If you happen to be along Liverpool Street, meeting friends after work or waiting for a train, this traders pub is not bad for a quick drink. Surprisingly it's not just full of city types and there's a smart, yet informal atmosphere inside that is definitely preferable to some of the bars along here. We usually pop in as a last minute decision, often to wait for people in the group who are late meeting us before we all head off to somewhere more our style along Brick Lane. It's a pretty traditional pub (all dark brown wood and studded seats) so has a fair list of beers and ales and the bar staff have always been welcoming and quick to serve us. Upstairs is the eating area where I once had fairly good sausages and mash for only £5.95. If you're standing outside, look along the side of the wooden frames where you can find little buttons that activate the mini heaters overhead. read more

Woodins Shades - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

See all

Woodin's is a perfect place to meet friends at the beginning of an evening as it's really close to Liverpool Street Station. It's usually full of the city types but don't let this put you off. It's a pretty big place with a couple of floors, the first floor has a couple of pool tables, and there's plenty of traditional English pub seating. There's a Victorian style to this old boozer with plenty of beers on offer. It's not somewhere I'd choose to stay all night but it's a good place to start and if you like your sport it's a great venue to watch football or rugby with their huge screen. read more

Woodins Shades - Woodin's of Liverpool Street - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Came for dinner with my family - had the steak pie, Gish and chips, onion rings, and mac and cheese. All were very good, and the restaurant has a nice atmosphere. The service was slow, but that was ok. They stop serving food early, around 8:45 pm i believe so know that before you go. read more

Service here is indifferent, but they have enough beer on tap and it's a very convenient place to meet up. It's very traditional old London inside and gets packed at leaving the office before the train times. They have awnings outside with heaters and sensibly wide window sills for booze restage where smokers can congregate for a sneaky fag and be pestered by local beggars and displaced Whitchapel nutters. As others have mentioned, more a place to meet up than to stay. read more

The wife and I were in London and had spent the day walking around from the Tower bridge to Buckingham Palace. Looking for a good dinner, we came across Woodin's. We went in and found the place had a good crowd for Sunday night. We then went upstairs to dine. We both had a good cold Guinness to start. She had the Sunday roast, I had the 10 oz Sirloin. Both entrees were done in an excellent fashion and quite yummy. We also had the trio sampler for dessert... HIGHLY recommended! Wait staff was great and took pity on us as we had just flown into London from NYC that day. read more

This is a reliable spot for a beer in the square mile. While possessing of almost all of the downsides of a pub in the city, on both recent visits my companions and I have managed to find space to stand or even sit, which was a most unexpected but no unwelcome surprise! On my first visit I enjoyed an unusual but tasty beer from Stewart Brewing called Zymic. The second visit was during their spring beer festival so there were a handful of interesting choices available. read more

The line for the nearby Breakfast Club was far too long, so we walked around and found this pub open. We got the Full English breakfast and a breakfast sandwich, along with some of their flavored lemonades. It took quite a while to actually get our order - luckily we were the first ones there, it seemed like even longer for the people there after us. This was my first time trying the English breakfast and I enjoyed it, even the black pudding. Not as big portions as I believe some of the other places have, but also a pretty decent price, and probably better to not be overstuffed with grease early in the morning. The service was quite slow for it being pretty quiet, but they were otherwise friendly enough. Not a bad stop, and we were glad to find it when there weren't really any other breakfast alternatives around. read more

Coming through hell and high water (rain), I staggered into this pub dripping water copiously onto the polished, gripless floor (I say gripless because I was scrabbling like a monkey to lift myself into one of the stalls because of my soaking shoe soles.) The music playing was soft and gentle, exactly matching my mood as I watched rain pound the streets of London. This pub is pretty damn large - from the outside it covers a large corner and has two floors - a pub on the bottom and an eating area upstairs. Maybe I overrate this pub because it was where I sought refuge but after an ice cold pint of Stella, I felt that I had found an excellent little haunt. Recommended, and just three minutes to the left outside Liverpool Street Station. read more

Woodins Shades - the oresome and unique sausage menu at Woodins Shades - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

I enjoyed my first real English beer at this Pub after arriving. I relished it while standing outside. And in doing so, I meet a waitress from the restaurant part upstairs. She gave me a good opinion of the place, so I ate here the following night. I decided to try their fish and chips dinner. It was a huge piece of flaky, delicate fish in a nice batter. Good and crunchy on the outside and lovely on the inside. The chips weren't the best, but she said they didn't have their normal chips and these were the replacement. The mashy peas were good for mashed peas. I'll be honest. I would come here again for the feel of the place as much as the food. Both are very comforting and satisfying and the staff is very nice. I hope I'm lucky enough to visit London again in the future. read more

Why do pubs insist on playing kids music way too loud to adults? We had to leave, which was a pity as the Adnams Ghost Ship was in great condition. Bar-man's reaction on being asked to turn the music down a bit, was to turn it up. Won't be back. read more

Good place to meet up, Nice beer, I love the Landlord Bitter. They just taken the TV's out so there's no sport anymore, with this the music has got louder, so get close if you need to talk. read more

