Beer: Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter 4.0%
The oldest pub in London. Rebuilt in 1667.
It’s very dark and undeniably “olde worlde” inside. We’re met at the entrance and are led into one of presumably many dark panelled little rooms. It’s a remarkable interior…
We’re ushered towards tables, but I linger around the bar long enough to take in the beer available. I enquire about the Sam Smiths Bitter; I’m cheerily informed “it’s like Doom Bar”. Oh joy! It’s the only pump on show anyway, so I order a pint. It’s like Doom Bar.
Under its current manifestation, or on this shift at least, YOCC appears to be run by an Italian father and daughter double act. Daughter appears to be doing most of the running around. Father stays behind the bar. When she’s not showing customers to tables, or having an argument with an unseen complainant outside, daughter is bickering with Dad. It’s rather an idiosyncratic, incongruous, double act.
We order some dry roasted peanuts. They haven’t any. They have crisps. Cheese and onion crisps? They only have plain crisps. Pints are £4.20 a pop with an added £1.17 service charge.
The couple over the way, having finished a meal, are pondering their bill incredulously: how much? We see their polite attempts at trying to catch daughter’s eye. Daughter seems conspicuously busy behind the bar. I ponder on whether this place might run better under a competent manager. Maybe. Maybe this pub should be run by the National Trust.
We only have one.
All the pubs we've ever been to ever 