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Image posted by Just a quick pint, then I'm off
Submitted on Saturday, 28th September 2024
With picture contributions to 11465 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (30 more images)
Detail Pages
The Old Doctor Butlers Head, Moorgate, EC2
EC2
EC2V 5BT
Served areas
Reviews of The Old Doctor Butlers Head (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Old Doctor Butlers Head
Fine old City pub, hidden away in a small alley. Quite a plain dark-wood interior, with little furniture in the 'vertical drinking' zone around the bar but some basic tables and chairs on a small raised area further back. Restaurant upstairs, but with no traffic you can usually find many of the customers outside. Six handpumps - usually with a reasonable selection from the Shepherd Neame range - with Master Brew, Whitstable Bay Pale, Creekside and Spitfire available on this visit. Well worth seeking out.
On 23rd January 2026
- rating: 8
[User has posted 9022 recommendations about 9022 pubs]
Steve of N21 left this review about The Old Doctor Butlers Head
Was primarily in the passageway to take a look at the new pub opened next door but had to pop in to reacquaint myself with this lovely old pub and found it completely unchanged from my last visit three years ago. In an area now largely dominated by newbuild bars and pubs its good to have this and the nearby Globe surviving to educate future generations what pubs used to be like in this part of the City.
Almost the full range of Shep Neame Cask available across the hand pumps and quite a lot of their keg offerings on the chrome taps as well. But I fortunately spotted a sign promoting some of their bottled products, including their 1698 Kentish Strong Ale and the Christmas Ale. I went for the latter and it was a great drop on a cold wet December night.
The only quibble I have with this place is that there is not a great deal of seating and virtually impossible to get one during the after-work hours. But hopefully the new shiny bar opening next door may deflect a few and reserve this one for the ale drinkers.
On 19th December 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2317 recommendations about 2167 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Komakino . left this review about The Old Doctor Butlers Head
A dark-wooded Shepherd Neame pub located up an alley off Moorgate, I initially thought this was a Nicholson's pub; them being so beloved of such decor. It's a single room on two levels with two front entrances; the bar is to your left on entry and there's a raised area in the second half of the room beyond the bar. According to 'writing' printed onto a ceiling beam, this was founded in 1610 by Dr William Butler, Court Physician to James I. A victim of the Great Fire of London, it was rebuilt in the same year (1666) and "re-opened" by Shepherd Neame in 2002. Six handpumps offered 4 x SN brews (with one pump clip reversed and another pump unclipped) in the form of Spitfire, Whitstable Bay, Citra Smack and Master Brew. I managed to select an untried (to me) SN brew in the Citra Smack for £5.80, only be presented with a pint of vinegar. Exchanged without fuss, a replacement Master Brew was only so-so and a cursory glance around the busy, afterwork-crowded room saw no-one else on the ale. Sorry, but brewery-owned pubs should pride themselves on their beer quality: especially a smallish one like this boasting six handpumps. Me having to explain why my pint might not have been right to the four staff present made me feel like Homer Simpson talking to the two other guys guarding the bee in the glass jar.
On 6th September 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1086 recommendations about 1086 pubs]
View more reviews of The Old Doctor Butlers Head (10)
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- Official site of The Old Doctor Butlers Head - www.olddoctorbutlershead.co.uk
- Randomness Guide to London - Old Doctor Butler's Head entry
- Facebook - The Old Doctor Butler's Head
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Old Doctor Butlers Head - whatpub.com
London Cannon Street, 0.45 miles, 8 min walk (show)
London Liverpool Street, 0.51 miles, 9 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Jukebox : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes - Shepherd Neame. - last updated 25 August 2016 by Tris C
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