Unique Bars & Pubs London's Best Pubs City Pubs Olde Cheshire CheeseYe Olde Cheshire Cheese - Temple
The Cheshire Cheese is a pub close to Dr. Johnson's House, and Johnson himself was a frequent visitor to the establishment. The original pub was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, 
with the present building constructed a year later. The cellars of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, contain numerous bars and dining rooms, and originally belonged to the 13th century Carmelite Monastery. To say they have an other-worldly atmosphere is an understatement, there really is no other pub like it.
The Cheshire Cheese was a favourite with Fleet Street hacks (including notables such as Charles Dickens, when he was journalist); until the newspaper industry moved from Fleet Street in the 1980s. These days it's generally a Lawyers' hangout with the odd smattering of IT consultant thrown in - but every orange must have its peel.
If you can't find a spot you like in the Cheshire Cheese, you're not looking hard enough. Up-sticks and wander into the labyrinth until you find something better. In fact if you are going to visit - the wandering process is an important part of taking in the feel and history of the building.
The food is good and there are separate dining areas, but it's hard to say which is the best season to visit. I used to make a point of stopping here (when I worked nearby) on the first workday after the clocks went forward in March - enjoying the al fresco drinking after the dark winter months. The punters spill into the alley (Wine Office Court), just out of sight from busy Fleet Street and the conversation gets lively.
But I think on reflection, it's best in the Winter. Cold, slate skies forewarning snow - a chattering fire, cosy nooks, creaking settles, the aroma of woodsmoke and plate of sausage and mash with rich onion gravy (not jus).
If you're in town from across the pond and wondered if the London of Pepys, Johnson or Boswell still exists. It does - and it's here.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is a Sam Smiths' pub and sells its own range of beers.
Open: Mon-Fri: 11am to 11pm
Sat: 12 to 11pm
Sun: 12 to 7pm
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet St, London, EC4A 2BU.
Temple or Chancery Lane Tube.
Call: 020 7353 6170
