The Three Kings, Clerkenwell, EC1

Situated on a bend in the road, this is an attractive half tiled pub sporting an old Watney Coombe Reid sign, leaded windows, floral displays over the roof where the first floor is set back. An unusual shape resulting in a small squint ended room with a black lacquered floor, a red ceiling with beams wrapped in newspaper and seating at benches, regular chairs and banquettes. The bar is on the back wall, ales offered were Landlord, Harvey's Sussex Best (£4.45), Purity Gold with one unclipped. Food served and looked surprisingly good value for the area but I cannot vouch for it. A montage of photos of actors and musicians, a huge Chet Baker poster, modern art above the bar gantry and a nice framed map make up a substantial part of the decor. Additionally a glass case of old toys, from the 50s, 60s and so on were a fascinating glimpse back to the past and my own childhood. I found this to be a lovely and rather quirky pub, unusual for Central London, you have to accept these beer prices in certain parts unfortunately and I would drop by again, if not for a wallet busting session.

The Three Kings is situated in a quiet area of Clerkenwell. This pub seems to appear in lots of books about London pubs,so while in the area me and the wife thought we would give it a go. Once inside we only noticed a single room where the bar was,this room had lots of bits and bobs dotted around and was fairly small. There were three real ales on the bar,we had a drink of Youngs bitter which went down well on a warm evening,the other beers were,London Pride and Old Speckled Hen. This was a decent pub to have drink in,but not one to stay for a session. Pub visited 17/8/2006