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St Brides Tavern, EC4

1 Bridewell Place
EC4
EC4V 6AP

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Pub Type

Greene King

Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Rex Rattus left this review about St Brides Tavern

This is a pub that I've seen many times from the main road, and only popped in by accident as it started to rain as I walked past with a couple of friends over from the USA. It's probably not a pub that I would choose in order to showcase London's best pubs, but as we had just been to the Olde Mitre and on the way to the Blackfriar I guess we stayed on the plus side regarding our pub visits.

Just the two ales on when I was in - Doom Bar and Proper Job, the latter being in good condition. The place hasn't changed since the description by the previous reviewer. I would add that a quick nose in the upstairs room showed that it looked more like a lounge for lounging rather than a bar for drinking; the small downstairs had just four tall tables with tall stools and a couple of normal tables and chairs; and I quite liked the Bass mirror, and lampshades on the window ledge featuring ladies arched backwards as supports. It's a bar with not a lot of character, but my pint of Proper Job was in fine nick.

On 13th June 2022 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about St Brides Tavern

A back street pub with fewer customers than some of the others at the time of my late afternoon/early evening crawl of the area. The bar counter is quite small, and gives the room the feel of a hotel bar in a run down seaside resort. The strange drapes, all pelmet and no curtains, above the slightly curved front window, are something to be seen, and on the walls I also observed two technical drawings of Tower Bridge and of the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster, the latter being incorrectly labelled Big Ben. Three hand pumps offered Fullers London Pride, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Timothy Taylor Landlord, typical of the mainstream beers to be seen in the pubs in this area. I went for the last named, which I thought was in good condition, though while I was drinking my half I observed a fresh barrel being pulled through, which says something about the throughput here (or about my taste buds, of course).

On 24th October 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


hondo . left this review about St Brides Tavern

Just off the main drag. Quite a small bar (didn’t visit upstairs) serving 3 real ales.

On 25th October 2018 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about St Brides Tavern

Indeed, as mentioned there was a pub here by 1755 knows as the Codgers Hall, later renamed the White Bear and demolished in 1895. My guess is that the current pub dates from the 1960s/70s and I can't for the life of me figure out what the significance is of the gold reliefs showing athletes and a fat Buddha around the top's perimeter.
A modern and very bland interior with both conventional tables/chairs and some high stools/tables, with a small bar at the end and an upstairs bar.
Ales: Greene King's IPA, London Glory and Hardy & Hanson's (Greene King) Olde Trip which was about as ok as it's ever going to get.
This is a rather dreary area with no real reason to visit and given that this is a dreary pub in a dreary area, I don't plan to return.

On 23rd September 2016 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about St Brides Tavern

Small square bar, with semi-modern furniture and decor. Sports TV on silent, with background music instead. Bridewell Bar upstairs (not visited as closed off). As a Greene King house, the IPA on one of three handpumps was inevitable, but it was pleasing to find Itchen Vallley Pure Gold and Green Jack Orange Wheat Beer (expensive at £4.00, and served in a jug). Beer quality is obviously a priority here, with plenty of Cask Marque 'Try before you buy' promotional material around the counter. (NB - Review dates from June 2012.)

On 3rd March 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Old Blue left this review about St Brides Tavern

The main bar is an immaculately smart single room, with several high tables surrounded by stools, and two low tables with green and brown leather seats. As at last week the three handpumps offered St. Austell Trelawny, a good pint but at a whopping £3.85, Woodforde’s Wherry, and GK IPA. Food offerings included various ‘breads’ ranging from £4.85-£7.45 and three main courses for about a tenner each. I didn’t go in the upstairs ‘Brideswell Bar’, which is advertised as bookable for no fee.

I wanted to like this pub but it just felt a bit too fussy for me. I suspect it is tailored for a certain type of local office worker.

On 4th August 2011 - rating: 5
[User has posted 271 recommendations about 270 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Roger Button left this review about St Brides Tavern

There had been a pub here called the White Bear since at least 1755 although it was demolished in 1895. The St Brides Tavern that has now effectively replaced it is ab housed in a modern 60’sish development tucked away off the main road between Blackfriars Brdige and Ludgate Circus.

The pub isn’t very big internally although there are 2 floors. The main bar is at ground level and is fairly basic with bare floors, plain décor and furnishings and a couple of ledges along 2 sides. The large open space in front of the bar suggests that there is a fair bit of vertical drinking. The walls contain some old pictures of London landmarks but on the whole there isn’t much to dwell on..

The upstairs bar (designated the Bridewell Bar) was closed during my visit but a quick peek through the window suggests that it is a bit more loungey although I couldn’t get a feel for the layout or facilities.

The pub is part of Greene King although the 3 ales (served in dimpled jugs) included a guest beer (Roosters Leghorn) alongside a couple of in-house offerings (Green King IPA and Cobbold English Ale). The quality of my Roosters was very good but at a wallet busting £3.85 a pint it should have been. There was a limited food menu with meals priced between £6 and £11.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong the pub apart from the prices but the place didn’t really convey any great sense of character that would make me want to return in the near future.

On 19th May 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about St Brides Tavern

The St Brides Tavern is a Greene King pub that is open from 11am until 11pm during the week and is closed at the weekends. The street level bar area isn’t the biggest, but it was one of the quieter establishments that I came across during a crawl of the area so there was still room to sit. A standard draught selection is available alongside Peroni and there are three hand pumps that were drawing IPA, Black Cat and Rocking Rudolph. I had a decent pint of Guinness and I found the service to be very friendly. Food is served and the menu looked to be mainly standard pub fayre. There is a plasma screen that was switched off and I cannot recall any background music playing.

There are a couple of tables outside the front of the pub under an awning and there is an upstairs bar (Brideswell) that is available for free hire. The ladies toilet is upstairs and the gents are downstairs.

This is not a pub that I would go out of my way to visit, but I’d have no problem popping in for a quick pint if passing.

On 7th January 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]