The Cittie of Yorke

Address: 22 High Holborn, WC1V 6BN

Nearest Station: Chancery Lane

Welcome: Good; Service: Good (SIT); Beer: Good; Toilets: Basic

Cost of two pints: £5.80 (Sam Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter)

Guest: Rick; Word: Hogwarts; Person: Father Ted

Rating: 8/10

“You feel as though you’re in history here,” Rick said.  “You think there might be a big owl, coming to swoop you up.”  For Rick, it seems, Harry Potter is a matter of historical fact, so when he picked ‘Hogwarts’ as his word to describe The Cittie of Yorke, we understood it to refer to the heritage of the building.  A sign outside proclaims that a public house has stood on the site since 1430.  We discovered from an account by the bar of associations with Henry VI, an earlier incarnation of The Cittie of Yorke as a coffee-house, and of course that London’s most famous drunkard, Charles Dickens, had patronised the site himself.  It took considerably more searching to discover that the present building originates only from the 1920s.  Nevertheless, its style is in keeping with its former incarnations.  One could not possibly imagine the size of the interior from its mock-Tudor façade: it stretches on and on, warehouse-like, a warren of tall, black rooms filled with wooden barrels and a gentle mêlée of happy drinkers.  We found ourselves in a large space, a traditional Sam Smith’s bar to our left underneath shelves of casks; a row of alcoves to the right, each adorned with a table, a portrait, and the initials HR in a nod to the pub’s regal associations; and in between a range of tall tables and barrels around which we could stand.  Stained glass above bore the Sam Smith’s insignia.  Architecturally, The Cittie of Yorke is striking.

The Seven Stars

Address: 53-54 Carey Street, WC2A 2JB

Nearest Station: Chancery Lane

Welcome: Good; Service: Good (SIT); Beer: Good; Toilets: Basic

Cost of two pints: £7.80 (Adnams Bitter)

Guest: Rick; Word: Bijoux; Person: René Artois, ‘Allo ‘Allo!

Rating: 8/10

Chancery Lane meets Paris in The Seven Stars, a pub which combines tributes to the legal profession with the charm and fittings of a French café.  Outside we found a large crowd, hanging baskets, and the shop front for ‘The Wig Shop’.  Passing through the narrow entrance, on the brown walls of the three rooms we could see posters for legal dramas (such as Trial and Error), pictures of judges and images of old texts.  Drinkers had gathered around the small bar under the pinkish red ceiling; a few had secured places at one of the tables, each covered in a green and white chequered cloth.  The Seven Stars had more esoteric elements too.  There was a photo of an accordion player behind the bar, and another by the window of a black cat wearing a jacket.  A cabinet to the left of the spirits held a violin, books and an exotic figure.  Handwriting on blackboards advertised wine and an extensive food menu, including breaded quail.  Peanuts were served at the bar in brown paper bags, and a small sign above offered Havana cigars (the most expensive coming in at £34).  It might be cramped, we thought, but it’s got style.