The Olde Wine Shades, EC4

An interesting old building, and really that was the only reason I was here: it features in a book of walks between interesting London pubs that I was following on my winter visits to London. Is it a pub? Well, no - not really. It's mostly a wine emporium, though there are seven keg fonts serving lager, cider and Guinness. I went for Camden Hells, which was particularly nasty. It was pretty quiet here, and I was glad I had come - perhaps I should have had a glass of wine instead. Date of visit: 9th February 2022

The Olde Wine Shades retains an olde worldie feel even though it is now run by the Spanish chain El Vino. The bar on the right wall facing seating down the left supports three keg products which were Shepherd Neame’s Whitstable Bay, Estrella Galicia and Guinness. Midway up the pub is a step up to a rear seating area and there is a seating area downstairs, but an event was in progress so didn’t get to have a gander. Unsurprisingly there is a tapas food menu.