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Submitted on Wednesday, 17^th August 2022
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The Rake, Borough Market, SE1

14 Winchester Walk
SE1
SE1 9AG

Phone: 02074070557

Correct details

Served areas

Borough Market

Tweets by The Rake

The Rake The sun is out and we have the wonderful White Horse Wheat Beer from @neptunebrewery on Cask. Perfect beer for the… https://t.co/0ErM2aukf2 1:49 PM Jun 9th 2023 from Twitter for iPhone

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Reviews of The Rake (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Rake

I'd forgotten how busy Borough Market can be on a weekday lunchtime. There were people everywhere with all food joints having large queues. A mixture of office workers and tourists.

I haven't been to the Rake since 2017. That was an evening (possibly even a weekend). So, I don't recall it being too busy in the area. Nevertheless despite Borough Market being packed, the small room of the Rake was actually very quiet and we easily bagged one of the 3 tables. Most people choose to sit in the outdoor area where there are many more tables.

Beers are listed on an Untappd screen near the bar. There are 4 cask ales - Brew York Centennial Valley, Weekend Project The Circus, Verdant Burnthouse & Tap East Pigeon Harbour. A cider was Seacider Lemon Meringue, whilst many of the craft beer options were Irish themed given it had been St Patrick's Day the day before our visit - Third Barrel Shut Up Juice, Kinnegar Crossroads & Thumper, Whiplash Dying Again, Garage Prime Arcade Sound, Goose Island Lolita, Lough Hill Sligo Pale, Sierra Nevada California IPA, Oso Brew Delirio & Silent Brew Notella.

This is the best pub in the Borough Market area in my view. Our beers were all good quality and the beer range is constantly changing.

On 19^th March 2026 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3459 recommendations about 3457 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

. Wittenden left this review about The Rake

Update May 2022
This pub has been picking up some adverse comments on this site, so as the conclusion of a gentle saunter round The Borough on a sunny mid May Saturday we decided to revisit(in my case for the first time since 2019.) Perhaps owing to some football match, it wasn'nt too busy, the beer, an IPA and Stout from Navigation in good order,partnered by Red Top from Old Dairy. I have to mention that my compadre's red wine was poor, but heigh ho.Yes, I still rate this pub.

Original entry from December 2011:

A small, one roomed pub in the trendy Borough Market, its footprint doubled by the heated decked patio “outside” in the Market. Attracting a young clientele, I was about twenty years older than most on an early Saturday evening in late November.
Primarily a show case for a firm of beer wholesalers in the Market, the Rake is a sister pub to the new Tap East , over at Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre. Three handpumps dispense a constantly changing array of eclectic cask beers, together with “Craft Keg” and a large assortment of specialist bottled beers. Dark Star seems to be a favoured supplier, and a glass of Winter Meltdown proved a fine conclusion to a rigorous day’s beer tourism and reminiscence.

This pub seems a bit less frenetic than the Market Porter, and much less impersonal than Brew Wharf across the way, and is handily placed when I need to wait for a train at London Bridge.

On 22^nd May 2022 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 296 recommendations about 294 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Tris C left this review about The Rake

Dating from at least 1822, though possibly rebuilt later in the 19th century, this was amazingly, once a real pub called the King’s Head, which ceased trading around 1938, only to reopen as a pub – I use the term very loosely – in 2006; that’s quite some history in the Rake’s progress.
After experiencing an absolutely packed Market Porter two nights ago, where bar access was nigh-on impossible, I left in search of further sustenance, only to stumble upon this place to the rear of Borough Market. The interior is absolutely tiny; I don’t think I’ve ever drunk in such a small venue, other than in an aeroplane. The interior is very industrial, with a rough floor, petite rear bar with industrial plank and metal pole shelving, with bright modern sconces to white walls, which have been ‘autographed’ by visiting micro brewers. Furniture comprises just three, tall four-seater scaffold and plank tables, with uncomfortable pressed metal stools, apparently known as the Paris Metal Retro High Bar Stool and so close together that drinkers at the table to my right kept knocking mine whenever they leant back; several times I feared my pint would topple. Actually, they’d have done me a favour as it wasn’t very nice. Customers to the right were a highly objectionable group of young multinational drinkers, swearing their heads off and behaving in a boorish manner, so much so that the two barmaids were somewhat putout, judging by the looks of concern on their kindly faces.
There was a TV info screen advertising 14 keg beers and just one real ale (the Market Porter had on five), flanked by three unused pumps, dispensing Bradfield’s Farmer’s Best at £4.60 a pint, which tasted of burnt leaves.
With the rowdy customers, industrial appearance and just the one rather unpleasant real ale, I really didn’t take to this place one bit, wishing I’d stayed over the road. A wider choice of ale and narrower choice of customer would get the mark up; nice lavs though…

On 2^nd April 2022 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2324 recommendations about 2267 pubs]

View more reviews of The Rake (23)

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

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