The Artful Dodger — Restaurant in London

🚇 Tower Hill 🍺 £6.00 Amstel

The Artful Dodger is located at the southern end of Whitechapel, in London’s East End. The nearest Tube is Tower Hill.

Originally known as The Crown & Seven Stars, this pub dates back to around 1790. Rebuilt by 1829 and updated in 1888, it served dockworkers and soldiers due to its location near the Royal Mint and Tower of London. After closing in 1981, it reopened in 1985 under its current name—drawn from Dickens’s Oliver Twist, perhaps as a nod to Cockney identity.

This is a traditionally decorated, one-bar pub with a down-to-earth, old-school charm. The servery is situated on the right and features the name of the pub across the back bar. At the far end of the bar, there is a dartboard and a large screen mounted above a fireplace. Tucked away on the right is an ol’ Joanna. At the front of the bar, there’s a pool table and another dartboard.

The decor includes a boarded floor, half-height tongue-and-groove wall panelling with a mix of beer and spirits signage above, plenty of seating—including stools around the servery—and a print of Arthur Daley. One unique feature of the pub is the iron columns, which have bunch-of-grape and pineapple capitals.

The beer selection is all keg, with a variety of well-known beers to choose from. I went for an Amstel—my pint was great, and the price point was average. This is a wet-led pub, so no food is served.

I arrived around 6:30 p.m. on a mild early Saturday evening in April. The pub had about half a dozen punters in—some were watching the footy, some playing pool, and a couple of ladies were sat in the corner having a catch-up. The atmosphere was laid-back, with a friendly, local pub feel. The service was excellent—the lady on duty was warm, welcoming, and friendly.

My last visit was in September 2017, and I’m pleased to report that little has changed at this superb, characterful East End boozer. With gentrification and cultural shifts, pubs like this are becoming increasingly rare. I loved visiting this pub and highly recommend you do the same.

Follow @theartfuldodger_pub for updates.

📅 12th April 2025

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A down to earth old school pub which are a dying breed and that is the problem it was empty apart from one bloke at the bar, I've been here a couple of times and it has only had a few in there each time I've visited. The Artful Dodger gets good reviews for being a salt of the earth pub and not losing it's traditional East End charm but it can't survive in the long term if it continues with hardly any customers. I love an old school boozer and give me one over a gastropub any day of the week but pubs like The Artful Dodger need to try harder and attract the passing trade and keep any new regulars. The lack of anything else rather than the bog standard lagers like Carlsberg, Fosters etc was telling and the place needed a proper clean, just a touch of tlc so it doesn't put people off, myself and my mate played pool and the balls had seen better days and were all marked, maybe invest in a new set of pool balls and cues. Also perhaps do small bar snacks like toasted sarnies, sausage rolls, pork pies etc. I'm just suggesting a few things so next time I happen to walk past The Artful Dodger or check that it's open I hope I don't see 'closed' next to it and that...

It's probably best to avoid this place if you're non-white or an immigrant, and especially if you happen to be both; you might be served but you won't be made welcome. The staff have some very sharp opinions about outsiders and aren't at all shy about sharing them. I was horrified by the open hatred for immigrants and refugees that was eagerly expressed behind the bar. I don't know if this was just the bigotry of one employee or indicative of a wider tone, but what does it say about a place if this is what is tolerated by employers, peers, and patrons? Might as well be a Wetherspoons; which might be your cup of tea but definitely isn't mine, so I'm voting No with my...