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History of the Reat Ale Twa*ts. with Quinno
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Detail Pages
The George, Temple, WC2
WC2
WC2R 1AP
Pub Type
Metropolitan Pub Co (Greene King)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Ian Mapp left this review about The George
So many options in this are, I am not sure there is enough to make this stand out to warrant a recommendation - as pleasant enough as it is. Nice woodworking detail and gold leaf images on the outside. Inside, long and thin with a bar that had at least 6 hand pull cask on. Too many? Probably.
Two from Park Brewery and I went for Goodnight Pete - a hazy (was it meant to be?) IPA.
Mainly geared up for lunch time diners and smelt very much of fish and chips :-)
On 3rd December 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1714 recommendations about 1688 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about The George
I hadn't planned to visit the George on this trip, but when I was walking from the nearby Cheshire Cheese to the Olde Cheshire Cheese to meet a group of friends I happened to catch a glimpse of a double handful of cask beers on the bar here. I managed to persuade a few of them to join me for a couple of halves on our way to the next scheduled pub. My photos show what I think are seven beers and a couple of ciders, though I may have missed one. I went for a pale beer called Scaramanga, brewed at Gun Brewery in East Sussex and which I can remember drinking in Brighton. Though I don't think it was as good there as it was here (NBSS 3.5 or 4). I was too busy drinking and chatting with my friends to make any notes about the pub, so I may have to come back another time. The beer range and quality would definitely not discourage a return.
On 20th February 2025
- rating: 8
[User has posted 4531 recommendations about 4152 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The George
Absolutely rammed with the afterwork crowd when I rocked up just before 6.00PM yesterday, so I didn’t get much further than the long thin main bar room. The impressive row of nine ale pumps is still in situ on the bar but the beer choice available pre covid is now long gone. So of these, six were unused and Sambrook Wandel and GK IPA were the only beers available with a third pump being pulled through. The Wandel was a decent pint but I didn’t linger long enough to see what went on the third one in use, as the Edgar Wallace just around the corner awaited. The local workers crowd, presumably from the Law courts opposite, seemed to like it, but it didn’t have any great USP’s for me.
On 24th March 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2315 recommendations about 2166 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The George
Situated opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, this makes a great stop for anyone awaiting the outcome of their appeal; will they be there at drinking-up time? Or doing time?
I came here once before about 20 years ago. It’s a good example of brewers’ Tudor, dating from a rebuild of 1898. The interior has obviously been done up to include compulsory Farrow & Ball colour schemes, Victorian lighting, high and low conventional furniture; all a bit predictable, apart from the multiple air-conditioning boxes fixed to the ceiling. Customers seem to be barristers’ clerks, squawking women, whilst journalists use the place during the day. The most interesting item is the ornate bar back with its carved Corinthian capitals. Food is served, much of it to be found on my table. The women’s lavs were out of order, so one of the squawking women decided it would be fun to use the gent’s, which is definitely out of order.
The ale choice was thin, with five unused pumps, then GK IPA, Landlord (reversed) and Old Speckled Hen at £2.45 a half and ok.
This was never a great pub, though it’s better than I recall, but with the lame – and ultimately predictable – ale choice, food remains on tables, loud customers and women in the loo, it’ll be at least another 20 years before I return. In any event, the fabulous Seven Stars is on the north side of the RCJ.
On 3rd November 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2297 recommendations about 2244 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The George
Handy for the Royal Courts of Justice. Quite a long narrow interior with a restaurant upstairs. 9 real ales and "craft keg" served.
On 26th October 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3027 recommendations about 2961 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The George
Unexpected revisit found 9 ales on and a decent spread. My Portobello Market Porter wasn’t much to write home about though, perhaps it was toward the end of the barrel and I was unlucky.