Ate in the restaurant upstairs. Service was top notch considering the dining room was full and there was only one waitress. Food was great! We had the fish and chips and the regular serving was plenty of food. Daughter had the Mac-n-cheese and it was superb. Son had a big burger and it was delicious as well! We would go back! read more

I went in here with a small group of people at the end of a walking tour on a quiet weekday evening and found the apparent manager very inhospitable. I had one drink of unchilled white wine, not medium dry like I'd asked but sweet, his English wasn't good. The whole place is quite soulless and has got the air of just another chain pub. Not a very nice place at all, but at least in leaving this depressing pub, we were to discover the altogether more friendly and welcoming surroundings of 'Dirty Dicks next door. Verdict give the Woodins Shades a wide birth and go to Dirty Dicks instead! read more

When I go to a pub to have dinner I don't really expect my dish to impress me in a way that I would expect Gordon Ramsay's cooking to impress me. So having ordered a vegetarian burger I didn't expect much. When the burger was brought to me I was happy enough and with a cold beer to go with it I feel that the pub succeeded in living up to the definition I have in mind of a pub. In terms of what it served that is. Not in terms of how it was served however. When my friend and I stepped to the bar to place an order we noticed immediately that the bar was seriously undermanned. Knowing ourselves how incredibly stressful it is to work in such a situation, we felt a bit sorry for the guys who obviously struggled to keep up with the number of waiting clients. It was however not simply too much to handle for the two, they worked really clumsily as well and could for some reason not communicate with one another (we later found out that one of the two waiters struggled to understand English, which may explain the problem). I have never seen a barman tap beer in such a weird way. While we were still waiting for our orders to be taken, we witnessed how empty pints glasses were put on top of smaller glasses so that the barman didn't have to hold the glasses while tapping beer. This obviously unstable structure managed to collapse three times within in five minutes, resulting in three shattered glasses on the floor. After this bizarre sight we could finally order. Unfortunately luck wasn't on our sides, the online payment system failed to work, so after 25 minutes of waiting we were asked to get cash. While my friend ran to the closest cash point I watched how the barman prepared our pitcher of Pimm's. I feared for the safety of his hand while he chopped up an apple in the air, and breathed with relief when he moved on to the strawberries. We thought we had seen everything, until we finally managed to pay. When I looked at the bill I saw we were charged for random items we hadn't ordered, so I went back to check with them what was going on. In part because I could understand that the failing card machine could be blamed, but mostly because the items we were charged for are usually cheaper than the items we had ordered would be. The bartender, who couldn't speak English, referred me to his colleague. This colleague came up with the incredible story that he just puts random names on the receipt but that the price was definitely right. I mean, I don't mind if you prefer to call 1 pitcher of Pimm's 3 pints of Stella Artois, and 1 pint of Stella a pint of Carlsberg, and to say it's 40 pounds when the receipt shows an incredibly weird looking equation that adds up to 30 pounds 50. I do however mind when I'm looked at as a fool when I say this is unexpected and strange. Oh well.... read more

Absolutely fantastic! If you are traveling in charming old London Town then stopping in at the old Woodin Shades is an absolute must. It is a perfect feel for the old classic London pub meeting the contemporary 21st century. The list of local and imported beers and wines are exquisite and just what locals and travelers alike love about this wonderful establishment. The service is beyond perfect and Rhea is an absolute treasure of London in her helpfulness as well as her perfect customer service. This establishment is a must see and a top ten for anyone who wishes to taste local London classic blends of food and spirits with a blend of cosmopolitan flare. Thank you again to Rhea for such an amazing introduction to London. Cheers~ read more

I dunno why everyone is so down on this place, but then again most previous reviews are a bit dated and maybe there's been recent improvements. I thought the service was pretty good but it was a Sunday night and maybe it's not so much on busier nights. I was nicely surprised by their menu though, I didn't expect so much variety for an English Pub and especially for a non-meater like me, but they have a lot more than Fish and Chips and the couple of items I sampled were pretty good, especially the nut pie that my friend had (I had the Seabass, and another friend had the wild boar burger, which he really enjoyed). read more

Worst bar with rude workers I've been to in uk. I will never come back. Not enough seats and just rude!

A decent pub in a good location that offers a wide range of beers and some pretty good food. I have stopped in a few times with friends for a quick pint or two and thought I would return to try some food. My friend and I both had one of the 'Sausag and mash' meals on offer and my cumberland sausage variant was pretty good for about £6ish. The beer (Timothy Taylors Landlord) was well kept and tasty. read more

Four of us had a great evening in the upstairs dining area on Tuesday. One of our party ordered a white wine spritzer and Alberto spontaneously brought over water to complement it. One of our party did not arrive until an hour and a half after the rest of us, but we were not rushed to order food before he arrived. On the contrary, Alberto was attentive and gave us at table drinks service all evening. I wanted to speak to his manager James there and then but he was not on duty. All in all, an excellent city centre pub dining experience with good food and great service at very reasonable prices read more

Worst service in town. The waitress served the wrong food and asserted that we ordered it. She refused any discussion and put the (more expensive) dish on the bill. Unacceptable! read more