Three MUST VISIT Pubs in London

Last Updated on March 14, 2019 by Jane

We spent a week in London in October and it was full of visiting historical sites and eating and walking and more historical sites. We ate a bunch of different restaurants. But we ate more than one pub while we were in London. The first thing I noticed that pub food is a higher quality compared to what we are used to in North America. So of all the pubs we tried while we were touring these are the Three MUST VISIT Pubs in London.

Must Visit Pubs in London – Lamb and Flag Covent Garden

We visited this pub on a Sunday after wandering around the British Museum. The plan was to try out a traditional Sunday Dinner British style at the Pub.

The Lamb and Flag in Covent Garden (yes there are more than one pub named the Lamb and Flag in London) is found on a back alley of sorts. It touts itself as the watering hole of Charles Dickens and was once the site of bloody bare knuckles fights. Now it is the closest thing to a traditional 18th century pub.

Today it is a Fullers Pub, which seems to be kind of like the Firkin chain of Pubs in Canada but I hate to make that analogy because this pub is miles away above and beyond a Firkin Pub. However the idea I can see is that the Fullers pub all serve the Fullers beers (try the Frontier it is really good) but other than that maintain their own look and feel.

For the Sunday dinner we arrived before the crowds and were able to get a table for two. Keep in mind we were arriving more in time for a late lunch than really a dinner or supper.

The main floor is the traditional bar whereas up on the second floor (complete with creaky slanted floorboards) is where there are tables for a sit down meal.

My husband and I each ordered the Roast beef Sunday Dinner, but there was also Roast Lamb or two types of Roast chicken. I saw the other meals arrive and they all looked so delicious! I know ours was and now I want to make Sunday Roasts a thing at our house. The Yorkshire Pudding was the largest I have ever had! We make them so tiny here in Canada. It also came with roast potatoes, peas, beats and gravy. 

I highly suggest to have a Sunday dinner at a pub in London and I can recommend the one at the Lamb and Flag.

Must Visit Pubs in London – Whitehorse Peckham

We stayed at the Best Western in Peckham which is a borough in South London. It was way more affordable than staying in central London. But it also meant that often when we were done for the day we were outside of the touristy section. We actually ate at a bunch of really great places in Peckham as it is an gentrifying area with a real mix of restaurants. I am still kicking myself for not trying some of the fried chicken. We were looking for a place on a Monday night and a few of the restaurants we wanted to try weren’t open on Mondays. We ended up at the Whitehorse. 

This pub has been around since the 1800s but has been recently renovated by a restaurant group that owns another Peckham Pub the Montpellier. It kept most of the old timey charm, but the menu has modern sensibilities. Locally and sustainably sourced; the menu changes frequently. My Husband had the fish and chips while I had the chicken teriyaki sandwich.

This place must be pretty hopping on a weekend. There were pool tables and lots of space for patrons to stand around drinking. There are djs and live music too. We were one of two groups actually having a dinner that evening. Our server was super friendly and really helpful.

Must Visit Pubs in London – Greyhound Kensington

We visited this pub on our last full day in London and it was a great surprise. We had originally planned to stop at the Churchill Arms which is in Notting Hill area. I was a bit disappointed that the flowers that you see covering the pub were lackluster in early October even though many other pubs were still blooming. Also we passed by the pub much too early to stop in to eat. My Husband wasn’t too phased due to the thai menu.

We toured a few more things including Kensington Palace and then we were ready to eat. Because the pub we had planned was no longer an option we searched what was nearby. Thank goodness for Google Maps!

The Greyhound was the most posh of the pubs we visited which isn’t a surprise considering the neighbourhood. We were there for lunch and wanted something smaller to share. We got the meat slider board which has two mini burgers and two buttermilk chicken chicken sliders plus fries. Somehow my husband was upsold to all some chicken fingers. We ended up having SO MUCH FOOD. And it was all really good.

The chicken fingers were the biggest surprise since the batter was more a fish and chip batter. But it tasted really good!

This was my husbands favourite pub of our time in London. For me it was a toss up between Lamb and Flag and Greyhound but we had totally different meals.

We did stop in at a few other pubs in London but these three are the top that I would recommend of the ones we visited. I also took pictures of many more pubs. They were just too pretty. I think we need to mandate that pubs all need to have to have lots of flowers hanging outside of the pubs!

Do you have a favouite pub in London? Share your must visit pubs in London in the comments.