June 2014
Situated opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, this is an attractive Tudor style frontage that’s probably somewhat more modern in construction. A long narrow bar inside, knocked-through but a decent little rear area with a nice fireplace looked inviting though it was too packed to find a seat. Dark, lots of leaded windows and mock Tudor innards. A morass of pumps but half were off, leaving a small selection of Portobello brewery ales. My Porter was in decent shape. A lot of punters tend to spill out into the long side alley adjacent which is where we ended up. Not a bad little stop and with the Edgar Wallace situated at the end of the aforementioned alleyway you can do a good double-header for very little effort. Rated 7
On 2nd April 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5891 recommendations about 5871 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The George
A decent pub with friendly and helpful staff. Nine ales to choose from, so we went for the ABC Pacific Gold and the Hogs Back Golden Ale, both were well kept. The pub attracts well mannered customers and the atmosphere is relaxed and chilled out.
On 30th July 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3725 recommendations about 3725 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The George
An attractive looking mock Tudor frontage which no doubt has bewitched many a tourist, once inside the ceiling maintains the image being black and white beamed, as are areas of the inside walls. Leaded front windows have small stained glass shield inserts. A framed history tells us that the present pub is actually late Victorian but that a pub sat on the site previously, originally as a coffee house. The pub apparently took a hit from the Luftwaffe in 1941 and required a degree of restoration. Inside there is a long and fairly narrow room with the bar on a side wall towards the front, side seating opposite the bar divided by wood and glass screens, the high tables kick in towards the rear, beyond the bar. The far end has a nice semi-separated area through an arch with a central feature fireplace which would be a good spot to secure for a large group.
Décor includes the Royal Coat of Arms, old local photos, a Bass mirror, legal caricatures and beer mats around the bar area.
A decent beer range with the focus on local beers, nine handpumps, Pride, GK IPA, rebadged George Best Bitter (likely to be GK), Mauldon's Suffolk Pride, three from Portobello, Portobello Bitter, Market Porter and Carnival Ale and Three from Twickenham, Naked Ladies, Redhead and Mosaic (reverse clipped). Prices ok for Central London, Carnival was £3.90.
Food served, mains £11 to £16.50 for rib-eye, sarnies £6 to £6.75.
Saturday evenings have "The Funny Side", stand up from 7pm. The afternoon entertainment was a choice of test cricket or the Tour de France on TV.
Despite being in a busy location and opposite the courts the pub was reasonably quiet on my early afternoon visit and I had a choice of seats. The beer was of good quality although service-wise I needed a large top up. A decent spot in an area of a few good pubs, worthy of inclusion in a crawl of the Fleet Street, Temple, Blackfriars area.
On 11th July 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1710 recommendations about 1683 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The George
Difficult to know what's authentic and what's not, both inside and out of this Tudor-style edifice. The bar is as narrow as the frontage suggests, but extends back into another formerly separate room with an open fireplace that is a cosy place to sit on a cold winter evening. There is also a 'Carvery & Bar' upstairs (not visited). Now has nine handpumps on the counter (three more than on my last visit two years ago), offering a few usual suspects plus a good choice of slightly more adventurous ales (e.g. Bonobo Beer from the Florence Brewery, £3.90, and in excellent shape). Easy to walk past, but now well worth popping in.
On 1st February 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8958 recommendations about 8958 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The George
As previous reviewers have mentioned ,this looks like a Victorian recreation of an olde worlde pub ,so although not Tudor,it does have a pleasingly pubby interior.Lots of wood paneling,real fireplaces ,wooden settles and benches in what is a thin room with the bar to the right but extending back to different sections.We arrived at 9pm on a Friday and any afterwork crowd has thinned by then,it was nice and calm.What drove us in was the wide range of real ale advertised on the A board outside.There were 9 handpumps with St Austell Tribute,Sharps Cornish Coaster,Titanic Triple Screw,Buntingford Polar Star,Oakleaf Heart of Gold,Twickenham Yakima,Valley American Brown Ale,Purbeck Solar Power and GK IPA.All ales tried were in very good shape.
The pub looked like a Nicholsons but on enquiring behind the bar ,I was told that it was owned by Greene King ,hence the GK IPA,but I guess leased from GK by someone more enterprising on the ale front.
It merits a revisit and now makes a good double header with the Edgar Wallace,especially if the EW range declines at the end of a Friday session before their weekend closure.
On 29th September 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3076 recommendations about 3076 pubs]