Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Wine Office Court 145 Fleet Street London EC4A 2BU
With vaulted cellars that date back to the 13th century, when the building was a guest house belonging to a Carmelite Monastery, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub has some claim to being London’s oldest pub. In fact it was rebuilt after the the Great Fire of London in 1666. But you get the idea – it’s old. Situated down a narrow alleyway off Fleet Street, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was pretty small but in fact it’s a warren of rooms and corridors in which it’s easy to get lost (making it a very bad place to arrange to meet someone unless you both know it well). The ground floor has two wood-panelled rooms with open fires for the winter, of which the Chop Room is usually reserved for diners (the steak and kidney pie is very popular). There’s also an upstairs dining room, open at busy periods. The fun is to be found by heading down the narrow steps to the vaults and the cellar at the bottom, where there’s another bar and dining area – and no phone signal to help your lost friends.
