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The Whitecross Tap, Old Street, EC1

142-146 Whitecross Street
EC1
EC1Y 8QJ

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Served areas

Old Street

Reviews of The Whitecross Tap (Average Rating: 5½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Trader

Set back from the road enough to have various tables and chairs out on the pavement, this former Smith & Jones pub has quite an airy rectangular interior with a pool room at the rear (and small patio beyond). Plenty of window space (with some unusual glazing) and a roof light further back, but the place echoes horribly when busy. Basic wooden furniture, apart from a small lounge area, but the bar counter (with a couple of small screens) looks older. Doom Bar and Adnams Ghost Ship (£4.50) available from two of four handpumps, with Purity Mad Goose just finished and Robinson's Trooper on next.

On 30^th September 2018 - rating: 6
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Tris C left this review about The Trader

Once The Spread Eagle and rebuilt in its current form in the 1930s, renamed The Trader in 1999. This is a large open plan Smith & Jones locals' pub with some wood panelling to the walls, an attractive mirrored bar back and an attractive herringbone parquet floor. There's standard furniture and some games' machines. Music is muted and there are tea lights on the tables to distract the eye from the ugly sauce bottles. Multiple TVs showed sport with the sound down and a pool table is to the rear.
Ales: Sharp's Doom Bar, Sambrook's Wandle and Adnam's Ghost Ship at £2.25 a half and good, though a bit pricey for this neck of EC1.
Worth a look if passing, but the Two Brewers a few yards on is a better bet.

On 1^st December 2017 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2207 recommendations about 2164 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Steve of N21 left this review about The Trader

Located about an 8 minute walk from Old Street station in a not particularly becoming street running north from the Barbican up to Old Street, the Trader is not a bad pub for the area. It is part of the Smith and Jones chain (one of six in the Lonon Area that are part of this arm of the Barracuda pub group), so don’t expect anything traditional, and whatever there might have been is long gone in place of a the modern decor of plain flooring, plain walls, leather sofas, sterile surfaces e.t.c.
The internal space is now one large area arranged into three sections, a main area with the bar area as you enter and then an additional section to the right and a separate room at the back which houses a pool table.
As well as the usual chrome tap stuff there are four real ale handpumps on the bar and these were Sharp's Doom Bar , St Austell Tribute, Hogs Back TEA and Otter Head during my visit. And both the TEA and Otter were well kept.
Fairly lively during my early evening visit with what mainly appeared to be local office workers, and although this pub is a fairly unremarkable chain type pub, it did provide a fairly comfortable and welcoming spot with a decent beer choice in what is largely wasteland area for that sort of thing west of Old Street.

On 27^th November 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]

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