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Ye Olde Cock Tavern, Fleet Street, EC4
EC4
EC4Y 1AA
Pub Type
Taylor Walker (Spirit Pubs)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
Greene King pub with a long narrow interior I didn’t visit the upper floors.
On 29th October 2019
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
Great looking exterior but the Greene King signage caused consternation and the full horror was evident once inside.The interior is long and thin with lots of seating to the sides,and a long bar on the left wall.Right at the end there is a one table gallery below which are red leather bench seating and this is the best part of the pub.
Muzak was playing far too loud,the food offering was foodservice rubbish and I felt sorry for one couple who ordered lamb shank ,it looked plastic and the prices are very high for pub grub with Fish & Chips £12 and many dishes higher.
There is a lounge on the first floor with pleasing leaded windows and a shuffle board.
At the bar the choice was GK Abbott,IPA and Yardbird Pale (actually contains hops and bitterness ,a first for GK)
Just too corporate ,the name is an accurate review of this place.
On 26th January 2019
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
Curious-looking building, with an entrance archway spanning the full width of the narrow frontage and a first-floor timbered bow window. A sign at the front suggests that it dates from 1549, but apparently the pub was originally on the other side of the road and rebuilt in 1887 in a Tudor style to match the original structure. The traditional-looking interior of the main bar is naturally rather cramped, but there is additional seating on the upper levels (never visited) plus a mezzanine area at the back. Rebranded as a Greene King house since my previous visit nearly six years ago, on this visit I found IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Old Golden Hen (£4.45), Abbot and (annoyingly) Doom Bar as the guest beer from five of six handpumps, with London Glory being readied to go on the other.
On 15th April 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
This pub dates from 1549 but was rebuilt in its current form in 1887; a Courage cockerel to the first floor window is either just a reference to its name or is an indication that this was once indeed a Courage house.
This was something of an office regular for me and my friends but I hadn't been in here since 2002, at which time it wasn't a great place. It's certainly now worse as it's a Taylor Walker outlet with all that entails: loud music, multiple sports TVs, sauce bottles on tables, laminated pictorial menus, games machines and as of 29th September, a Christmas tree of all things. The typical TW floor means that it's part flagstone and part carpeted; the pub is arranged over several floors and there used to be a pool table upstairs but we couldn't face hanging around to explore.
Ales: 6 on pump including St. Austell's Tribute at a pricey £2.25 and ok.
Under current ownership I will not be coming here again.
On 30th September 2016
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
A lot more tourists in here, than the George further along surprisingly. The interior is long and narrow and goes back quite some way. The rear of the pub is mainly set out for dining, the middle of the pub hosts a good sized bar, with six handpumps. The East London Brewing Co APA Coincatcher was in great shape. The flagstone floor looked to be original, judging from the ware and tear down the years.
On 30th July 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
There were a couple of Cottage Brewing railway themed beers on here - Golden Arrow and Evening Star - plus Truman's Runner, London Pride, GK IPA, and their own Taylor Walker branded beer called 1730 (£2.28 a half) brewed by Westerham Brewery. Being a Taylor Walker pub the usual glossy pubco pub grub menu was available.
This is narrow fronted pub that stretches back a fair way. As you enter there is a stairway on the right leading to an upstairs room; a couple of booths on the right past the stairway; then on the left is the bar counter with some tall tables/tall stools on the right. There are some armchairs and normal tables and chairs at the back of the room, with another staircase leading up to a small mezzanine floor with two or three more tables and chairs. There are the inevitable old prints on the walls; a TV on but muted; and some pop music being played not too loudly.
Apparently the original Cock Tavern was on the other side of the road, roughly where the Old Bank of England now stands. In the upstairs room there is a wood carved mantle above the fireplace that was rescued and brought over from the original pub. I have seen it claimed that the carving is the work of Grinling Gibbons, but it doesn't seem of quite good enough standard to me. But what do I know?
I reckon that this one is a bit better than most Taylor Walker pubs that I've visited. The bubbly, cheerful and seemingly energetic barmaid made it seem a brighter place. The beer prices are steep, but if you can stand that then it's certainly worth dropping in for a swift one, without being a destination pub.
