The Magpie, Bishopsgate, EC2

Official pages of the Magpie, contains menus and cask ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

Official pages of the Magpie, contains menus and cask ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

This pub was full of City types still hard at it in the pub well after 2 o'clock. Well, it is Christmas, I suppose. They had Landlord, Pride and Santa's Tipple on. This is clearly a low-ceilinged old pub with lots of character although it has been given the usual Pubco's London makeover – cream painted ceilings with names of beers painted on the “beams”. But it's OK as it goes – there are many, many worse places to have a drink in the City. London Pride at £2.60 a pint is pretty good for this area as well. Certainly worth dropping in for a pint if you are in the area.

One of the better Nicholson's offerings in the area. A proper city pub tucked away down a side road opposite Liverpool Street station. Outside is usually void of traffic so OK for outside drinking, which helps as this is not a big pub and can get rammed with the early evening after work crowd. Usually good and varied beer choice at reasonable pricing levels . For our visit this week there were ten ales on which included the usual TT Landlord and Golden Best, and Fullers London Pride, but several seasonal ales from smaller brewers (Davenports The Fall ) and some Micro's such as Springhead Polar Bear. All the beers we tried were in good condition and the only gripe was that there was some serious short pulling going on during the early evening busy period, and top ups had to be requested more times than you should have to. Fortunately this improved as the pub quietened down. But in conclusion a very decent city boozer close to Liverpool Street station.

Great pub with 6 real ales and good food