please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Taken to this PH by friends. It lacked atmosphere staff were polite, the food was very average and over priced £9.50 for two tiny slivers of cheese 4 tiny slices of toast and a teaspoon of chutney is in my opinion taking the P. would have complained but were with friends who recommended it
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Pleasant busy pub somewhat lacking in ale selection.
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Pleasant bar but avoid the food. Overpriced and really rather naff!
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As others have said, it's not a bad pub, though I'd agree that it can't seem to make up it's mind whether it actually wants to be a restaurant, a pub or a wine bar. Anyway, It's certainly better than the Cos bar next door. That said, in my opinion, the beer is not actually up to much. I don't have a problem with Fullers pubs (or beers) but the ale here just doesn't seem right to me....more of a keg texture to it, although its' pulled from a hand pump. Certainly, The Blackfriar down the road has a far better range and in much better condition. Still, it's an ok place if you need an "all things to all men" type of pub/bar and for a pub, they do have a decent selection of wines.
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I've worked within 15 minutes of this place for eight years now, but unaccountably had never visited it until recently. It isn't bad: a Fuller's house that is positioned somewhere between pub and bar. Two ales on handpump: Pride and Discovery, and the Discovery went down very nicely. On a hot summer evening there is a nice space in the (traffic-free) street outside, making this a decent place to drink in the area.
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Attractive curved exterior, with a bright modernised interior featuring a split-level bar but mostly traditional wooden furniture. As you would expect, it gets pretty busy when the nearby offices close (but at least they don't put the music up too loud unlike many City pubs). Although a Fullers house, it only features two handpumps - Pride and Discovery at �3.40. Overall, a slightly curious (but not unappealing) mixture of old and new.
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Good beer but expensive - not what I would call a real pub, more of a restaurant that sells real ales. Worth a visit though.
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One of the best pubs in the area the beer is always top quality. Just what the doctor ordered for an after work drink on Friday, it can be busy but the atmosphere is good.
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This is badged as a Fullers Pub and Eating House - but on my visit yesterday, it was definitely more pub than eating house. Evidently attracts the younger City "suits". This is not my kind of place and I cant see myself doing this one with The Cockpit just over the road and The Blackfriar close by, both of which are infinitely preferable in my book
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The SMDC visited Shaws Booksellers on a Wednesday evening. The pub was very busy, but we were able to find ourselves a table before too long.
Often on our evenings out, pubs typically calm down by 8pm or so, but Shaws was still heaving at 9pm.
The food is very basic, but the chips (wedges) went down well. However, we had to move on elsewhere for a proper dinner - despite the facilities and tables, Shaws doesn't seem to manage more than snacks, nibbles, sharers and some very rustic looking pizzas.
Nice to find Hoegaarden on the taps... pity they don't know how to serve it. When my pint appeared on the bar, I asked for a twist of lime that should've been in there. Seconds later I was shouting over the bar for the waitress to stop, and she deftly dropped a splash of lime cordial into my glass - honestly! The slices were right infront of her!
Not a bad place, but by no means repeatable in the SMDC's cruise around London and City pubs.
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I liked it, I have to say. Well-presented, no gaudy neon lights, no OTT ads for beer in the window. This may have been a sop to the good Bishop who, I am told, is a neighbour. Wonder if he ever pops down for a tipple? Anyway, first impressions of this place are good.
Interesting decor inside, bit different from the usual chain pub we get all-too accustomed to. Atmosphere was good, and quite a nice place to be in. Location would impress our tourists - quaint London lane, up a little hill. Easy to get to, lots of transport links nearby. Loos were adequate, and well-maintained.
I liked the selection of beer - the Kirin was nice and crisp. Pint bottles of Magner's Cider were selling well, and the Guinness drinkers told me their pints were 'spot on'. As it's a Fuller's pub, there was a good selection of Chiswick-brewed beers there too. There was a well-thought out Wine list, and prices for both the beer and wine were what you'd expect from a City pub. I didn't feel ripped off.
I didn't sample the food - I arrived too late - but my mates who had been there since earlier in the evening assured me it was good.
Would have to knock it on the smoke - although our group of about 15 bods didn't have a single smoker amongst us, it was a bit hazy, and my clothes stunk of smoke the next day.
Staff were friendly and efficient. Wish there were more like them around!
Gets a 7 from me - a bit less smoke, and we'd be pushing a 9 - it really is a nice place. Well worth a visit.
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This has never been a booksellers. It was once a paper merchant's some time ago.
anonymous - 8 Feb 2006 13:28 |
Love this place. Ex-bookshop (clue is in the title!) converted into a pub with an abundance of atmosphere.
Great for outdoor summer drinking...... but beware the very narky Bishop of City of London who lives next door. He gets very touchy about people drinking outside his abode!!!
anonymous - 8 Feb 2006 13:19 |
A nice bar, with good atmosphere, great Fuller's beers (London Porter in the winter and Honeydew in the summer) and pretty decent pub food.
Other commments have mentioned it's expensive, but no more so than other places around - for example the Evangelist (but excluding the dirt-cheap Goose that's next door).
Can get quite busy on occassions (Friday lunch & after 5), and one time when we went to stand outside, told we couldn't.
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I lived in one of the flats above Shaws for 4 months in early 2001, it was great on a warm night to go down and have a guiness or to out on the footpath with the rest of the crowd. I was rapt to see this site while surfing and loking up places I had seen in my travels around Europe. Good pub, great staff (but likely to have all moved on by now).
Ray (Australia) - 11 Oct 2004 12:42 |
This is now a Fuller's pub (a recent change I think) so real ales are from that brewery - and they tasted good. The atmosphere was lively and the pub was still busy when I left at 10pm. The food was gorgeous, but I couldn't afford to eat there every day.
Graham - 24 Jun 2004 17:18 |
I ate here with two friends last night. One meal was cold and another was burnt. The service was very slow despite the fact that the restaurant wasn't busy.
I won't be visiting again.
James Reilly - 27 Feb 2004 12:08 |
The food here is lovely, but if you were to frequent this establishment on a daily basis you would soon be broke!! I was astonished when the bill for a glass of wine came to �5!!! If they bothered to put the heating on during winter - this price would seem fair-ish but to charge the earth to sit in a deepfreeze semed a tad cheeky.
gail4377 - 24 Feb 2004 16:09 |
Good selection of real ales, lagers and wine. Very good food and pretty cheap prices for the City - consistently the best chips I have ever had...
Peter Collins - 22 Aug 2003 12:20 |
