The best pubs in Shoreditch
The best pub in Shoreditch depends on which end you are standing at. In Spitalfields, E1, it is the Ten Bells on Commercial Street, with tiles good enough to get it listed. On the Old Street side, EC2A, it is the Old Blue Last on Great Eastern Street, which is still a working live music venue. In between are the Owl and Pussycat on Redchurch Street, the Princess of Shoreditch on Paul Street and, a little further out on Hackney Road, the Marksman. All of them are open this weekend, and the Old Blue Last has a Halloween party tonight, Saturday 31 October.
The Ten Bells, Commercial Street
The Ten Bells at 84 Commercial Street has roots that go back to the 18th century. The thing to look at is the hand-painted tile mural, made in the early 1900s by William Butler Simpson & Sons, which shows silk weaving in mid-18th-century Spitalfields: a nod to the Huguenot weavers who settled here in the late 1600s. The tiles helped earn the building its Grade II listing. These days it is run by London Beer Factory, so the house lager is its own Bright Side, alongside a dry-hopped lager called Parasol, guest beers and Guinness. It opens at noon, or 11am Thursday to Sunday, and stays open until 1am Thursday to Saturday. The kitchen is closed on Mondays.
The Old Blue Last, Great Eastern Street
The Old Blue Last at 38 Great Eastern Street is an East End boozer with a claim to 300 years of history and a stage that hosted early shows by Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, IDLES and George Ezra. It still runs gigs and club nights, with tickets through DICE, and jazz every Sunday. Tonight it hosts Scary Things, an NTS Halloween party. It is open from 12.30pm daily and until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the latest proper pub in the area.
The Owl and Pussycat, Redchurch Street
The Owl and Pussycat at 34 Redchurch Street, E2, is a Grade II listed 18th-century pub, originally called The Crown. It is now a Young's pub with food all day, Sunday roasts and live sport on the screens. The reason to go is the covered, heated garden at the back, open in all seasons and dog-friendly. Upstairs, a first-floor room called the Jago has its own bar and leans towards cocktails. It opens at 11am every day and until midnight Tuesday to Saturday.
The Princess of Shoreditch, Paul Street
The Princess of Shoreditch at 76-78 Paul Street, EC2A, started as a modest early 19th-century tavern and is now one of four pubs in the family-owned Noble Inns group. Downstairs is a walk-in pub menu with Colchester oysters and rotisserie chicken. Upstairs, Bistro Sablé has a residency until the end of the year, cooking coq au vin and boeuf bourguignon. The Sunday roast runs until 8pm. It is closed on Mondays and shuts at 10.30pm, so it is a pub for dinner rather than a late one.
The Marksman, Hackney Road
The Marksman at 254 Hackney Road, E2, is a public house and dining rooms cooking seasonal British food, and it says it was the first pub in London to be named Michelin Pub of the Year. Sunday roasts run every week of the year. It opens at 4pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from midday Thursday to Sunday; Monday is not listed, so check before you set off.
Three more for a round
- Well & Bucket, 143 Bethnal Green Road, E2: Maldon oysters, and a £20 deal of six oysters and a pint of Guinness Monday to Saturday. Open until 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
- The Old Fountain, 3 Baldwin Street, off Old Street: a CAMRA award-winning pub with craft beer and a roof terrace. Open from noon Tuesday to Sunday and 3pm on Mondays; it closes at 8pm on Sundays.
- The Culpeper, 40 Commercial Street, E1: a gastropub on the same street as the Ten Bells, with a Sunday roast from noon to 5.30pm. Its rooftop is closed until spring 2027, but the ground-floor pub is open daily.
A short pub walk
Start at the Ten Bells and the Culpeper on Commercial Street, walk up to Redchurch Street for the Owl and Pussycat's garden, then cut across to Great Eastern Street for the Old Blue Last, which on Fridays and Saturdays serves until 3am. If it is Sunday, do it the other way round and finish with a roast.
