please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A good looking pub near Cheapside that I ran across while on an Original London Walk. Looked too good to miss so I doubled back at walk''s conclusion for lunch. Front bar was nicely done up for Christmas. Strong beer selection, well poured. Food was fairly typical chain grub - not great, not awful. Pretty substantial crowd for a weekend. Good stop for a pint but I''ll probably look for lunch somewhere else in the future.
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Went there today with my best friend from working days for our monthly City lunch. Excellent pint of Robbo's Trooper downstairs before adjoining to the most pleasant dining area upstairs. Only the one handpump (Nicholson's Pale Ale) but in good nick. We had a nice corner table and were well looked after by Jackie. Our food was reasonably priced, good value for money and very satisfying so I think it's fair to say that this lovely little City nestler will become our regular monthly 'local' from now on!
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Went there a couple of years ago and spotted the lead singer of ABC in there (Martin Fry). Went there with my Nan about two weeks ago and spotted Craig David. How funny
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Excellent little pub hidden away in a back street. Great pint of Mad Squirrel Milk Stout.
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A good City pub with a fine selection of ales. Nicholson’s pubs tend to be reliable and well decorated to a classy Victorian style and this fits the bill. My companions and I enjoyed a relaxing session tasting the different beers on offer and agreed we would certainly return if in the area. 8/10
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A flying visit for the best pint of landlord had tonight. Sat in window and watched the world go by. The world consisted of the binmen, at this time of the evening.
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I quite like this place - went in last night for a pint with a mate. 1 Guinness and 1 Stella Black was �7.95 so just short of �4 a pint. Such a sad state of affairs that I actually did not mind the price as it seems commonplace everywhere in London now! Overall I liked the pub, traditional, friendly and had a nice atmosphere. Would visit again.
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There are better and there are worse. As you are on Watling Street and you can have one in the gutter with the masses walking by plus the beer is pretty good. I actually rather like it. A pity it has that sort of chain pub feel about it which ensures the rating drops by a point.
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Excellent proper old-fashioned pub "hidden" just south of Cheapside. 8/10
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Dropped in earlier today for a couple. Proper old fashioned bar area with old beams and sloping floors, supplemented with good views of some of the local office workers out of the windows... Both the Woodforde Wherry and the Tribute were excellent, although the seemingly standard eastern European Nicholson's bar staff need to learn to fill the glass up to the top. There was no problem with this request though. Nice atmosphere and good beer, although this place will get busy at times, with service suffering accordingly. Several other ales available but I only tried the two, albeit twice!
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Good after work boozer, good selection of ales, prompt bar staff. Can't really screw it up hopefully. 8/10 in the week, no idea at weekends but probably quiet.
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Pretty ordinary drinking establishment in the heart of the City. The pedestrianised streets outside it allow for quite a bit of on-street drinking, which is pleasant on a warm evening. Near Mansion House and St Paul's tube stations.
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Now i've given this pub good reviews in the past, until now !!
Went in on the 23rd for a pre-xmas drink, stood at the end of the bar so could see the bar staff working. Bar staff putting slops and drip trays into pint glassed and topping up when ales ordered.
Will not be going back !
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Nice little pub plenty of real ales friendly atmosphere. I would recommend to anyone
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Remains an excellent staple in the area. The Watling consists of two rooms situated diagonally to each other. The front room with the bar is supposed to date back to the late 17th century. It consists of a bar against the rear wall, a small number of high tables with stools and further stool aginast a ldge on the wall to the left of the bar. The room to the rear and right of the bar appears to have been built at some later point and contains more conventional tables and chairs.
Ale offering is varied ( I think it must be a Nicholsons pub based on what they had but didn't notice for sure) with seven pumps dispensing Pride, Tribute, Doom Bar, Landlord, Jarvik Blond, Acorn Old Moor Porter and Williams alcholic ginger beer.
I've always liked this place - it has a genuine old world feel to it and is a convivial place to pass an hour. I would imagine it is more difficult in the evenings when the after work crowd pitch up but if you can find the right time well worth looking in on
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A nice surprise !! Good selection of beers / ciders particularly South West based tonight ( Tribute, Doombar )
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A very nice pub in a nice area of town. Haven't tried it after work yet, bt presumably can get quite busy for a small bar. Food looked ok too, but again no first hand experience.
Plenty of ales for the real ale enthusiast, but plenty of choice for us lager drinkers too!
