The Black Friar, Blackfriars, EC4

Saturday lunch is the time to go! Got a seat - in the most elegant part of the pub. Fantastic building which makes it worth checking out but shocking beer. First pint of black sheep - the barmaid wrapped a paper towel around the pump. I took one sip and refused to pay. Utter bilge water. Replacement pint of doom bar was ever so slightly better. I would recommend popping your head in the door and drinking elsewhere! Photos at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/1nVW6J7

An unusual wedge shaped pub just over the road from Blackfriars station, It has a striking appearance with it’s tall, narrow profile and pointed front and it sits somewhat incongruously amongst the larger and more modern buildings all around. There are also a number of picnic benches outside for the warmer weather. Inside the décor is quite draw dropping and in fact I can think I can safely say that this is the most impressive pub interior I can ever remember seeing. Bronze friezes around the top of the walls and above the bar depict various scenes of monks (friars?) engaged in various activities, whilst a further monk related scene is shown in a stained glass panel at the front of the pub. Elsewhere the large leaded windows let in plenty of light and there is a wood strip floor with wood panelling on the ceiling. A fire-place and copper chimney hood is off to one side, whilst the most remarkable room of all is a smaller area at the rear used as a restaurant. This had marble cladding on the walls and an intricate tiled mosaic ceiling, which was really quite remarkable. Beers on tap were Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, Doom Bar, Nicholson’s Pale Ale, Moorhouse White Wicth, Acorn Barnsley, Truman’s Runner, California and Boys Topsail. After that lot, the solitary cider was a somewhat disappointing Aspall’s Suffolk.

This unique historic pub has been well described by fellow scribes above,but to come upon it after crossing Blackfriars Bridge from the concrete badlands to the south is one of London's finer experiences. My visit, on a warmish May Saturday morning, was my first in getting on for forty years.Daylight enabled me, briefly, to appreciate the ornate exterior decoration.Inside, the pub was filling up with a mix of predominately middle aged tourists, some enjoying a late breakfast.A tight schedule, and the comparatively early hour allowed me a quick glass of Cameron's 150th Celebration Ale, a beefed up bitter sweet take on Strongarm. Being part of Nicholson's, there was a good line up of cask beers, but not many from London on my visit. I'll do my best not to wait another forty years before I return.

Proper ornate traditional interior as you would expect with Nicholson's. Real ale and food served.

Occupying a prominent street corner position close to the north side of Blackfriars Bridge and the recently enlarged Blackfriars Station is The Black Friar, one of London’s most well known and iconic pubs that really should be on everyone’s itinerary for a visit at some stage. It’s a Grade 2 listed wedge shaped building built in 1875 ( but remodelled in Art Nouveau style in 1903 ) on the site of a Dominican Priory that dated back to 1278, but which was destroyed when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538. As we cross the road to the pub, we note its striking and unique distinctive exterior featuring mosaic styling and various copper and bronze panels of friars directing us towards the bar. Note the statue of the monk looking down at us from the corner of the building at its narrowest point. Different doorways tell us that this was once a multi roomed pub, as confirmed by old copper signs on the outside wall. A plaque outside the pub reminds us that it was due for demolition in the 1960’s, but that a public outcry led by Sir John Betjeman saved the building. The interior does not disappoint with distinctive marble and alabaster walls and bronze panels depicting monks engaged in various everyday activities such as eating, drinking, singing and fishing. At the far end is an unusual chapel type snug with various inscriptions on the marble walls such as “wisdom is rare” and “silence is golden”. Since my last visit, this area of the pub has unfortunately been commandeered as a restaurant area with tables laid out for diners and with the usual offputting sign exhorting us to “Please wait to be seated”. Above a fine large inglenook fireplace is a depiction of friars singing. Above the bar, a bronze panel depicts friars frolicking around and tells us that “Tomorrow will be Friday”. Some stained glass and frosted leaded windows add to the overall experience. The newish looking light pine wooden floor does jar somewhat, however. The pub is listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Not surprisingly, this pub is very much on the tourist radar and, especially in the evenings, you will often encounter a guided party of wide eyed Japanese or American visitors calling in and clicking away happily with their cameras for a few minutes before being beckoned outside by their tour guide in order to move on. Formerly a free house, The Black Friar has been in the Nicholsons stable for many years now. There’s usually a good selection of real ales on, served by the usual friendly and enthusiastic staff that one seems to encounter in Nicholsons outlets nowadays, even if their competence and efficiency is not always up to the mark. There’s two banks of 4 pumps which, on my recent early February visit, were offering, in addition to the ubiquitous London Pride and Doom Bar, beers from Downton, Sunny Republic, Broughton, Adnams and Stewart Brewing. Also on was the “house” Nicholsons Bitter which is brewed by St Austell. I initially went for Zymic from Stewart Brewing Co – a 3.8% beer described as “refreshingly extra hoppy “, which certainly matched the description. My companions and I had 4 or 5 of the 8 beers in total between us over the course of the evening and we all agreed that beer quality was first rate, but that the “background” music was insanely over loud, rendering meaningful conversation difficult. But for the cold February air, we would have retreated to the seating area on the wide pavement outside. I was tempted to draw management’s attention to the “silence is golden” inscription on the marble wall in the snug, but years of pub going give you a good feel of when you’re wasting your time, so I didn’t bother. They probably wouldn’t have heard me over the din, anyway, but, if they had, I imagine that I would have been told that it’s a directive from Head Office or something. I did, however, write a rather vitriolic comment in the visitors book on the window ledge by the door, which did at least brighten my mood somewhat. Having said that, you really should try and get here sometime. If you can visit when it’s relatively quiet and not too crowded (early lunchtime, perhaps?), the overall experience is likely to be infinitely better