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Submitted on Tuesday, 6^th February 2024
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Old Fountain, Old Street, EC1

3 Baldwin Street
EC1
EC1V 9NU

Phone: 02072532970

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Served areas

Old Street

Tweets by Old Fountain

Old Fountain We’re looking for some great chefs to join our lovely little team https://t.co/GeCdPmki8K 7:19 PM Feb 6th 2023 from Twitter for iPhone

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Reviews of Old Fountain (Average Rating: 8 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Steve of N21 left this review about Old Fountain

Am ashamed to say this was my first time back in here since the pandemic and fair to say it’s not the Real Ale mecca it once was, but it is still a very decent pub.
The two ale pumps on the front bar section now sit forlornly unclipped and you have to go to the back bar section to find the remaining five pumps and a large chalk board detailing the more extensive list of some 14 craft keg options available.
There were four ales and a cider on the five pumps for our visit, and these included Kirkstall brewery Three Swords Pale Ale, Iron pier Rosherville Red Ale and JW Lees Stout and I can’t remember the fourth.
The pub was reassuringly busy on this Thursday evening and its fair to say that most were of a younger demographic than us and they were much more interested in the craft keg options.

On 9^th November 2025 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2311 recommendations about 2163 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

The Chairman left this review about Old Fountain

Visited for the first time in quite a few years, and was quite disappointed. I was hoping to find the selection of 8 or 10 beers that I remembered and found only 2 cask beers alongside a selection of craft keg.The Northdown Bitter Seas best bitter was quite acceptable (£5.80 a pint), but the choice of that or Oakham Citra wasn't what I was looking for.

On 31^st May 2024 - rating: 6
[User has posted 58 recommendations about 57 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Quinno _ left this review about Old Fountain

Been a surprisingly long time since I darkened its doors, so made a point of including this one on a Sunday post-Xmas crawl with a couple of pals. Unlike the Wenlock, this actually opened when it said it would on Sunday afternoon; on mentioning the not-open Wenlock the barman pulled a face which told us all we needed to know. Four cask on, 2x Kent, Vocation and Oakam Citra. Excellent quality, managed to work through three of the four (NBSS 4, 3.5, 3.5). One downside was that almost all the tables were reserved for food consumption, though the friendly barman made sure we had somewhere to sit, even if it was an awkward alcove in the corner underneath the dart board. On leaving I realised that in all these years I’ve never remembered to look at the roof terrace! Next time.

October 2017
It’s all gone a little upmarket here – new white & gold exterior signage, removal of carpet and slightly more eclectic grub. There’s also an upstairs roof terrace which I forgot to check out, having come in during a biblical downpour. However the range and quality of the ales remain. £4.10 for my Oakham Citra which, when served as well as this one was, is quite acceptable for London. Still one of Zone 1’s premier beer destinations. Rated 9

June 2013
Recent revisits have found the Old Fountain to be thriving - an excellent array of ales on the go. The interior has had a little spruce-up. Good food is offered and I’ve sampled both the pork bap and pizzas which are really good and wallet-pleasingly cheap. The overhauled gents are a plus and there's now some interesting stuff on keg like Magic Rock (which happily also makes it regularly onto handpump). Its fame has spread and there’s often no spare tables after chucking out time from the nearby offices later in the week. It’s now also open Saturdays too. Beware that food starts after 5. Also a dart board but I've never seen it used. Rated 9

May 2009
Had walked past a couple of times thinking that this place was a classic rough Hoxton boozer, so was shocked when I finally went in to find a whole host of interesting and eight well-kept beers. These are mostly from microbreweries bar the London Pride, which I gather is the house beer. In my half-a-dozen visits I have thoroughly enjoyed my beers and the standards are very high. Paulaner and Bitburger lagers are also available, but it’s sadly lacking a decent cider. TARDIS-like inside, there are two carpeted bars on split levels and the pub has an entrance in the streets on each side. The interior decoration is a bit staid, bar the comedy fish tank…think the Wenlock with more space and a carpet that still retains the carpet element. There’s a food servery, with a selection of doorstep wedge sarnies, pizzas etc at reasonable prices (only available after 5 weeekdays, all-day Saturday). The clientèle are a good mixed bunch, though it can be a little quiet during the daytime before the nearby offices chuck out. It's well worth stopping for and highly recommended to ale fans. Beware that it’s only open 11-11 weekdays. Rated 9

On 20^th February 2024 - rating: 8
[User has posted 5891 recommendations about 5871 pubs]

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This pub features in the following crawls:
Gillhalfpint by train man
London crawl - March 2010 by Gill Smith

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