Great pubs that you don’t need to book

God bless this Abbot Street purveyor of fine, fine beer. It's doing walk-ins only right now and for that we salute it. 

Halfway between Upper Street and the Caledonian Road, this Georgian boozer has an olde-worlde English charm entirely in keeping with its name. It’s far enough from the main thoroughfares to ensure there’s barely a whisper of traffic noise to be heard at the wooden tables in the walled beer garden.

A brilliantly tasteful south London boozer. (Think ‘1950s village hall’: it’s full of gorgeous wood panelling, stained glass windows, church pews and criss-crossing floral fabric bunting.) If it weren’t for the young, trendy drinkers it attracted, you could be at a meeting of your nan’s bridge club.

A honest Irish pub (as opposed to Irish-themed pub; the difference is crucial) that draws a devoted circle of boozed-up Stoke Newingtonians most nights of the week. Important note: its pub garden has heaters. 

This independently run, strictly over-21s Highbury pub also doubles as an intimate music venue, showcasing new talent at its Thursday night open-mic sessions. Plus there’s a beer garden for the warmer months (walk-ins only). 

Not a pub! I realise this is not a pub! But Boxparks are pub-like environments and you deserve to know about them. Refitted shipping containers plonked artfully around Shoreditch, Croydon and Wembley, the Boxparks will not require you to book ahead. 

A Walthamstow gastropub with a cute decked pub garden that's better than the wonky balcony at your flat but just as homely. 

The sizeable Cat & Mutton sits proudly at the helm of Hackney's Broadway Market, and has been welcoming its costermongers and consumers for 300 years. A mix of bookings and tables that are reserved for walk-ups.


This Soho institution may have mellowed somewhat since self-proclaimed ‘London’s rudest landlord’ Norman Balon finally hung up his polishing cloth in 2006, but there’s still plenty to make it stand out from the crowd. Reserves half its tables for walk-ups.

A gastro pub on Southgate Road. Nice food and staff and a welcoming vibe overall. Quite a few tables out front, all reserved for people rocking up on the day.

Broadway Market’s Dove is walk-ins friendly and if it doesn’t have a table for you at the time, someone will call you once it does. Belgian beer heaven inside a continental-style tavern.

Same as sister pub The Dove. The Dovetail in Farringdon is a modern European restaurant with a heavy influence from Belgium in both its food and its drink offerings. 

Popular Brixton boozer with an enormous beer garden. Home to Plonk Crazy Golf’s nine-hole jungle-themed course.

This vaguely Irish pub has long been a Finsbury Park favourite, and that’s 98 percent down to its amazing garden. Drinks are reasonably priced, the Thai food is good and it’s a sport-watchers paradise, but these are just cherries on the verdant layer cake that is its three storeys of leafy nooks, crannies and look-out posts outside. 

This is a new pub in Camden with a great menu and loads of wine. While you can book, the owners also encourage customers to turn up and try their luck with the tables set aside daily for disorganised, happy-go-lucky people like you. 

City pub in Moorgate, near the Roman Wall, the Globe is part of the Nicholson’s chain.

A friendly and thoughtfully stocked pub in an area not stuffed with them. As well as the ciders, almost all beers are from Hackney (Five Points, Crate etc); food is uncommonly good for a pub too. 

Halfway between Brixton and Clapham, the Hope and Anchor has a big old garden.

A pleasant, comfortably furnished, dimly lit neighbourhood drinking and dining spot in a restrained art deco style. Expect gastropub grub and big bunch of beers. 

A 45,000-square-foot market space offering a mixture of Italian and London based artisan producers including ‘the best pizza maker’ from Naples, supposedly. Seats over 500 people. No booking at all. Views of The Shard, if that's your thing.

A New York-inspired bar tucked beneath one of the railway arches on Bethnal Green’s Paradise Row. But there’s a twist. The beers here aren’t just for sitting down and sipping in situ: you can also take them away to savour on your sofa too. And the selection of bottles is staggering – and it’s all judiciously chosen.

Jazz-inflected local fave (with a nice menu) in south London with covered tables set outside for people who just turn up. Looks nice.

A well-loved gastropub in Catford, under new management as of this year. One of the largest beer gardens in all of south London, no less. The menu is now pretty impressive and it’s done a great job of renovating the place while retaining its character.

Built in 1898, this place is absolutely massive. Taxidermy cases and ornate cornicing decorate the central, beer-focused bar, and drinkers take their pick from private booths, fireside armchairs or more sociable clusters of tables and chairs in one of two huge spaces.

Pretend you’re at a gig and hang out in the courtyard smoking area here – complete with broken fountain and faded, crudely painted murals. 

The sign outside announces ‘ale, cider, meat’, and that pretty much sums up what’s on offer at the best pub in Gospel Oak. One of the many great things about the Southampton is that it retains its mixed clientele, long-time residents and newcomers alike – and of all ages. There’s also a pub dog. This is a true local hero.

One of the more mature pubs in the Hackney canon, the Spurstowe Arms works a sophisticated stripped-back charm, never trying too hard to impress. It’s first come first served in the beer garden.

A really great gastropub in Camberwell that’s often less rammed than bars closer to the green. Not because it’s any less inviting, but because it has more space and is tucked away on Coldharbour Lane. There are booths to get comfy in, stylishly mismatched tables and chairs, a lovely skylight and ample outdoor seating in the front and back. Food includes seasonal British pub fare.

A really pleasant oasis tucked away from the hectic high street on a residential road. Head to the balcony for views of leafy De Beauvoir Square.

This bar and restaurant does sell a few good beers, but its always been very popular with wine fans. Lovely pavement seating for walk-ins only. 

The White Hart in Stoke Newington always leave tables reserved for walk-ins.