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Pub Of The Month - October 2025 with ROBCamra on the Pub Forum

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Submitted on Thursday, 20^th February 2025
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The Cheshire Cheese, Temple, WC2

5 Little Essex Street
WC2
WC2R 3LD

Phone: 02078362347

Correct details

Served areas

Temple

Reviews of The Cheshire Cheese (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Bucking Fastard left this review about The Cheshire Cheese

A 3* rated CAMRA Heritage pub down a quiet alley near the Temple underground and legal profession.A Shepherd Neame house with a street corner location in pleasing brickwork with some ornate exterior windows and leaded glasswork.The interior is small and traditional with bench seating to one side,two high tables and an attractive bar with an upper area in stained glass.Brass ornaments,wood panelling ,bar stools yet it wouldnt take many punters to fill the interior and the atmosphere is traditional and pubby.There is a basement bar unused on my Saturday afternoon visit.
At the bar Shepherd Neame Hop Pocket,Late Red and Whitstable Pale (decent,NBSS 3.5) with standard kegs.A very fine example of brewers tudor,small and perfectly formed a good pub for a quiet pint when it's not busy.

On 21^st September 2025 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3040 pubs]

Will Larter left this review about The Cheshire Cheese

Not to be confused with the Olde Cheshire Cheese a short walk away on Fleet Street, this is a Shepherd Neame pub but like its near namesake it also figures on Camra's inventory of historic interiors. It's fairly small and dark, with a low ceiling, and not as interesting as the Sam Smiths pub with which it shares a name. The bar counter has four hand pumps with just two beers on when I was here on a Wednesday afternoon, and a third pump clip turned around. These were Whitstable Bay and One Hop Wonder, the latter a 4.5% blonde. I had a half of each, in the interests of research, and found them to be fairly well kept but neither of them particularly inspiring (NBSS 2.5 or 3). Service was friendly and efficient but it was pretty quiet towards the end of a midweek lunch time. I was charged what is to me a quite astonishing £6.50 for the two halves, but two customers who arrived as I was supping up paid just over £15 for two pints of Cruzcampo, so it looks like I got off lightly.

On 20^th February 2025 - rating: 6
[User has posted 4491 recommendations about 4122 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Tris C left this review about The Cheshire Cheese

Dating from at least 1791, this pub was rebuilt in 1928 by noted pub architect, Noel Parr, in the brewers’ Tudor style, inside and out, a feat which gets the place grade II-listed status and an inclusion on CAMRA’s list of pubs with an interior of Regional Importance, best appreciated on their website.
A TV played banal silence for no obvious reason, which was very distracting; at least it didn’t clash with the rather loud rap music. Tables are mainly tall, but the overall feeling is quite atmospheric, due to the dark wood interior, with some internal leaded occluded glass. However, the presence of what I can only guess were barristers’ clerks as customers, is never an asset.
A very friendly barman presided over two unused pumps, then just Whitstable Bay (off) and Spitfire at £2.70 a half, a bit dull and too cold.
Making for a good double with the Edgar Wallace across the road, this is worth popping for a snoop and quick half, but I doubt I’d want to linger.

On 26^th November 2021 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2283 recommendations about 2232 pubs]

View more reviews of The Cheshire Cheese (14)

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