long way to Tipperary..." which many regulars had sung in the trenches.
Down an alleyway marked by a distinctive sign on Fleet Street, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is another good Sam Smiths pub with another good story. The pub was one of the first to be rebuilt after the Great Fire of London and is recorded as existing on this site for more than 100 years before, and even earlier as a guest house belonging to a nearby Carmelite Monastery. Indeed, the pub was famously referred to in Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities.
Pubs in the heart of London's Touristland have always been a bit hit-and-miss, but the Harp, in Covent Garden, is a real gem. It's a genuine, characterful pub, with a great range of ales and other drinks.
Boswell's Cafe was opened as a Tea House in 1725 and was popular with London's literati at the time. Nowadays its a quick pre-theatre tourist cafe in Covent Garden. It takes its name from the contemporary diarist James Boswell who at 7pm on 16th May 1763 was sat with the owner Thomas Davies in the Tea House when Dr Johnson, the author of the dictionary whose quote gave rise to this blog, entered.
Boswell's is at 8 Russell Street.
The Museum Tavern, opposite the British Museum may not seem like a particularly interesting pub on the inside, but its clientelle over the years has included many of the great thinkers who got bored of their studies over the road in the British Library Reading Room.One of the most notable regulars was Karl Marx, whose philosophy went on to shape 20th Century politics and foreign policy. Other visitors include J.B. Priestley and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Proof if it were needed that even the greatest literary and philosophical minds benefit from a swift half every now and again.
Brim full of ales and nice people, the Bree Louise is run by Craig and Karen, who have extensive experience dating back to the 80's and a great passion for pubs. Their experience really shows here, with excellent food on offer and a great range of ales, which surpases the selection in your local and gives it the feel of a perpetual beer festival.The Bree Louise is moments from Euston Station and is probably the finest pub in NW1.69 Cobourg Street.
I'm going to remember that this list is here. When (IF ever) I get to London, this will be quite handy!
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