Overall, a nice little bar which I will visit again.
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Popped in and had a couple of really good pints of Sharpes Doombar. Wish i could have stayed longer.
Well worth a visit if in the area.
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Nice little stand up and drink type pub,only had time for one TT Landlord today which was in really good condition. Forget how many other hand pumps there was (6 i think) so will have to pop in again when next passing.
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It's the run up to Xmas and the pub was quite busy - no standing room inside but fortunately a mild evening so we were well able stand outside - despite that the service was very prompt and the beer was good. In keeping with tradition (trying the strangest named beer on offer) I had a couple of Rudolph's Rewards and was very pleased.
The atmosphere is welcoming and the food good value. Definitely worth another visit when its a bit quiter
dGriz - 10 Dec 2009 09:37 |
When I worked in this area between 1994 and 1997 the exterior of the Watling always seemed to me to be the ideal for a Victorian City hostelry.
First visit for about 10 years last week and it was gratifying to see things hadn't really changed. 6 pumps in the main bar with a variety of ale and the old back room down the corridor to the right of the bar. The front room has some high tables and stools and fortunately during my lunchtime visit there were few enough people to make it easy to find a seat.
The only real change I could find is that the old frosted windows have been replaced with clear glass -this may make the pub lighter but also increases the chance of me staring at my boss in the street.
Still a great City pub.
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Couldn't agree more with the last two comments, I was also served short measures each time I had a pint.
I watched one of the bar staff on numerous occasions pulling the handle so quickly that the beer was frothing over the top. The measures he served were not just short but way off the mark and sadly, he didn't seem to care one bit about how he served them. What makes this situation even worse is the fact, that due to the way he was pulling the pints, he was forever emptying the slops tray. Hopefully the landlord reads this and puts a stop to it straightaway as he must be costing them a fortune.
Plus, this guy was from the UK and not one of the 'foreign' bods..........
A cracking pub but be prepared to ask for your pint to be topped up each time - don't let them get away with it as they won't ask you whether you want a full pint!!!
8/10 for the pub, 0/10 for the way they served their drinks
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Have to agree with nicnocs1 about the staff. Went in here last night around 19:00 four bar staff were on (all foreign I think). Quickly served but short measures and although my pint was topped up it was done reluctantly. I watched this practice being repeated during the hour and a half I was there. must have saved a pint or two. I wanted my map stamped for Ale Trail but said you only get one stamp per visit and not for food. This must be the only pub in all 100 I have done the trail in not to know the rules. I had a Sort & mixer all they wanted to do was promote the offer of a large one for an extra �1. They should not be encouraging people to drink like that. If I had wante a large one I would have asked for it. Not worth a retun visit I am afraid.
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What a lovely looking pub inside and out, really good friday afternoon atmosphere, an OK pint, but again as with other london pubs staff rather unfriendly and uninterested!
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Was back in Ye Olde Wattling last night for our Xmas session and a lively evening was had.
Good to see pub managers open to comments, so here's my honest feedback.
Positive:- Great work by your bar staff. despite the fact that the place was rammed when I arrived around 6.30PM, never had a problem getting served several times over the 4hrs we were there.
Negative:- the Pride was off when I got there and the hand pumps keeled over at regular intervals during the evening. Fortunately the Landlord lasted out till 10.00ish and when it pegged out the Pride was just about back on..
May be slightly unfair leaving this neg, as I appreciate the 'Mad' Xmas evenings may be atypical, but 3hours to change a barrel did infer that there may still be issues in this area.
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Fairly typical Nicholsons. Downstairs bar with an upstairs restaurant/bar. Pride, Landlord, Black Sheep Bitter, Bombardier, Harveys Sussex Best and Morrissey Fox Blonde. The latter was part of the autumn ales range and was very good.
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Hi does anyone know if this pub is open on Saturday evenings? If so, does it do food on Saturday evenings? I know quite alot of pubs in the City are shut on Saturdays.
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Hi I'm the manager of Ye olde Watling and am pleased to review all comments about my pub, good and bad. All the feedback is valuable to me.
Apologies for the crappy sausage sandwiches - it's true Eddie has been off but i'm pleased to tell you he is back and in good form.
The reason Tim Taylor seems to be off at times is we are struggling to keep up with demand and as we are changing barrels so frequently we are finding it hard to allow time for it to always condition properly before sale but we are addressing this.
