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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
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Detail Pages
The Clerk & Well, Clerkenwell, EC1
EC1
EC1R 5DU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Graham Coombs left this review about The Clerk & Well
An upmarket, poseurish sort of place, with dark green decor and subdued lighting. The leather-bound wine lists on the tables say it all. The back area is laid up for dining; the daily special was Sirloin on the bone - a snip at £33, and wtf is an "'Nduja Cacklebean Scotch Egg"!? On the handpumps were TT Landlord and London Pride (plus a couple of fruit ciders), actually in fair nick and not as expensive as some other pubs nearby.
On 4th December 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Clerk & Well
This upmarket corner pub has been substantially refurbished in a dark, semi-modern style and now offers accommodation as well a restaurant. The front bar area is quite large, but - even here - some of the tables are fully laid up, in addition to the main dining room further back. Also has a few small tables out on the front pavement. With three handpumps on the counter, I found London Pride and Sharp's Atlantic (£6.20, ouch!) being poured, with a Landlord clip on the other (which had either run out or was on next - none of the staff seemed sure).
On 11th June 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Clerk & Well
Formerly the Duke of York and renamed the Clerk & Well in 2011, this is a fairly standard Victorian corner pub in Hatton Garden, taking its name from the nearby water source the Clerks' Well, dating back to at least the mid-12th century.
Quite a gloomy pub inside with a rather cheesy seemingly pressed metal ceiling which seems to be being applied to a lot of pubs around here. This has something of a restaurant appearance about it - it's certainly not a boozer, with pan-Asian food - isn't Asian food cooked in a wok?
Gone is the pool table to the rear, accommodation is now offered and it would seem that the former pool room is now the hotel reception. There are though still the TVs showing sport with the sound down so as not to interfere with the loud music. Few customers, some of whom seemed a trifle odd.
Ales: just Sharp's Doom Bar, price forgotten but doubtless it was high.
The Clerk & Well seems to be trying to pitch itself as a fashionable bar rather than pub, but it's neither.
On 1st December 2017
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Clerk & Well
They had a couple of ales on when I visited on Wednesday evening - Doom Bar that you see everywhere, and London Beer Factory Session (£2.05 a half), a 3.8% session ale I guess. Like so many Central London pubs, food is an important player here. The menu is labelled Pan-Asian, containing what appears to be a variety of dishes mainly from East Asian countries, with main courses between £9.50 and £11.50. There's a 12.5% "discretionary" service charge where table service is provided.
The L-shaped bar is on the right, with a pool table at the back on the left. The main bar area at the front is bare-boarded, with what looks like the original boards, as you can still see where divisions/paneling between different rooms would once have been. There are a couple of tall tables/tall stools in the middle of the room; a couple of sofas and a low table on the right; and plenty of normal tables and chairs (some of which were reserved when I was in). But the most striking feature here is the ceiling, which appeared to be made of patterned stainless steel. I've only ever seen this in one other pub. Most unusual. There was a TV on, screening a football match.
This looks like a pub frequented by City workers; at least it was when I was in, when the place, as well as the pavement outside, was busy with workers enjoying a swift one or two on the way home. It's par for the course, although it does do a couple of real ales, one of which comes from a local micro-brewery. Good for them.
On 20th April 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Clerk & Well
Nice modern pub which was very busy.Lovely pressed metal ceiling.Leather sofas and chairs are a nice touch and a change from the wooden chairs in most pubs now.Comfy.Still a pool table to the rear.Woeful selection on the two handpumps.The two D,s Doombar and Deuchars.
On 29th March 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Clerk & Well
There are three picnic tables that are almost shielded from the elements on the path outside the Clerk and Well. The interior is made up by a bar that faces an open plan seating area and to the left rear is a pool table. There are a couple of plasma screens that were showing a premier league football match via ESPN during my recent late Saturday afternoon visit.
The bar is stocked with standard and premium draught products and the two hand pumps were drawing Landlord and Brakspear’s Oxford Gold. I opted for half a Landlord that was well served, but set me back £2.00.
I thought that the staff would be better suited to working in a hotel as I struggled to find any sort of personality and I was surprised that I didn’t get my change back on a tray with a receipt.
There are far better pubs in this area for a beer so I doubt that I’ll return here when next in the vicinity.
On 12th December 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5231 recommendations about 5199 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Duke of York
I remember visiting here a few years ago as the Duke of York, when it was a fairly well worn traditional pub with lived in interior, even more lived in pool table up the back, and apparently the unofficial meeting place for London cycle couriers. I remember it having four ale handpumps but none in operation, so I vowed not to bother returning.
But was crossing the Clerkenwell Road again the other night I noticed it has been made over, so decided to call in again.
It has been redecorated and rebranded as the Clerk & Well and relaunched more focussed on food , with the ground floor place now laid out as a bar and restaurant with big menus on square tables, and a dining room on the first floor.
The modern makeover is now much cleaner and brighter but any character that may have been there has been removed for the usual sterile bland environment of these typical bar / restaurant places.
The pool table does remain in the back section but this too is now modern with no traditional green baize in sight.
Mainly shiny chrome lager dispensers on the bar now, but there was one lonely real ale handpump dispensing Brakspears Oxford Gold. Unfortunately if the quality of what I was served is anything to go by, this is not a large runner . So cannot see myself returning here for several more years, or until it has the next style change.
But, have to say it was very busy with the after work crowd, and even the outside tables and chairs were well utilised, even on a fairly cold evening. So seems this new guise is popular with the local office workers.
On 12th December 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]