The Hand & Shears, EC1

Hidden away down a narrow back street, just a short walk from Barbican tube station, this is a very pleasant, multiple roomed pub which has done well to retain its traditional layout and feel. The pub is centred around an island servery with a dark wood counter, simple gantry and obscured glass bar back. Some decorative, frosted windows run around two sides of the pub, some of which include a few fine examples of period glasswork, including a stylish ‘Public Bar’ pane to the front. The left side of the pub opens out into a reasonable sized seating area with full height wall panels, a dark varnished floor and lincrusta covered ceiling, much like the rest of the pub. The doorways connecting each of the four rooms around the servery each have interesting, openable windows above them, although I’m not entirely sure what practical purpose they were installed for. The left hand room offers chair and bench seating under a collection of Hogarth pictures and other such depictions of olde London life and a compact fireplace with large plain mirrors above. The rear room has hard benches along the rear wall and seemed to be the most popular spot, being pretty much packed out compared to the very quiet left hand room. This extends around to the right hand side of the pub, where the room narrows considerably, before bringing you back round to the front bar again. A dreadfully soppy soundtrack played throughout my stay, thankfully drowned out by the chatter from the group in the rear room for the most part. There were three beers on handpull on this visit, with a choice of Taylor’s Landlord, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Thornbridge Jaipur. The latter was £4.50 for a pint and in great shape – a timely reminder of how good this beer can be in the right hands. The barmaids seemed very friendly and operated like a well-oiled machine – always seeming to know where the next order was coming from and getting the pints out in rapid fashion. This is a great pub for anyone keen to visit a simple, unpretentious back street pub with a real time-warp feel to it. I enjoyed my well kept pint here and enjoyed a circuit of the pub’s various rooms, but found the cramped conditions combined with a healthy post-work crowd made it a little tricky to settle down and get comfortable. A great find for the traditionalist and worth a look for the sort of interior you rarely find in Central London.

A rather splendid little corner pub that has somehow retained four wood-panelled rooms around a central servery (of which the 'Private Room' is almost a snug, although it is also the most plainly decorated). The main Public Bar is quite small and plain too, but the slightly larger side room and Saloon Bar to the rear are decorated with a variety of prints and other traditional accoutrements. Four handpumps on the front counter and two more at the back, with Landlord, Absolute from Madness, Reunion Beardtongue ruby ale (£4.50) and Thornbridge Jaipur available when I visited (with a reversed Doom Bar clip also noted). Overall, if you are looking for a proper old-fashioned (in the best way) pub in central London but away from the tourists then this one is hard to beat.

Proper pub with a nice old school exterior and interior. Central island bar serves the 4 “rooms” that circle the bar (didn’t visit upstairs). 5 real ales.