First real English meal and what an impressive beginning to the trip!…read more Service was so friendly and efficient in a relaxing and casual ambiance. The dishes we got were sooo hearty and reminded us of comfort food. REBELLION BEER BATTERED FISH AND CHUNKY CHIPS Crispy layer of beer batter with just enough salt and pepper to go with the tender bite of fish. The chunky chips were crispy on the outside and had a bite similar to mashed potatoes, so delicious. The lemon tartar sauce went very nicely with it. That fresh squeeze of lemon juice over everything was just Chef's Kiss. SLOW ROASTED LAMB RUMP The lamb was roasted for six hours in red wine and shallots for a delicately, earthy flavor. The meat just melted in your mouth with every forkful. The lamb was served on a tasty bed of fluffy, garlic mashed potatoes. The red wine sauce drizzled on complimented everything perfectly. RIBEYE STEAK Classic steak done right with all the right searing and flavoring. Every bite was juicy and delicious. The roasted vine tomatoes were a great touch. The fries were done English style, so tasty. All I can say is: so English and so damn good.

As an American, well versed in the art of nachos, I will just say, don't get the nachos. We didn't,…read morebased just on looks. So why the five stars? Oh baby, this place does everything well! Perfect Black Lion burger, divine baked Camembert, and perfectly crunchy fried squid. Perhaps as wonderful as the food is the patio, massive, just off the Thames. If you are in the area, please do visit!

Just behind Leadenhall Market, a small pub with a nice beer selection and food. Beer was fine,…read morechicken sandwich less so. Bartender could have been warmer. Comfortable seating, and it gets crowded outside. Bathrooms downstairs; only one was operable.

This place is just like most pubs around London. The beer is good and the food is tasty /…read moredelicious. The one thing that sets it apart, however, is the fact that it is owned by Sir Ian McKellen. As such you can see the staff he used as Gandalf mounted behind the main bar. So not only do you get good beer and food, but you get to see a movie prop that I think is pretty cool. The staff here is also very kind and super cool to talk to. One final thing I liked about this pub is the location. It's far enough removed from the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas to feel somewhat more cozy. Finally, the River views are pretty nice as well!

Cute. Quaint. Nice. Great menu. Cool building. Lovely dining room. Friendly staff. Dirty toilets…read more Watched England/France here. The drinks are normally priced, and the energy was really good. They have a good wine selection for a reasonable price. This was our local watering hole while staying in London. When we weren't ready to go back to the hotel, we'd pop in for a drink. No regrets and happy to have found it.

My favorite place for a Sunday roast. Honestly the best food I've ever had. Took many different…read morepeople here and they all loved it

It took a little work but I got us drinks. Funny, but I think it was about 1 million years ago that…read moreI was here with some work people and I loved this place. Back in London an epoch later, and it's nice but different. No burgers, just pizza. Oh well, things change. People are still friendly and it has a nice open environment. I like it. I wish my buddy John was with me.

Meal: Dinner, dine in…read more All Ratings out of 10: Quality of food: 8 Food to Spend Value: 8 Quality of Service: 8 Overall Rating: 8 It was my last night in London, and a group of coworkers were looking to go somewhere with great food. I am a sucker for gastropubs, and when searching for places in Hammersmith I noticed great reviews for The Stonemason's Arms. It also came highly recommended from one of the locals. They had a number of interesting sounding menu items, so we decided to head there for dinner. In true gastropub style, the menu is quite varied with some unique options. We decided to split one of the sharing boards and went for the Fish Board. It included Devon crab on toast, shell-on king prawns, London Porter smoked salmon, and mussels and clams. The Devon crab was essentially a crab spread on pieces of toast. Both the crab itself and the toast were tasty. The prawns had the "looking at you" vibe, complete with shell, eyes, etc. This meant there was a bit of work getting them ready to eat, but they were also done quite well with a very nice flavor. The smoked salmon was quite nice, with a good smoky flavor that really brought out the salmon. The mussels and clams were a bit different and almost tasted poached. I was expecting more of a boil, so they ended up not being my favorite, but they were still prepared quite well. Several of the mains sounded good, but after poring over the menu for a bit I finally settled on the lamb shoulder. It was a Hampshire lamb shoulder that had been slow braised for 12 hours and served over broccoli, tomatoes, and Jersey royals. The lamb was fall off the bone tender and had a great flavor. The accompaniments were also well-prepared and complemented the lamb nicely. I would have maybe liked the portion size to be a bit larger, but for the price it was quite good. I had room for dessert, and I decided to try the Treacle Tart, something I had never had before. It had a nice molasses flavor and finished off my dinner perfectly. The Stonemason's Arms has a bit of a fancier pub feel, with lots of beer options and quite the crowd as the night wore on. The service was great and very helpful in answering many of the questions we had. The food came out quickly and fresh, and the quality and bang for your buck was great. The Stonemason's Arms is quite a bit different than anywhere I have been in the US, but I quite enjoyed it and hope to return in the future.

