Crown & Sugar Loaf, Fleet Street, EC4

A traditional, smart, single room Sam Smiths pub, serving Old Brewery Bitter from hand pump for a recession-busting £2.11 (I guess the penny might make some difference on the sort of margins they're working to). Other Sam's brews available on tap are the Extra Stout, Cider Reserve, Organic Wheat Beer, and Pure Brewed and Taddy lagers, and a wider range of bottled offerings. Traditional pub grub is available from 12-3 and 6-8 Monday-Friday. A good venue for Sam Smiths aficionados, and as one of the quietest pubs in the area a good place for a relaxing beer. I will continue to pop in from time to time, when in the right sort of mood.

The Crown and Sugar Loaf is a Sam Smiths pub with the usual interesting décor and is one of the few that is now found with Old Brewery Bitter on hand pump. The lack of any mainstream draught is evident, but the SS brews are very cheap. There is no TV or music and the usual dartboard found in this chain’s pubs is lacking, but this is probably due to the small size of the bar area. Food is served everyday from midday until 15:00 and from 18:00 until 20:00 and when I visited at 17:30 on Wednesday last week a guy was sitting at the bar eating a baguette purchased off premises and the staff didn’t seem at all concerned. On an epic crawl of the area two days before Christmas this was by far the quietest pub and the only noise was generated from a couple of blokes playing the quiz machine. OK if one likes SS pubs, but I’m not the greatest fan so I cannot see a return visit anytime soon.

Randomness Guide to London - Crown And Sugarloaf entry

Randomness Guide to London - Crown And Sugarloaf entry