Duke of Wellington, EC1

Tris C left this review about Duke of Wellington

This would appear to be a late Victorian/early Edwardian building which has only been a bar since mid-2021 when it became a Czech-themed bar called Pivo, the Czech word for Beer. The place decided to czech out earlier this year to be replaced by the Duke of Wellington, a name taken from the company’s sister pub in Spitalfields.
You can get a good impression of the interior from my photo, but basically there’s a modern faux Victorian bar structure, then bare brick walls with some exposed structural ironwork, parquet floor, white ceiling, raised fluted avocado banquettes with tall, small tables and matching round stools; normal height and larger tables can be found to the rear. Illumination comes from spun copper hanging shades over the bar, then ceiling downlighters and enough candles to hold a black mass. Customers amounted to just five at 9.30 on a Saturday night, which doesn’t bode well, considering the place has a seven-day 2.00am licence; perhaps they were put off by the stink of mulled wine, served almost a month before Christmas. There was a TV – off – then décor in the form of a couple of large palms, all to a fairly loud AOR soundtrack.
There’s no cask here, with three staple shaped copper fount dispensers, each armed with 12 keg taps running the gamut of beverages from pseudo craft numbers such as Camden, Brixton and Beavertown, then Moretti, Peroni, Heineken, Asahi, Aspall’s, Guinness…I could go on. A half of Gamma Ray came in at a shocking £4.00, served by understandably bored staff.
Many of the pubs around here are closed at weekends so here there’s somewhere to drink, but I’d prefer the short walk to the Old Fountain and Wenlock, where 15 minutes later I was cuddling a pint of Plum Porter.

On 27^th November 2023 - rating: 4
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