St Brides Tavern, EC4

This is a pub that I've seen many times from the main road, and only popped in by accident as it started to rain as I walked past with a couple of friends over from the USA. It's probably not a pub that I would choose in order to showcase London's best pubs, but as we had just been to the Olde Mitre and on the way to the Blackfriar I guess we stayed on the plus side regarding our pub visits. Just the two ales on when I was in - Doom Bar and Proper Job, the latter being in good condition. The place hasn't changed since the description by the previous reviewer. I would add that a quick nose in the upstairs room showed that it looked more like a lounge for lounging rather than a bar for drinking; the small downstairs had just four tall tables with tall stools and a couple of normal tables and chairs; and I quite liked the Bass mirror, and lampshades on the window ledge featuring ladies arched backwards as supports. It's a bar with not a lot of character, but my pint of Proper Job was in fine nick.

Just off the main drag. Quite a small bar (didn’t visit upstairs) serving 3 real ales.

Official site of St Brides Tavern - www.stbridestavern.co.uk

Indeed, as mentioned there was a pub here by 1755 knows as the Codgers Hall, later renamed the White Bear and demolished in 1895. My guess is that the current pub dates from the 1960s/70s and I can't for the life of me figure out what the significance is of the gold reliefs showing athletes and a fat Buddha around the top's perimeter. A modern and very bland interior with both conventional tables/chairs and some high stools/tables, with a small bar at the end and an upstairs bar. Ales: Greene King's IPA, London Glory and Hardy & Hanson's (Greene King) Olde Trip which was about as ok as it's ever going to get. This is a rather dreary area with no real reason to visit and given that this is a dreary pub in a dreary area, I don't plan to return.

Official site of St Brides Tavern - www.stbridestavern.co.uk

Small square bar, with semi-modern furniture and decor. Sports TV on silent, with background music instead. Bridewell Bar upstairs (not visited as closed off). As a Greene King house, the IPA on one of three handpumps was inevitable, but it was pleasing to find Itchen Vallley Pure Gold and Green Jack Orange Wheat Beer (expensive at £4.00, and served in a jug). Beer quality is obviously a priority here, with plenty of Cask Marque 'Try before you buy' promotional material around the counter. (NB - Review dates from June 2012.)

The main bar is an immaculately smart single room, with several high tables surrounded by stools, and two low tables with green and brown leather seats. As at last week the three handpumps offered St. Austell Trelawny, a good pint but at a whopping £3.85, Woodforde’s Wherry, and GK IPA. Food offerings included various ‘breads’ ranging from £4.85-£7.45 and three main courses for about a tenner each. I didn’t go in the upstairs ‘Brideswell Bar’, which is advertised as bookable for no fee. I wanted to like this pub but it just felt a bit too fussy for me. I suspect it is tailored for a certain type of local office worker.