Shakespeare's Head — Restaurant in London

🚇 Angel 🍺 £5.10 Becks Vier

A Fine Example Of An Oldschool London Boozer.

The Shakespeare’s Head is tucked away down a side street behind Sadler’s Wells theatre in Clerkenwell. The nearest Tube is Angel, it’s a five minute walk to get here.

The original Shakespeare’s Head was built on this site in 1856, the pub you see today was built by Courage in the 1960s.

This once two bar pub is set out in an ‘L’ shape, the separating wall was removed in the late 1980s. The decor here is oldschool traditional with many original features immaculately maintained. The servery follows the line of the bar and has a unique black painted brick built section on the left hand side. As the pub is close to the theatre, there are a number of signed photos of old thespians, famous actors and pop stars adorning the walls. The seating is a mix of red velour banquettes and matching low level stools around small square and sturdy Britannia tables. For the warmer months there is small front patio and a larger beer garden at the rear.

The beer line up is mainstream familiar keg favourites plus one cask ale. I decided on a Becks Vier, my pint was great, price point was reasonable at just over a fiver. If you are in need of sustenance, the pub serves a variety of Toasties which each cost a fiver.

We arrived around 1pm on warm Saturday lunchtime in October. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed with one other local punter doing the crossword at the bar. We got chatting to the Guv’nor of 40 years who was telling us all about the many celebrities that have visited this pub, Kylie Minogue and Tony Hadley to name a few. He also kept us on our toes with a bit of banter to test us out. The service was excellent, the lady who served us was friendly and welcoming.

This a charismatic backstreet local that is adored by its loyal locals and random visitors like myself. I visited this pub twice last year and thoroughly enjoyed both visits. If you want to enjoy a proper London pub experience, then put this pub on your must visit list, you’ll love it.

ℹ️ Info correct on...

I don’t usually leave reviews, but after an unpleasant visit to this pub, I feel compelled to share. The staff here are unfriendly, happy to take our money and selective about who they treat well. We were told they’re “closed” while watching them continue to serve drinks to others — clearly regulars or friends of the staff — well after time was called. We were ‘told’ in a very angry manner that he had called time thrice and turned the lights off - even though they were still on. It’s disheartening and frankly insulting to be made to feel unwelcome while others are invited to stay for a lock-in.

Worse still, another time my son got charged over £800 for a single round of drinks — an obvious mistake, but instead of handling it professionally, the pub issued a part cash refund and processed it in a very unusual way on his card. It didn’t feel right, and left me seriously questioning their transparency and how they handle customer payments. It’s a two way door as we noticed that an undercharge was made too. Clearly incompetent and undertrained staff.

There are plenty of pubs around that treat customers fairly and respectfully — sadly, this isn’t one of them. Would...

Clerkenwell still has an undercurrent of old school London if you can avoid the yuppies and hipsters on their hired Lime bikes. This pub is where you should start.

Anyone visiting who wants to experience what working class Islington was like, anything pre 2000s, should go in here.

Family run boozer, chaps at the bar who all know each other and have boozed in here for decades, happy to chat with anyone as long as you can have a laugh and chew the fat.

Made me a bit forlorn walking out of here and onto Upper Street with all the faceless nomarks walking about like being in London for 3 years makes them part of the furniture.

If anyone has an interest in old style working class London culture, go in here on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and...