Ye Olde Watling

The next stop on our journey to gain additional British pub knowledge led us to "Ye Olde Watling."

Talk about humble beginnings, it was built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London destroyed the prior building on this site.

This historic pub first opened its doors in 1668 and the construction plans for St. Paul's Cathedral (just down the way) were drawn up in what is now their dining room.

This cozy setting is a great place to escape the rain and take a respite from your sightseeing adventures.

And that's...Henry's Take.

#britishpubknowledge

Quaint pub with great ambiance, solid array of nibbles, great taps and super helpful staff.

Next time I'm in London I'm certainly stopping back in.

Old pub with nice atmosphere. Great ales on tap. Had the beef meat pie. Way too much fatty beef. Would come back to try the burger, it looked delicious.

Excellent pub fare and drinks at this historic pub. We enjoyed the fish and chips and a festive turkey pie washed down with good English ales. Staff was friendly and professional.

Great selection of cask ales and friendly service! A regular spot for a quick one before heading home

3.5 stars

As a tourist who enjoys pubs, I was hoping to spend a bit of time in the London sunshine enjoying a pint during my week in London. I was thrilled when I found a historic pub crawl in a guide book and a couple of the recommendations were placed I already had bookmarked. I decided to go for it!

Let me tell you, Ye Olde Watling was hard as fuck to find. As of August 2016 there is construction at corner of Bow and Cannon and then the pub is a full block off Cannon (on Watling) which was not obvious on the map and is not visible from Cannon. Once you get inside, it's decent but nothing too special. There are some nice leather bar seats with backs and that was exactly what I needed after a 45 min walk from London Tower.

The crowd is a combination of after work locals mixed with tourists eating fish and chips with pints of ale (the couple with the fish and chips was oddly following the same tour I was). My Guinness was £4.30 and the bartender was really nice. There is free wifi and they serve breakfast until noon.

Cozy little spot, very quiet in the afternoon.

Excellent meat pies.

I loved loved loved this pub. We spend the day walking around the city and came into warm up. The bartenders were super nice. Found a place to sit and relax. It was warm and not too many people inside. I would come back here soon.

This was our 1st dinner in London and it generally delivered what we were looking for. Overall, I'd give 3.5 stars, if possible. Ye Olde Watling has most of the important staples on its menu; fish and chips, meat pies, respectable beer list, etc. The preparation and presentation are good, but not spectacular, seemingly lacking passion or creativity. I think that may be due to the fact that this restaurant is a chain (local, but, still a chain).

That being said, it's still a good place to get a solid dinner and beer. Steer clear of cocktails/mixed drinks...way too sickly sweet.

Ambience is good but the place gets really, really crowded after work.

Came here for a drink on a Wednesday evening a few weeks ago. I was hoping for good weather as it is nice to stand outside but due to showers we were inside all evening. The interior is very small and so very crowded with the after work groups, it would be great on a cold winters night. I believe that it is one of the older pubs in the city so worth checking out for that alone!