Latest reviews from Blackfriars
| 74 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Unique pub occupying part of the site of a Dominican Friary rebuilt in a Art Nouveau style.“ |
| 76 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “One of the most most interesting and beautiful pubs, when defined by style and architecture, that I have ever been to. Loved the Art Nouveu interior and despite chain? ownership for me has retained old school smarts with class. Food solid and the tap list is a very sensible (& economically sensible) blend of accessible lager, classic cask styles and modern local craft from the likes of Sirens.“ |
| 74 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Nada que ver con lo que sería un pub en plan craft y moderno; todo lo contrario: es un pub de lo más clásico. El interior es una caña, construido a finales del siglo XIX, y la decoración es una obra de arte. Es un local amplio, con chimenea, lleno de recovecos donde esconderte a tomarte tu pinta, examinar los mármoles de todo el pub con una Fuller’s London Pride o rodearte de monjes tallados en madera… ¡que no veas como dominarán de birra! Su punto fuerte son los 8 surtidores de cask beer que tienen: ese bombeo manual siempre es digno de disfrute. Tienen un buen abanico de Ales inglesas y, aparte de los eurosurtidores, también puedes pescar alguna Lagunitas o Sierra Nevada, entre otras, por la nevera…
Como buen british pub sirven comidas, y por su céntrica y estratégica ubicación suele estar bastante concurrido. Para mí, una joya de local: no me iría de Londres sin ver como me sirven una Timothy Taylor Landlord Cask en The Blackfriar.“ |
| 60 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “TARDIS-pub, it seems impossibly large on the inside after you see the building on the outside. Quite busy in the afternoon, but managed to squeeze in and found 1-2 ales I did not know too. pleasant enough.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Pretty cool pub in a triangular small buildning. Typical dark wooden interior, with some nice (religious?) decorations. Decent cask selection.“ |
| 66 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Visited on 6th May 2017. It’s a lovely old stone venue across the road from Blackfriars station. The decor is pretty trad with lots of wood, nooks and crannies to hide in. It’s a bit packed full of seating making it difficult to navigate. Beer range was pretty decent with a good mix of cask and keg, prices and service OK and beer quality was good. Decent venue“ |
| 66 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “The Black Friar is an institution, and on the rare occasion when I’m using the station, it’s a godsend. The carved panels on the walls add a bit of gravitas to an establishment that can get fairly frenzied during busier times. Beer is standard Nicholson’s range: about 10 casks plus some interesting US cans from stalwarts such as Sierra Nevada, Firestone Walker and Lagunitas. A bit dirty when I came in but to be fair the staff were rushed off their feet and I can’t imagine it’s easy cleaning up after daytrippers. A good place to round off my evening, and you can’t fault the location.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Opposite Blackfriars Station, this is an irregular shaped corner pub with bags of ambiance and atmosphere. Typically kept traditional and historic in appearance by tis chain pub owners its a fine place to spend some time. It was summer on my visit so I sat outside in the small square between the pub and the main road that heads north to Farringdon and there’s plenty of seats available here.“ |
| 76 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “A must if you’re interested in British pub architecture - an Art Nouveau Grade II masterpiece of a pub built in 1875 on the site of a Dominican friary. Although it was very busy (plenty of lunch time customers), the service was very friendly with samples as a matter of course.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Visited on many occasions over the the years, both when working in the area and on more recent trips back on holiday (summer 2016). Love this old building, tons of character, beer selection is nothing to shout about but if in the area worth popping in to score a beer (last one was in good condition) and admire the architecture. Well worth a stop.“ |
| 82 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “This is a really interesting boozer. Great interior and exterior. Great location too. Selection is Nicholsons, but good Nicholsons. Worth a visit indeed.“ |
| 80 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “What a gem. Not actually hidden. But I have passed it many times without anything else. Now they had a sign with beerfestival at the patio.
Popped in and regreted that I had not done it before.
Will surel visit this many times in the future. Beerfestival or not.
Lovely unspilt traditional English pub with a quite spectacular interior.
Good service. Ok toilets. Nice patio.
Decent range of beer on tap at my visit.
Highly reccomendable place. Also my place rating #600“ |
| 82 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “The interior is a real gem, not as spectacular as the Princess Louise, but still visually very pleasing on the eye. Absolutely packed when I went in, the customers being the usual mixture of tourists and Londoners, the bar staff though were more than efficient. Beer selection somewhat average, but my pints of Xmas stout from a Northern micro was in good condition and warmed me up on a cold day. Not many pubs are open in the City on weekends, so this worth your while for a detour.“ |
| 72 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Beautiful interior is the main reason why this place is worth visiting. Has really historic fell to it. Their cask selection is decent, but of course there are much better places in London when it comes to beer range. If you’re nearby pop in for a pint by the fireplace.“ |
| 74 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Whichever way you enter the Black Friar, it’s superb. From the south side you’re faced with the impressive windows of dimpled and stained glass; from the pavement patio on the west side you come in to see the magnificent arched fireplace on the left, with its bronze relief of musical monks, and directly ahead is the lovely alabaster room, now used only for dining (“please wait to be seated”). The marble is green and brown, some of it veined like blue cheese. There are eight hand pumps with a pretty good choice of beer, the service was friendly and the music was very agreeable too.
(Last visited 24 April 2015).“ |
| 68 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “This place has great history and atmosphere. They had eight cask brews and 12 others on tap, those were mostly pale Euro lagers. The service was good too. It’s small so it will get crowded quickly.“ |
| 78 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “These ratings in the 70-range are a bit misleading. And unlike the review just below mine, I’ve always had good experiences here, good enough to have brought friends here. It’s literally one minute from the entry to the Underground (Blackfriars, District/Circle), or 30 seconds in the rain.