One of my favorite dining experiences on a recent trip to London. The food is excellent and the…read morevibe is just lovely. Highly recommended.

Considered a favorite among my friends, we made it a point to head to this neighborhood watering…read morehole almost immediately after we landed in London. Friendly (also full of banter) staff helped me decide on the Scolt Head Lager (not fully pictured), which paired nicely with my fish and chips. I was, however, a bit disappointed that the meal did not come with mushy peas, but instead, a small salad. So just a heads up if you expected the former with this English staple. Ample outdoor seating is readily available if it's packed inside. The door to the toilets is neatly labeled with a giant "T", so you shouldn't have a hard time finding it.

Like Alice, I'm lost in wonderland. Well remove the wonderland bit..I'm lost...lost for words…read more I use to go there regularly on a Friday night (DJ night) and the odd occasional evenings (2 years ago). One day, I took a trip to The Old Explorer and in my opinion the poor pally has lost it's unique edge *tear*. The 'after work let's get our fro out and have fun' appeal has died. It use to be a place where people could get together straight after work, still in their uniforms and dance the night away and not having to worry about their surroundings. You can sense the presence of unity in there. Nowadays it's all about forcing cupid to shoot its arrows left, right and centre and then some! Explorer does have it's good points. It's good to go there during the day time or in the afternoon and I do enjoy their karaoke nights (Weds eve). The prices on the drinks are cheap, the food is reasonable and the toilets are amazing!

This pub has it's advantages and disadvantages. I find it hard to 2 star it as I came here with a…read morefriend of mine who was blind and the staff were totally non-patronizing and welcoming. It's a large atmosphereless pub with standard pre-packaged menu of microwaved or fried selections. On the weekend it becomes a little bit of a meat market without any of the class of the other bars in the surrounding area. The Old Explorer is painfully average...and this is a painfully average review!

Amazing food! We had the steak and ale pie. We are American. This was our first Brittish pub…read morefare and loved it. The service was great and friendly. The atmosphere was just like we had hoped a Brittish pub would be-- friendly and fun! It was a very clean establishment, as well.

Lovely pub for a quiet Sunday night drink, they also have a very good pub quiz on (I think!!!…read moreMonday). Good is fine for a pub. My only critisism would be the angry drunk old men standing at the bar which polute so many pubs in London. Why can't they just get chucked out.

A very old style English Pub, I like the nostalgia of its old world charm. And I appreciate the…read morevariety of brew and single malt scotch. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening than with friends, good eats and a good drink to relax and destress.

The Cock Tavern is located on Mare St. in Hackney Central. It is by no means a trendy…read moreestablishment, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Hackney has a funny mix of pubs, both classy and not so classy, and both sides of the spectrum have there advantages. The advantage of a place like the Cock Tavern, is that you don't have to deal with a pretentious crowd. The place is often very quite and is a bit of a locals bar. It has a kitschy English pub interior, complete with the dark, cave like atmosphere. If it was my place, I would let as much sunlight in as possible. It is definitely an alright place to have a quite drink with a friend, but not worth going out of your way for.