There are roughly seven billion pubs in London, and a good chunk of them have long and storied histories.
One such pub: the Lamb and Flag, which has been around since 1772, and which was reportedly a favourite of Charles Dickens.
I have to imagine it was pretty different in his day — back then it was nicknamed “The Bucket of Blood” thanks to the bare-knuckle fights that were staged there — but it’s still standing.
The inside looks pretty much exactly how you imagine it’ll look. It’s the classic British pub through-and-through.
I ordered the sausage and mash and got a pint of beer to drink (of course). The food was actually pretty decent, particularly the very generously applied gravy, which was rich and satisfying.
As for that thing about the British drinking their beer warm? It’s not true, but it’s not exactly false, either. The beer definitely wasn’t warm — but it also definitely wasn’t cold. It was more on the chilly end of room temperature, I guess? But it was a stronger, more flavourful beer, so the temperature actually worked really well.