Seven Stars - Chancery Lane

This is a weird little pub around the back of The Old Bailey. Even on a Saturday it had one or two lawyers in it enjoying lunch and pint. Now, we had read the somewhat mixed reviews of this place but lured by the promise of Darkstar beers and lunch after a hard morning of socialising we found ourselves settled in the bar with a pint each. The beer is well kept and includes two beers of session strengths (3.5 – 3.8 abv) which is unusual as most beers seem to be around the five mark these days.

True the barmaid is somewhat abrupt but the service is fast and efficient, tables are clear of empty plates or glasses and they are all clean. We only saw the cook/landlady twice once when she checked on the pumps and wandered off to replace an off barrel and just after we got our food so I can’t in all honesty say whether or not she is as abrupt as her staff. However I am jealous of folks who can carry off bright coloured hair as she can, always wanted to dye my hair bright purple but a combination of the serious bosses and sheer cowardice on my part means I have never done it. Unfortunately we didn’t see the cat, shame I like pub cats and I liked the nice touch of the cat’s water being on the bar.

The food menu is just a blackboard on the wall, eclectic mix of dishes all roughly about ten pounds each but from what the other customers were having each was well made and generous in portion. If I hadn’t been with my partner I would have gone for the potato soup to start and then the oysters, but as it was we both had the ‘English Plate’ which was a brillaint version of a ploughmans. Couldn’t fault the food nor the beer, both were lovely and large. I forgot to ask whether the chutney was homemade or not. If not I really wouldn't mind knowing what brand so I could get some.

I understand from the various reviews that the Landlady isn’t too keen on the reviews which have lead folks to track down the pub for pub ticking and I can understand that. Having folks tramp in and have a loud conversation on the pub compared to the review must be really irritating and I know I can be touchy but I was annoyed by the folks we saw in there doing exactly that.

As I mentioned reviews I must give this link to my favourite pub review of the Seven Stars done in the type of Alex from the Clockwork Orange; http://www.fallingdownthepub.co.uk/review303_seven-stars-chancery-lane.html

This is a gorgeous little pub which I can see myself curled up with a nice meal, good beer and book sometime again soon.

Seven Stars
53 Carey Street
London
WC2A 2JB