Heading to London for the first time

How long do you have? A couple of days? A couple of hours?

There’s a Fuller’s pub, The Parcel Yard, upstairs directly in Kings Cross station so not the worst possible place to start. 15 minutes walk from there is The Lamb on Lamb's Conduit St – a particularly beautiful pub – if you get thirsty on the way stop off at Skinners Arms on Judd St.

In the other direction, towards Euston you have the Euston Tap directly in front of the station with a wide range of trendy beers.

Check the whatpub.com site run by CAMRA for details of any pub close to you. It uses location services to find your nearest pubs.

You are in possibly the most densely restauranted part of the UK so you definitely won't go hungry.

 

In addition to the above, the King's Cross area has quite a few decent pubs and restaurants. I have not been to all of these, but they are recommended by normally trustworthy people: The Queen's Head in 66 Acton Street, The Scottish Stores in 2-4 Caledonian Road, Beer + Burger Store in 1 York Way, The Lighterman in 3 Granary Square (also decent food), The Caravan in 1 Granary Square (decent restaurant), The Dishoom (Indian restaurant) in 5 Stable Street, The King Charles I in 55-57 Northdown Street (pub, possibly no or little food). That should be enough to keep you occupied after your sightseeing.

 

In the area of your hotel and The British Museum, I would second the recommendation from @WhatANicePub regarding The Euston Tap due to the novelty of the structure. It's an unusual place for a bar and it won't scratch any old pub itch. They'll probably have some stuff from the newer wave of brewers and their lack of typical hand pumps is interesting. I had a beer from Thornbridge there and I was surprised by how little I saw their beer in the pubs I visited in London. It was also the only London bar that I found serving Adnams gin (from my very limited experience).

Right by The Euston Tap I would recommend The Doric Arch for Fuller's beer (and more). It's more of a commuter bar than an old pub, but their beer selection was really excellent when I was there. It probably helped that the place was empty when I was there rather than being there during the after work rush hour. They had 1845 from the bottle, and when I looked for that beer at a much more revered Fuller's pub, they didn't even know what that beer was.

I would also recommend The Swan right by the museum for their beer selection. They had Old Peculier from an engine while I was there, and that beer provides a very unique experience in contrast to all the usual bitter.

Right by The Swan there's a great quirky pub called The Queens Larder that might have Tim Taylor's Landlord. I really liked that pub and I went there on a whim.

It's definitely worth going further south and out of your way to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and heading to their below ground rooms just for the unique atmosphere even though I personally don't care for the Sam Smith's beer there.

 

All great suggestions so far. One of my favorite all time free houses in London - The Wenlock Arms - is located off Old Street tube stop only 7 mins from the Kings Cross tube station. I can't recommend this place enough -- they always have ~10 cask ales on -- most are from small UK breweries - all are always in top form. The pub itself has been renovated within the past 5 years but retains a grand but unpretentious character in a truly neighborhood setting. I was last there in Oct and the place is as good as ever. Someone on one of the pub review sites once called it "the student union of life" - I couldn't agree more.

 

Wenlock tap list a few months ago - the Oakham Green Devil IPA was BIS - the Oscar Wilde Dark Mild a close second.

 

Also - Dishoom - the hip Indian restaurant chain - there are 5 or so across the UK - has an outllet at Kings Cross. I’ve been to the one in Edinburgh and it’s excellent. Also highly recommend. Cheers

 

I'm just back from two weekends in London. In your area I liked the Euston Tap for a selection beyond the usuals. The Princess Louise is a cool old victorian style pub ( Sam Smiths). Ye Old Cheshire Cheese is definitely a cool place for the cavernous old interior, particularly the cellar level, and I had a nice English meal there. Black Friars has a cool interior too, and they had a Timothy Taylors Landlord handle that was coming soon. If you're looking for historic pubs, I found this website very helpful: https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/

 

Zid: 'I had a beer from Thornbridge there and I was surprised by how little I saw their beer in the pubs I visited in London. It was also the only London bar that I found serving Adnams gin (from my very limited experience).'

Nah, kids can't afford to go to pubs, they're all lying up at home smoking skunk.

 

Remember that a lot of British pubs are owned by a few large pub companies and they have supply agreements with a relatively small number of breweries. Hence you will very often see Timothy Taylor, St Austell, Adnams, Sharps, Theakston's. It doesn’t mean they are bad beers but you may have to hunt around for less well known breweries. For many beers there is no option but to go to their local area.

 

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the recs! I'm headed to London for the first time on June 23. Staying at the Premier Inn London Blackfriars and quite a few of these places are pretty close.

 

When in Blackfriars, you will inevitably stumble into The Black Friar (a Nicholson's pub) in 174 Queen Victoria Street. It is located in the site of the old friary which has given name to the area, and has been rebuilt in splendid Art Noveau style. Might give you a few beer ticks too.

 

Based on your location and convenience, I'd say The Blackfriar, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (don't skip the cellar), and Punch Tavern are must see pubs for a tourist.

 

That's funny. On my visit, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was fine but The Harp smelled bad and made me want to leave.