On 15th June 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
Not as old as it looks, another Fleet Street rebuild of an earlier pub but possibly with some of the original features relocated from the previous position on the opposite side of the street. The main bar is a long and narrow boarded room with the bar in the middle on a side wall. The furthermost rear part has a small galleried area up a flight of stairs with a snug-like area beneath with bookcase style wallpaper. Otherwise the walls are either wood panelled or exposed brick. The attractive carved bar back has a central mirror bearing the pub name, décor has a few local old pictures but most was covered by a ludicrously overstated display of World Cup flags. The TV at the time was showing test cricket.
There was a reasonable selection of ales, Pride, Hackney Brewery Pale Ale, Truman's Lazarus, Taylor Walker 1730 (?), London Fields Hackney Hopster and Cottage "We're Going Home", clearly a self-deprecating beer relating to England's WC performance, a brave if not foolish venture perhaps. I had the Hackney offering, good it was, but with my 10% CAMRA discount at £3.87 this would have racked up at £4.30. I worry that the prevalence of the new "craft" outlets asking silly money for beers may cause a conditioning trickle down effect.
Food is served, big pubco menus all around but no one was mid afternoon. An average pub that is rather bland but picked up by on ok beer choice.
On 10th July 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
An impressive edifice squeezed in between two more imposing buildings that looks 400 years old from the out-side but apparently is a Victorian rebuild, the original pub being sited over the road. It is a Taylor Walker branded outlet with all that brings. The long and narrow interior was atmospherically gloomy with three-quarter length dark wood panelling and exposed brickwork, with tasteful old London prints on walls. An upper floor was quite nicely decorated and is hireable for events. Was impressed to see six fairly interesting ales (W&E Windsor Knot, Red Squirrel Black, two from Hackney, SA Tribute and GK Golden Hen). My half of Hackney IPA was in excellent condition and slipped down a treat, although I was relived of £2.05 for the privilege. There was a cider festival on the go with five boxed choices though there was no indication as to whether there is any usually available. Staff were efficient on my visit, in contrast to comments I’ve read elsewhere though some of tables could have done with a good grease-busting. Bland piped muzak was annoying, why can’t these pubcos show a bit of imagination? Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this one and I’d be happy to drop in again based on this visit.
On 4th July 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Blue left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
This very well presented pub seems a popular place for groups to go after work. The main room is quite deep, with an upper floor accessible by stairs towards the front and a small mezzanine area to the rear. The walls are partly wood panelled and partly exposed brickwork. The upstairs is advertised as bookable for meetings and functions with a projector available, suggesting they have some sort of market for business meetings in the pub.
There are six ale pumps, of which recent visits suggest four are regularly populated with GK IPA, Pride, London Gold, and Adnams Southwold, and the remaining two have variously offered Bombardier, Black Sheep Bitter, Old Golden Hen and Marco Pierre White’s The Governor. Food is fairly standard pub fayre with mains starting at £7.25.
It’s been fairly busy but not by any means packed when I’ve been in. The bar staff have been trying to keep up, but lack of awareness of who is waiting or in what order, and apparent confusion about where to find things, seem to result in a lot of wandering around behind the bar whilst actual service is very slow. I have consistently been unimpressed with the quality of the ale, which only a small proportion of customers seem to drink. This ought to be a very good pub, but would need to up its game a lot to win my repeat custom. However, it seems to be doing quite well for itself and is perhaps a tad complacent.
On 8th October 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 271 recommendations about 270 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Ye Olde Cock Tavern
The Cock Tavern looks fantastic from outside, like it doesn't belong on Fleet Street. It is apparently on the site of a pub that was originally shut down during the plague and I'm not sure that it ever recovered as it was dead in there.
Both of the barmaids were very friendly, but it didn't really make up for the lager selection (Fosters or Kronenberg) or the lack of atmosphere.
Overall I was pretty disappointed as the exterior of the pub caught my imagination and I felt robbed upon entering.
On 19th June 2007
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5249 recommendations about 5217 pubs]