There are all sorts of Art Nouveau ornaments and details, and a wonderful frieze above the bar. The dedicated dining room is all marble, like Grand Central Station in NYC. Have never had bad food here either. Like most English pubs, the beer selection isn’t huge, but they do offer quality. Including local micro-brews (not just Nicholsons)“ |
| 54 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Not a bad place, just a shame the selection is poor, the price isn’t that fair and the service was pretty weak in my opinion.“ |
| 80 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “We visited here a few years ago and made sure we stopped by again this trip in between RBESG and GBBF. A great place to come and wind down. Lots of copper and decorations. The service was fast and friendly. Great food both times we’ve been here. Good prices.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “When I used to work in St. Paul area I came here quite often with colleagues .. The bar it’s incredibly beautifull and was the reason because we popped in here but I’m talking about 8 years ago and I wasn’t so prepared about beers like today days .. Nowadays the beauty of the place it’s still the only reason to visit it because the selection it’s far from being good compared others place in London .. At the end of the day if you never been here come once have a look drink a Timothy Taylor and go to craftbeer ....“ |
| 72 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “This pub is worth visiting for the interior alone, but there are usually some good beers on offer too. I visited in August 2013 and sampled beers from Butcombe and Copper Dragon. As I said, the interior is the main attraction of this pub, the beer selection is a welcome bonus.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Listed building with interesting exterior and interior, a few minutes walk from Blackfriars tube station (District/Circle) now reopened after being closed for a year or so.
In the Nicholsons chain so expect their usual rotating list of SIBA micros.
Service has always been fine, although I’ve tended to pop in late afternoon as opposed to an evening.
Never eaten here but the food looks good whenever I’ve been.
At the business end not a destination pub for ticks as you won’t find anything here that another Nicholsons won’t yield but well worth trying to incorporate on a crawl for a grand old building with some decent cask action!“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “One of my favourite pubs in London. Stunning interior. Glad to see that it’s preserved and that the modern buildings around it have been adjusted to make room for it. The beer range has improved after the take over from Nicolsons and the food is still good. Living in a hotel around the corner and having this as our local is a dream come true.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “From outside this Nicholson’s pub looks like an isolated island from ancient times wedged between the hypermodern Blackfriars station on one side and office buildings on the other. Inside the pub displays a cozy atmosphere with its stunning interior – one of the greatest of its kind in London. Good range of well-kept and interesting cask ales during Nicholson’s autumn beer festival (until 18 Nov.) Nicholson’s classic beef which was served in the dining area tasted alright. Friendly service. Crowed on Halloween. Well worth a visit (together with Finn, 31.10 and 06.11.2012).“ |
| 66 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Visited this pub 27/12-2011, with my parents.
Being a traditionel pub in the Nicholsons chain, always a visit worth. Very nice decour and cosy atmosphere. The beers were in nice conditions and they seems to change them rather often. They have the traditionel pubmenu as well.
Friendly staff.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “The beers arent the best and there isn’t a great selection if real ales aren’t your thing, but that’s not a really valid complaint in England regardless. The chief draw, and its significant, is the pub itself. Easily one of the most gorgeous places to drink beer in London, possible England. Art nouveau interior, classy, and easily accessible from the tube.“ |
| 70 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Although my scores are not brilliant for this pub, I love going to it, and showing it off, to people who have never been before.
The decor is so unexpected; when you walk through the door the place is just breathtakingly beautiful. I shall not describe it, you must come and see yourself.
What a pity the beer quailty, service and selection can’t match the superb ornamentation.
It is in the money rich ’City’ area, so it is not cheap to eat or drink here. The food is average at best, get it when it first comes out (it is placed onto a glass cage on the food bar), or you will end up with cold spuds like I did on my last visit!
“ |
| 60 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Marvelous interior. ’Cause, you know, there’s beer inside, like.“ |
| 64 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “This pub stands out for the early 20th century Arts & Crafts interior, which is stunning with its marble decoration and bronze bas-reliefs of monks. Ales on offer are pretty good, the Timothy Taylor Landlord and Harviestoun Haggis Hunter I sampled were in good condition and the barman was friendly. Worth visiting.“ |
| 80 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “At long last, after 13 years, got to return to this gem again. It exceeds my fond memories. Got to take my Brazilian friend and she was suitably impressed. I had about four or five cask ales that were pretty good. Also had some scotch eggs that were on the lame side. The bowl of pistachios was just that, the mixed olives were good. Service was decent and they were very open to providing free tastes. Friednly crowd. And of course, the aesthetically perfect pub interior.“ |
| 94 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “One of the most famous Pubs in UK.
Worth to visit...“ |
| 64 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Cool wedge-shaped building... the interior is all dark wood, marble, and bronze. Only four cask ales (varies daily) and a half dozen fizzy yellow Eurolagers... plus some bottled beer, cider, and cheap wine. Staff is knowledgeable about the beer, reinforced by seeing them all sample a new product together. Typical London pub food, no different than anywhere else. The outside patio seating would be pleasant if you weren’t constantly surrounded by chainsmokers. Visit for the atmosphere and photo ops more than anything else.“ |
| 72 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Stayed at the Crown Plaza just over the street so had occassion to come here several time. Great pub ambiance helped by the exterior and interior setting especially the wall decorations. Very friendly, good selection of ales and good food, except one night the kitchen closed for an emergency“ |
| 74 /100 174 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET “Get lost in the tunnels under the streets. Enjoy the copper sculptures and the fine marble. Luxuriate in the alcove. Drinking here is something of a spiritual experience. The ales are always fresh. The food is good.“ |
