The little black book

Quiet pubs, bars and cafés in London to talk

Filtered for Historic, then ranked by journey fairness for your group.

Central London

Chapter 1 · 17 pubs, bars and cafés

Bleeding Heart Tavern is on the corner of Bleeding Heart Yard and Greville Street, close to Hatton Garden. It is part of the Bleeding Heart group, which also...

Farringdon 2 min · Bookable

Dukes Bar has been part of Dukes London on St James's Place since 1908, and it is famous for martinis made at your table with no ice. It is open from 3pm to...

Green Park 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon is on the fourth floor of Fortnum & Mason at 181 Piccadilly. Queen Elizabeth II opened it on 1 March 2012, and it serves a full...

Green Park 2 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

Maison Bertaux has been making cakes on Greek Street since 1871, when Monsieur Bertaux arrived from Paris. It is a tiny patisserie and tea room with mismatched...

Tottenham Court Road 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Audley is a Victorian pub on Mount Street in Mayfair, built in 1888 and designed by Thomas Verity. It has been restored by Artfarm, and its ceiling is a...

Green Park 7 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Blackfriar is a Grade II* listed pub on Queen Victoria Street, opposite Blackfriars station. It was built in 1875 on the site of a Dominican friary and...

Blackfriars 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Champion is a Grade II listed Samuel Smith's pub on the corner of Wells Street and Eastcastle Street in Fitzrovia. Its stained-glass windows of Victorian...

Oxford Circus 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Golden Lion is a Greene King pub on King Street in St James's, a short walk from St James's Square. The pub says it was once frequented by Lillie Langtry...

Green Park 6 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Holy Tavern is the small pub at 55 Britton Street in Clerkenwell that many people still know as the Jerusalem Tavern. The room was recreated in 1996 as an...

Farringdon 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Lamb is a Grade II listed Young's pub on Lamb's Conduit Street in Bloomsbury, dating back to the 1720s. It keeps its hinged snob screens around the bar,...

Russell Square 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Museum Tavern stands opposite the British Museum on Great Russell Street. It dates back to 1723, when it was the Dog and Duck, and took its current name in...

Tottenham Court Road 5 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Queen's Larder is a small pub on the corner of Queen Square in Bloomsbury. You can book a table in the upstairs lounge, or the whole room, by calling 020...

Russell Square 6 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Sekforde opened as a pub on Sekforde Street in Clerkenwell in 1829 and traded without a break for 176 years. It closed in 2015 for restoration and reopened...

Farringdon 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Wallace Restaurant is in the glass-roofed courtyard of the Wallace Collection on Manchester Square. You can drop in for coffee and cake, or book the à la...

Bond Street 8 min · Bookable

The Wigmore is the pub at The Langham on Langham Place, with a menu overseen by Michel Roux. Its three-cheese toastie is famous, and it serves a Sunday roast...

Oxford Circus 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

Ye Olde Mitre hides down Ely Court, a narrow alley between Hatton Garden and Ely Place. It is a historic ale house with real ales on tap, homemade bar snacks...

Chancery Lane 3 min · Bookable

Ye Olde Watling is a Nicholson's pub on Watling Street, a short walk from St Paul's Cathedral. It was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1668 for the workers...

Mansion House 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

North London

Chapter 2 · 5 pubs, bars and cafés

Burgh House Café is in Burgh House, a Queen Anne house of 1704 in Hampstead that is now a museum. It has a garden terrace, and the museum is free to visit. It...

Hampstead 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Red Lion & Sun is a privately owned pub in Highgate Village, with two beer gardens and a wood-burning fire. There has been a pub on the site since the 16th...

Highgate 3 min · Bookable

The Brew House is the café in the service wing at Kenwood, the English Heritage house on the northern edge of Hampstead Heath. It serves sandwiches, salads and...

Hampstead Heath 3 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Duke of Cambridge, now The Duke Organic, is on St Peter's Street in Islington. It opened in 1998 as Britain's first organic pub, certified by the Soil...

Angel 3 min · Bookable

The Wells is a Georgian pub on Well Walk in Hampstead, close to the Heath. It serves lunch and dinner every day on the ground floor, and the first-floor dining...

Hampstead 1 min · Bookable

East London

Chapter 3 · 2 pubs, bars and cafés

Rochelle Canteen is Margot Henderson's restaurant in a converted school bike shed off Arnold Circus in Shoreditch. It opened in 2004, and its walled garden...

Shoreditch High Street 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Grapes is a narrow riverside pub on Narrow Street in Limehouse, and its history goes back more than 500 years. Charles Dickens drank here and wrote it into...

Limehouse 2 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

South London

Chapter 4 · 2 pubs, bars and cafés

The café at Dulwich Picture Gallery sits in the gallery grounds on Gallery Road, opposite Dulwich Park. It serves brunch, lunch and light refreshments from 8am...

West Dulwich 1 min · Walk-in

Walk-in

The Rosendale is a big food-led pub on Rosendale Road in West Dulwich, with plenty of garden space. It serves a weekday lunch menu from noon to 3.30pm, Monday...

West Dulwich 4 min · Bookable

West London

Chapter 5 · 2 pubs, bars and cafés

Newens The Original Maids of Honour is a bakery and tea room on Kew Road, opposite Kew Gardens. It has served Richmond for more than a century and a half, and...

Kew Gardens 2 min · Bookable

The Petersham is a hotel on Nightingale Lane, high on Richmond Hill. Its restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, with views over the...

Richmond 5 min · Bookable

Frequently asked questions

What does the “Historic” filter show on Quiet pubs, bars and cafés in London to talk?

This view narrows Quiet pubs, bars and cafés in London to talk to venues tagged for Historic. FairWhere can still rank that filtered shortlist by journey fairness when you start a plan, so the activity fit and the commute both work for the group.

When are these places quietest?

Earlier in the day, almost everywhere. Weekday mornings and early afternoons are the calmest at most of these quiet pubs, bars and cafés in London, and evenings get louder, with after-work crowds at places like Gordon's Wine Bar and The Wigmore. Several are daytime only. Each venue note says when it's calmest, and where a place is livelier than quiet, we say so. For a livelier after-work pint, see After-Work Drinks. For a louder City dinner when quiet isn't the point, see Square Mile Weeknights.

Can I work on a laptop in any of them?

In some. Store Street Espresso and Prufrock Coffee are the easy ones, and Age Exchange Cafe, Ink@84, Petitou, St John's Bakery and The Gallery Cafe also carry a laptop-friendly tag. Monocle Café is the exception: laptops are discouraged there. Most of these are daytime venues, so check hours before you plan a long session.

How does FairWhere pick a fair place?

Here, fair means the journey. Add where everyone is starting from and FairWhere ranks these quiet pubs, bars and cafés in London by how evenly the travel is shared across your group, using the FairWhere Score. The shortlist is picked for quiet. The ranking is not about popularity, sponsorship or who suggested it first.

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