Ye Olde Mitre, Holborn — Restaurant in London

🚇 Chancery Lane 🍺 £7.35 Asahi

London’s Best Hidden Pub.

Ye Olde Mitre is hidden away in a secluded alleyway sandwiched between Hatton Garden and Ely Place in Holborn. The nearest Tube is Chancery Lane, Farringdon station is also close by.

The pub was first built in 1546 for the servants of the 41 Bishops of Ely whose 13th century built palace once occupied this area. The crumbling palace and surrounding buildings were demolished in 1772, the only surviving building was St. Etheldreda's Church in Ely Place. The pub was rebuilt in 1773 making it one of London’s oldest pubs.

This pub is divided into three small ground floor rooms, one of which can only be entered through a separate outdoor entrance, there is also a bigger room on the first floor. The decor is old world traditional with dark panelling, heavy oak furniture, Elizabethan memorabilia and leaded stained-glass Tudor windows. There is also some outside seating which runs up the alley to the Hatton Garden entrance.

The beer selection is solid and offers cask, craft and premium lager options. I decided on a pint of Asahi, my pint was tip-top, price point was above average. If you’re hankering after some sustenance to soak up the beverages, there is a selection of Toasties and Pork Pies to choose from.

We arrived bang on opening at 12pm on a pleasant Friday lunchtime in late September. At the time of opening about a dozen or so punters descended on the pub to beat the lunchtime rush. The atmosphere here is very unique, this is a special place to have a pint in. As it was a nice day, we sat out front in the alleyway which like the interior is very atmospheric. The service was excellent, we received a warm welcome from the chap who served us.

@yeoldemitreholborn is one of my most favourite pubs in London which I visit at least once a year. London is packed full of history and beautiful historic architecture, if you fancy sampling a bit of both with a pint in your hand, then look no further than this marvellous boozer.

Not open weekends.

ℹ️ Info correct on...

Sharing a tale of disappointment about a beloved haunt is never easy, but my recent visit to Ye Olde Mitre in Holborn left me no choice. A pub that had been a reliable source of enjoyment over the years managed to turn a routine order of "Two pints of IPA" into an unexpected let-down.

The first sips of the purportedly straightforward order revealed an unappealing taste that ended up spoiling the evening. Disbelief gave way to the realization that the pints were not as expected. Upon our return to the bar, the manager insisted the pints were fine in taste, only admitting under duress that the issue lay in the beer's mere 1.5% Alcohol by volume!

My belief is that unless a patron explicitly requests a low-alcohol beer, the default assumption should be a standard alcoholic content. Despite expressing my dissatisfaction and making a compelling case, the manager remained obstinate, refusing to replace the subpar pints.

To add salt to the wound, the manager's dismissive and quite frankly rude attitude left a lasting impression. Sadly, based on this encounter, recommending Ye Olde Mitre in Holborn is a tough sell. It's disheartening when a cherished establishment falls short of expectations, especially when a simple acknowledgment and remedy could have easily...

In a world of declining traditional pubs, this has to rate at the top. Built in 1546 (!) it has walled in an old cherry tree into a display case, which previously marked the boundary between the pub and the land of Sir Christopher Hatton (wealthy land owner of the area, whose name adorns road signs and more). The pub itself is ensconced down an alleyway that's wonderfully easy to miss (so free of uninformed passing trade) yet enables people to spill out and enjoy a pint in the old narrow causeways of old East London. Inside the pub, it's tight and small, but everyone just gets on with it, knowing being in a place with character and provenance is worth all the roomy sports bars in the world. 2 really, really tiny bars actually serve people quickly, with a friendly bar staff that always seem to be glad you're there and happy to offer tasters of ales on tap.

There's not much to dislike. I didn't try the food, so can't speak to that. If you don't like really properly old pubs (a dying breed), that are small but feel homely, then don't go here. Otherwise, make it your destination if only to say you've been in a 16th Century pub, built over 200 years before the US was officially founded. It's hard...