Old Kings Head, Shoreditch, EC2

Tapered corner pub, retaining more of an old-school boozer character than most in the area. The square central servery leaves a rather awkward layout of irregularly-shaped seating areas on three sides. Mixed furniture and decor, with some potted plants on the window ledges adding a modicum of interest. Just Young's Ordinary (£4.20) available from the pair of handpumps on two sides of the counter.

Official site of Old Kings Head - oldkingshead.london

Official site of Old Kings Head - oldkingshead.london

Well described below, this is indeed a bit tricky to find which is probably why the young hoards haven't invaded it. The original Truman's tiling remains as does a board - painted over - to the rear wall: there are Truman's sign brackets too. Inside, the bar and bar back seem to be modern. The interior is part carpeted and furniture is largely traditional, the crowd is mixed and the barmaid was extraordinarily friendly. Muted music played whilst Olympic shenanigans could be viewed on two TVs, thankfully with the sound off. Ales: Sharp's Doom Bar and Truman's Zephyr at £2.00 a half which was on fine form and very cheap for this achingly fashionable enclave. I'd come here again if in the vicinity as - fairly - traditional boozers are hard to come by in this area, but the place could do with a better choice of ale.

As you enter your eye is immediately drawn to the two handpumps on the right, one clipped with Young’s Bitter and the other Courage Director’s when I was in on Wednesday lunchtime. But there are a further couple of pumps around to the left of the bar counter, one with a Doom Bar clip (obviously) and the other unclipped. This is not an overly exciting ale selection, but my pint of Young’s Bitter was in tip top condition, and at the very reasonable price of £3.40 a pint. The good value is extended to the food as well - sarnies are £2.50 for standard fare such as tuna mayo or cheese and salad, with more fancy options, such as chicken, bacon and avocado at £3.50. “Lunchtime Savers”, such as homemade hamburger and chips (I had this, and it was good quality and came with real chips, not those skinny fries that you often get), available from 12 – 3, are £5 a pop, and a specials board on the wall advertised a daily special ranging from £6 - £9. The Wednesday special was a half roast chicken and chips for £7, and was popular enough that they had sold out by 1.0 o’clock. Completing the consumables was a chalkboard above the bar counter offering coffees, with the standard Americino being £1.40. The pub looks most attractive from the outside with its original brewery green tiled walls, but inside there’s little if anything of heritage value. The large central servery has the eating and drinking area wrapped around it and is furnished entirely with normal tables and chairs, and a few small round stools. If I had any criticism of the furnishings it would be that they are crammed a bit too close together. Other items of interest are the the distiller’s mirror on one of the walls, and the pub cat who took up residence on the counter, resting contentedly between drinkers’ pints. The cat was so at home that at one point it allowed one punter to rest his newspaper on its back. He must have been a regular as I can’t imagine any pub cat worth his salt allowing a casual visit to take such a liberty! There are a few seats outside, plus inside I spotted a TV on one of the walls (switched off when I was in). Even with the somewhat unexciting ale choice I regard this pub as something of a find. It’s comfortably furnished, welcoming (the pub landlord said he hoped I was from Time Out when he spotted me taking a photo!), and very reasonably priced for this part of the world.

The Old Kings Head is on the apex of two streets which gives it is distinctive shape. The pub is in a quiet area of EC2 and is quite hard to find in the maze of streets around here,i thought the pub looked quite nice from the outside with green tiles and once inside the pub seemed unaltered with a few different rooms to drink in. Sadly there wwre no real ales on here and the only bitter was John Smiths smooth which was a bit of a let down for a decent old pub like this,i had a Guinness. Pub visited 21/8/2008