The Old Doctor Butlers Head, Moorgate, EC2

You've gotta love finding these pubs tucked away down old alleyways. This one states that it was founded in 1610 by William Butler, the eponymous Dr. & physician to King James I, rebuilt 1666 after Great Fire and reopened by Shepherd Neame 2002. Enter to wood-floored standing bar area and find good range of 5 Sheps beers, incl Porter, but £3.10 for pint of Spitfire! Beyond this is a seating area adjacent to a sandwich counter servery. Comfortable chatty atmos, albeit 80% suits, obviously, two small plasmas with low-volume SkySportsNews. First floor restaurant and function rooms, apparently. Contrary to previous reviewers, I found the place to be not remotely busy at 13:30 Tues.

Official site of The Old Doctor Butlers Head - www.olddoctorbutlershead.co.uk

Seemingly a very old pub, but this could be a more modern conceit, with lots of dark wood. Either way, a pub of some description has existed here since 1610. This is a Shepherd Neame pub with a large array of their ales - my half of Spitfire Gold was fine and cost £2.20 a half which is good for the area. The pub's interior is split level, TVs show sport and there's a games machine. Furniture is conventional. The TVs, loud music and games machine are the kind of things which don't appeal to me in a pub, so I doubt I'll return.

Official site of The Old Doctor Butlers Head - www.olddoctorbutlershead.co.uk

Another City pub tucked down an alleyway, this one claims a heritage back as far as 1666 and was acquired by Shepherd Neame in the early 2000’s. The exterior and general demeanour of the pub’s frontage as you approach is impressive but I have to say that I was fairly underwhelmed by the interior – it was very plain and most of the floor area is left bare for vertical drinking, with a small raised section at the rear. The bar is to the left as you enter and the rest of the place is low ceilings, wooden floor and wood-panelled walls. A large TV was showing the cricket on my visit. The corridor on the way to the bogs houses a large collection of the punningly war-themed Spitfire posters that caused a micro-fuss a few years back when the Guardianistas got their organically grown hemp knickers in a twist. Five Shepherd Neame ales are spread over six pumps, at £3.45 p/p. My ale was served in a Peroni glass, which perhaps shows a lack of awareness on the staff’s part and whilst not bad, it wasn’t overly-inspiring either. Empty on our Friday afternoon stop-off, this is clearly a place that relies on the nearby office trade to survive. The large empty floorspace merely served to exaggerate the effect. Overall, I wasn’t particularly taken with the place in the way others seem to be – the Jamaica Wine House is a much better bet for an alleyway based ale pub in the City in my opinion.

The only remaining watering hole in what must have been the first chain of pubs ,originally dispensing "medicinal ale" brewed by the notorious quack Dr Butler with all the pubs that sold his potion displaying The Dr Butlers Head signage.These days it dispenses a wide range of Shepherd Neame ales with Kent Best,Spitfire,Master Brew,Bishops Finger and the seasonal Whitstable Bay on offer on my trip.I have to say that I find a lot of Sheps output these days to be rather bland and my visit here did nothing to change my prejudice. This pub has been well reviewed by others ,I thought the interior a little worn and the flat screen on the wall detracted from the traditional atmosphere.I found the history more interesting than the current incarnation.

Randomness Guide to London - Old Doctor Butler's Head entry

Randomness Guide to London - Old Doctor Butler's Head entry

It was doing a pretty good trade at around 3.15 on a Tuesday afternoon, with a fair number of suits who looked as if they couldn't summon up the enthusiasm or energy to drag themselves back to the office. And they were not all watching the cricket. The Kent's Best was pretty good and the barman was friendly and helpful. As you would expect, being down an alleyway with tall buildings adjacent, not much natural light gets in so it is rather dark inside. But no matter, it is still the best pub in the vicinity.