The Crown Tavern, Clerkenwell, EC1

The Crown Tavern is a decent corner pub, well situated on the corner of Clerkenwell Green, although ‘Clerkenwell Concrete’ is nowadays more appropriate, as it’s been a long time since there was anything green in this square. I tend to utilise the Crown Tavern during sunny summer lunchtimes, when you can utilise the metal tables on the ‘green’ outside and it’s a very pleasant spot. But popped in the other cold December evening to catch a pint. Both the internal spaces were very busy with the early evening, after work crowd and first time to utilise the lounge, which was once used as a concert hall and retains some of the original features. I utilise this place because it normally has a decent beer selection and something different from the usual London offerings and although, two of the five pumps were not operational, along with the usual suspects of London Pride and Sambrooks Wandel was Blackout Porter from the Compton brewery. Never eaten here, but for a place for a decent pint, it again was true to form.

Retreated to here after a disappointing experience at the Fox & Anchor. The place was busy with a pre-wedding gathering at the Church around the corner, but it was still easy enough to get served and procure a well-kept pint of Chiswick (incidentally, the beer choice was not amazing here; Landlord, London Pride and an unavailable guest ale my only options). I found this a very pleasant boozer to sit down and have a drink in. Piped music was unobtrusive, and you get the sense this pub has managed to upgrade itself over the years to reflect its trendy location without compromising its appeal and atmosphere. My favourite pub I've so far encountered in the area.

They had several ales on – Canterbury Jack; Timothy Taylor Landlord; London Pride; and Bateman’s Thirsty Work (£3.30 a pint), with Wyre Piddle Summer Splash “settling”. There were daily printed menus rolled up and stuck in glasses on the tables, including such staples as steak & ale pie, chips and mushy peas (£8.75) and sausage and mash (£7.50). This pub has been thoroughly modernised with its original Victorian glass long gone, but a good effort has been made to make it look attractive. It’s bare-boarded as you would expect, with plenty of sofas, a few tall tables and stools, but also with a fair number of normal tables and chairs. The front room, on the corner, is very light having high windows on two sides. This leads, through an archway, to another room that, according to the glass in the door to the street, was once the saloon bar. This room in turn leads to another room at the back that was being used by diners when I was in there – presumably because it was more comfortable to eat from the normal tables and chairs with which this room is furnished. There is some interesting decor in the “saloon” bar – a large and impressive Bass brewery mirror, and an old advert for the pub, and its activities, on one of the corners. It seems that in an upstairs room here in Victorian times they held concerts and dances. This pub is a bit too modernised for my taste, but nonetheless I found it a decent enough place to stop off for a pint. Undoubtedly some of the previous inhabitants of Clerkenwell, notably one Vladimir Lenin, would have found it a bit too bourgeois. But the pint of Thirsty Work that I had was rather nice, and I wouldn’t be averse to popping in for another pint some time.

Randomness Guide to London - Crown Tavern entry