Nancy Spains - Shoreditch — Restaurant in London

🚇 Old Street 🍺 £6.20 Murphy’s

An Intimate and Energetic New Irish Pub.

Nancy Spain’s is located on Curtain Road in the heart of Shoreditch. The nearest Tube is Old Street, it’s a five minute walk to get here.

Curtain Road is where the very first purpose-built theatre was erected in London in 1576. This road has nothing to do with the manufacture of the popular window appendage.

Nancy Spain’s opened on the 15th March just in time for St Patrick’s day. The pub’s name takes inspiration from the song 'Nancy Spain' made famous by Christy Moore. The pub is run by two brothers who hail from County Kerry in Ireland.

This is a compact one bar pub that oozes old world Irish charm even though it’s just opened its doors. There is an island servery that has a pint plinth in front of the taps for letting the stout settle. Opposite the servey are cosy intimate booths for getting deep into conversation. Around the pub is a variety of seating areas consisting of two person poser tables, a superb ‘P’ shaped drinking ledge plus various nooks and crannies to plot up into. The decor consists of rickerty exposed brickwork walls, weathered beams, lots of Stout and Irish Whiskey memorabilia plus all manner of bric-à-brac.

The pub offers a decent range of beers and has @murphysstout not Guinness as their stout of choice. I decided to try the Murphy’s which I haven’t had in some time. My pint was excellent, price point was a smidge above average. The pub also offers an extensive range of Whiskies and Irish themed Cocktails, one of which contains Murphy’s, if you’re feeling brave you may want to try the Poitín. The food offering varies with different kitchen take overs, for the next four weeks @bocachicaldn will be serving up flavoursome Dominican delicacies.

I arrived just before 12pm on the first Saturday of opening. A queue had formed, so well done the marketing team. To be honest, I did feel quite excited as there was an air of anticipation and intrigue before entering. I was served by a welcoming young Irish chap who was racking up the pints of stout one after the other. The atmosphere was fantastic, there was a real buzz about the place with a predominantly younger crowd plus a few old farts like me. The soundtrack was guitar heavy Indie and Rock classics like U2, Oasis and The Stereophonic’s. Throughout my stay the staff copped admirably with the volume of people and the smiles on the punters faces said it all.

The pub hosts Live music and DJ nights, see socials for details.

If I’m honest I feared this would be a gimmick venue due to the location. Turns out @nancyspains is a bonifide boozer that felt authentic and real, If you can imagine The Devonshire in Soho but for a younger generation. I loved the intimate setting, the Irish hospitality and uplifting vibe. If you’re looking for a new pub to add to your must visit list, put this one near the top.

ℹ️ Info correct on...

I had an absolutely awful experience at Nancy Spain’s. Not only was I overcharged, but I was also served double measures without my consent—something I find incredibly concerning. I was charged for drinks I never ordered, including a second drink for the bartender, which he apparently helped himself to. There were three of us, and we all ordered the same drinks, yet every single one of us was charged a different amount. One round was a shocking £40! One of the girls left at 11:30, so the price should have gone down when there were only two of us ordering—but no, it didn’t. How can the same drinks cost different amounts every time? It makes absolutely no sense.

To make matters worse, when I questioned the charges, I received an unacceptable response that failed to address the issue. It seems their staff can freely decide to take drinks and add extra charges at their discretion. This is dishonest and completely unethical.

But the most alarming issue? Serving doubles without informing customers. As someone with a heart condition and a pacemaker, this could have been extremely dangerous. Nowhere on their website does it say drinks are automatically served as doubles, which raises serious concerns about customer safety—especially for vulnerable patrons.

The fact that staff also could “accidentally” add tips without permission only adds to the shady business practices here. Customers should be aware of what they’re drinking and what they’re paying for. I’m now having to dispute the charges through my credit card company. The complete lack of accountability is appalling. I would strongly advise avoiding this place unless you enjoy being...

Really wanted to like this place.

Unfortunately on my first visit I was left with a sour taste. After ordering a couple of whiskeys they only had enough for one (Connemara). After asking for another whisky, ‘a writers tears’ it was served and as we are about to pay she states “I hope you know how much this costs” in which the bill for the 2 whisky’s being £57.50 for singles… the writers tears, they tried to charge £50 for a single nip.

Now normally, I wouldn’t mind paying for it if that is what I ordered, but she poured a special edition of the writers tears, added ice and said it was the price and nothing she could do and we had no option but to pay.

The bottle in question is about £80. After some discussions she said she there is an error on the till and it is charging for a double and the price should be £25.

I worked in hospitality for many years and in no world would I not inform the customer that they’re moving from a £7.50 shot of whisky to a £50 or £25 alternative.

We paid for the 2 whisky’s at a price of £32.50 and promptly left after the uncomfortable encounter. No apology was...