New seasonal ales for Autumn and Winter are in now and going well.
I hope we will see you again,
Liz
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my porker snorter sarnie looked like an omelette. things have changed a great deal. SORT IT OUT.
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I have been coming to Ye Olde Watling at least once a week every Friday for 3 years in order to have a cold drink and a magnificent sausage sandwich. To my dismay, a universal tragedy has occured and those barstewards have changed the winning formula of ciabatta, sausages (sliced) with lots of onions and butter. Instead, some overcooked drivel is now being served. I believe Eddy the cook has left. This is ominous and must be corrected this intance.
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Fairly typical Nicholson's offering, and the Timothy Taylor Landlord was not available (which was probably just as well as it would probably have tasted just as insipid as the very uninspiring pint of Harveys I had instead - how does this company, which promotes itself as something of a real ale specialist, manage to do this to two of Britain's finest ales?). Claims to date back to 1668, but I doubt that much of 'ye old' wood-look dates any further back than the last corporate refurbishment. Plus point - seems to offer a remarkably extensive range of sausages if bangers are your thing...
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Started here on last Thursday night with the intention of visiting the four Cask Marque pubs North of the river on the recommended Cask Marque pub crawl.
Also concur that this is not a bad pub. The London Pride and Black Sheep were OK and we did not experience the short measures mentioned below. Service was brisk, even though it was quite busy with City workers when we first entered. only down side was that they run out of Pride fairly early so we moved on to the Willaimsons.
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I'm afraid this pub left quite a poor impression yesterday evening. The Timothy Taylors was only marginally drinkable and there were plenty of uncollected dirty glasses on the tables, which was poor given that the pub wasn't particularly busy
I too witnessed the staff serving short measures.
Based on yesterdays visit, I'd be inclined to go to Williamsons instead - its only a 100 or so yards away, if that
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not a bad pub, but the staff have no idea how to serve - had a few guinnesses, all short poured. avoid
TheGP - 21 Dec 2007 19:07 |
Tried to visit but not open saturday.
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Nice pint of Harvey's Sussex Best (Broadside & Black Sheep were also on, among others) and smiling bar staff. Busy bar area but secluded back room was a cosy retreat from the cold (radiator was on full blast). Would revisit.
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As with all the Nicholson's pubs, quite a pleasant place. A decent range of four or five real ales when I visited and it wasn't too busy.
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More like a real pub than others in the City. Lots of dark wood giving it a warm feel. Excellent Black Sheep Bitter on Friday. Crowded by 5.30 PM (of course). Like it - definitely worth a visit.
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No longer has Sky dartboard or pool table gone dow in my estimation disappointed
anonymous - 21 Feb 2007 19:03 |
Just how a 'proper' pub should look, with long bar, some seating and space for stand-up drinking.
However, deceptive, as there is a back room with nice comfy chairs - pleasant surprise. A tad better than a number of others around, with range of City types, but also with a local boozer feel.
Good range of beers (Pride, Landlord and some other guests) in keeping with a Nicolson's house.
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Nice little pub that feels less Nicholson's than some others. I think it must be a woman's touch, all those scented candles. In a good little spot too and the back room is comfortable. Landlord was in good nick on my recent visit. There's a board with a list of all the ales they might serve in the bar area.
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I'm going to a quiz night there tonight woohoo#
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Nice little traditional pub - another one now in the Nicholsons chain. Had quiz night on last night starting at 6.30, how many pubs round here have quiz nights, I wonder ?
Good beer range and in good condition on my visit. Worth calling in if passing by
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Good choice of well kept real ales including Harveys Sussex bitter.Great atmosphere and service.
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Called in at half time in the Lord Mayor's Show as was one of the few pubs around that was open on that Saturday. Is it usually?
Good pint including a North Yorks micro when we called but food looked a bit pricey.
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I thought that this pub was decent when i went in,..but my mate subsequently tells me that it is bent..
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I disagree Spudster's comment that the food is "moderately priced". Indeed, using the humble baked Spud as an example, diners part with a sum in excess of four Ye Old English Pounds. However I can't fault the quality of food or service, and the ale is superb.
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.....lovely little traditional ale house this - steeped in history. Bar staff and management are most chatty and cheerful and the service is first class. Food is moderatley priced and served from midday till 21:00. Call in Tuesday evenings for the free quiz and free feed - great fun.
Spudster - 9 Jul 2004 12:29 |
