Bars & Pubs

Perseverance

Occupying a large corner site near Great Ormond Street hospital, this is a popular spot for medics seeking to soothe the stresses of their jobs. A recent refurb put...

Bloomsbury: 63 Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1N 3NB

Distance: 0.1 mls

Vats Wine Bar & Restaurant

A proper, old-fashioned wine bar, Vats is a regular lunchtime haunt for Lincoln’s Inn barristers and various other characters in the neighbourhood. The backroom...

Bloomsbury: 51 Lamb’s Conduit Street, WC1N 3NB

Distance: 0.1 mls

Duke

Like the Duke himself (of York that is), the one who marched his men to the top of the hill only to march them down again, this place has its quirks. Seating in the...

Bloomsbury: 7 Roger Street, WC1N 2PB

Distance: 0.1 mls

Queen's Larder

Set on the west side of Queen Square, this pub is well placed to bag custom from Great Ormond Street hospital and among the learners and lecturers of neighbouring Mary...

Bloomsbury: 1 Queen Square, WC1N 3AR

Distance: 0.2 mls

Apple Tree

This smart gastropub and post-work glughouse has a superior feel about it, thanks to high ceilings, tall house plants and a quality drinks list. Draught beers include...

Clerkenwell: 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE

Distance: 0.3 mls

All Star Lanes

Of Bloomsbury's two subterranean bowling dens, this is the one with aspirations. Walk past the lanes and smart, diner-style seating, and you'll find yourself in a...

Bloomsbury: Victoria House, Bloomsbury Place, WC1B 4DA

Distance: 0.3 mls

Harrison

A swift refurbishment in January 2008 has accentuated this corner pub's status as a smart but unpretentious spot for a pint, a natter and a Sunday roast. In...

King's Cross: 28 Harrison Street, WC1H 8JF

Distance: 0.3 mls

Bung Hole Cellars (branch of Davy's)

Holborn: Hand Court, 57 High Holborn, WC1V 6DT

Distance: 0.4 mls

Gunmakers

One of many gastropubs within easy reach of the Guardian offices, Gunmakers is popular with lunching hacks but also operates as an excellent natter-filled bar. Draught...

Clerkenwell: 13 Eyre Street Hill, EC1R 5ET

Distance: 0.4 mls

Norfolk Arms

There are distinct Spanish touches to this once traditional, green-tiled boozer: the Iberian hams hanging behind the bar, the strings of peppers and garlic, and the...

Bloomsbury: 28 Leigh Street, WC1H 9EP

Distance: 0.4 mls

Truckles of Pied Bull Yard

Its ghastly name sounds like an old-fashioned shop, though this is actually part of the Davy's wine chain. As a bar, Truckles is something of a one-trick pony - think...

Bloomsbury: Off Bury Place, WC1A 2JR

Distance: 0.4 mls

CC Bar

There's a very welcoming atmosphere here, unusually so for a cocktail bar in an upmarket hotel. The high-ceiling room is beautiful, but the fittings and furniture,...

Holborn: Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel, 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN

Distance: 0.4 mls

Bar Polski

A neat, modern space that mutates from Polish café during the day into something resembling a crowded student bar at night. The likes of pierogis, bigos, sandwiches,...

Holborn: 11 Little Turnstile, WC1V 7DX

Distance: 0.4 mls

The Eagle

Gastropub pioneer the Eagle was founded by Michael Belben and David Eyre way back in 1991 - you'll find signed copies of the weighty tome Gastropub Classic (£18) by...

Clerkenwell: 159 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3AL

Distance: 0.4 mls

Potëmkin

Potëmkin ('Potyomkin') is a smart and well-stocked Russian bar with more than 50 varieties of vodka in clear, unusual, berry, fruit, citrus and herb 'n' spice...

Clerkenwell: 144 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DP

Distance: 0.4 mls

Dollar

'Grills & Martinis' runs the gaudy red neon sign of this incongruous slice of Americana set behind a black-fronted façade on the corner of Exmouth Market. And...

Clerkenwell: 2 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4PX

Distance: 0.4 mls

Easton

A white indoor paint job in January 2008 has sharpened the contrast with the red banquettes, creating a neat decorative backdrop at this solid-quality gastropub....

Clerkenwell: 22 Easton Street, WC1X 0DS

Distance: 0.4 mls

Cittie of Yorke

It's big, it's beery, but above all it's brown: the cleaners here must get through a month's worth of furniture polish in one night. There's a cosy front area, a...

Holborn: 22 High Holborn, WC1V 6BN

Distance: 0.4 mls

Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes

Although its near-neighbour All Star Lanes makes a good stab at sophistication, BBL knows it's a big kids' playground. As well as the eight lanes, there's pool by the...

Bloomsbury: Basement, Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, WC1H 9EU

Distance: 0.4 mls

Princess Louise

This place is absolutely teeming with history. Nineteenth-century London's most dextrous craftsmen shaped this boozer to the tune of £5,000 which, back then, got you...

Holborn: 208-209 High Holborn, WC1V 7BW

Distance: 0.4 mls

Al's Café Bar

Part bar, part caff, part late-night boozing magnet: everyone round here knows Al's. It's a breakfast-to-bedtime operation, serving a hotchpotch of punters with...

Clerkenwell: 11-13 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QD

Distance: 0.4 mls

Coach & Horses

This gastro gem is invariably packed with staff from the nearby Guardian offices, whose splashes decorate the wood-panelled interior. Inside, pub and restaurant areas...

Clerkenwell: 26-28 Ray Street, EC1R 3DJ

Distance: 0.4 mls

Museum Tavern

When a boozer boasts logoed T-shirts and its own history book, you might be wary; but this venerable corner pub opposite the British Museum pulls in its fair share of...

Bloomsbury: 49 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BA

Distance: 0.4 mls

Hat & Tun

Martin brothers boozer

Clerkenwell & Farringdon: 3 Hatton Wall, EC1N 8HX

Distance: 0.5 mls

Betsey Trotwood

It isn't only Clerkenwell's media types who are thankful for the Betsey's long-overdue facelift. The spruce-up extends beyond the fresh flowers, retro lighting and...

Clerkenwell: 56 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BL

Distance: 0.5 mls

Medcalf

With rustic breads on shop-window boards where butcher Albert Medcalf's meats used to be displayed, this namesake bar is an exercise in practical good taste. A main...

Clerkenwell: 38-40 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE

Distance: 0.5 mls

Smithy's

Rough, ready and perfect for the nine-to-five crowd, this solid, masculine venue is in one of the more unlikely locations for a quaint cobbled street: near King’s...

King's Cross: 15-17 Leeke Street, WC1X 9HY

Distance: 0.5 mls

Cafe Kick

Clerkenwell's most likeable bar is this table-football themed gem, now ten years old. The soccer paraphernalia is authentic, retro-cool and mainly Latin (though you'll...

Clerkenwell: 43 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL

Distance: 0.5 mls

AKA

Just off the bustle and tat of Shaftesbury Avenue, this airy cocoon - sister venture to the End - claims to have been London's original DJ bar, and it's still grooving...

Bloomsbury: 18 West Central Street, WC1A 1JJ

Distance: 0.5 mls