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The Cittie of Yorke
Due to myriad reasons I don’t visit pubs as frequently as I did during my Cardiff days – not least the outrageous price of a pint here, but perhaps also my marriage to a person who feels I have ‘alcohol dependency issues’ just because I have one (1) beer at dinner once in a while… ok I’m kidding about the latter.
But one thing I did find lacking in London, when we just moved here, were decent pubs. Sure there was that funky pub in Bounds Green (The Ranelegh) in the beginning, but it was in Bounds Green, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Over time though, I discovered the pubs operated by Samuel Smith – a Yorkshire brewery – of which there are around 30 in London.
The Sam Smith’s pubs are great not only because their pints aren’t much more than £2, but mainly because they exclusively sell their own brews. For someone like myself, who prefers a nice lager over an ale, it makes a nice change to the continental shitty lagers served in other pubs (which do not taste like they do on the continent anyway…).
The pubs could perhaps be compared with the Wetherspoons chain, also known for its cheap beer, but it definitely does not have that nasty corporate feel to it. The independence of the Smith’s pubs extends itself to their entire range of drinks – there are no soft drinks or spirits on sale from major corporations. Sure, to keep costs down they don’t play any music, but who needs loud music anyway?
Here are three Samuel Smith’s pubs that I can definitely recommend:
- The Chandos, 29 St Martins Lane WC2N 4ER, is right next to St Martin’s church. Took me a while to make it in here as I initially thought that any pub opposite the National Gallery would have extortionate prices. Have been told that the cubicles here are the remnants of the building being used as a whore house, but don’t quote me on this.
- The Cittie of Yorke, 22 High Holborn London WC1V 6BN, is located at the boundaries of the City. It usually fills up quickly after office hours, but can be a bit deserted during the weekend (when the photo above was taken). Oddly, this pub also features the same wooden cubicles as those in the Chandos but not sure about its whore house credentials.
- The Duke of Argyll, 26 Great Windmill St W1D 7LQ, located just behind Piccadilly Circus in Soho. Found this place by accident when visiting London in 2006, but it has remained a firm favourite when I am in that neck of the woods. Also check out the ‘Vintage Magazine Shop’ opposite this pub, which has a great collection of pop culture posters, greeting cards etc.
