The Black Friar, London

Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Robert Gale in Pubs

The Blackfriar, London

Unique, fabulous and completely over the top. The Black Friar is unlike any other pub in London.

Brief History

Built around 1875, the Black Friar took its name from the Dominican Friary that existed in the area between c1278 and c1538. Located on a triangular site across the road from Blackfriars tube station, the pub underwent a remodelling in 1905 by the then-publican Alfred Pettitt and his architect H Fuller-Clark. It was unusual for a pub to undergo refurbishment during that time as the London pub market had crashed and bankruptcies were more common.

The Interior

Blackfriar, London

The Art Nouveau Grade II listed pub is decorated throughout with jovial friars eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. They are made from a variety of copper, plaster and marble (around 50 types or marble are employed). The friars are featured in a variety of scenes including them singing carols, collecting fish and eels and gardening. Outside there are beautiful metal signs indicating the location of the Saloon Bar, a statue above the door and a fair sized seating area.

Beer and Food

The pub is owned by Nicholsons and as such there is a good selection of beers – around 8 are available at any one time. On tap when I visited was Doombar, Timothy Taylor Landlord, 6X London Pride plus 4 others. Also available are premium lagers such as Peroni, Staropramen and Amstel as well as Erdinger wheat beer.

As well as the usual pub grub they also have some interesting bar snacks such as mini fish and chips, mini toad in the hole, calamari, mni pies, mini pork pies and mini Cornish pasties. All are £1.95 each.

Visiting the Pub

The pub is open seven days a week from 10am. It gets very busy during weekday lunchtimes and early evenings so it’s advisable to visit during the quieter times when you are able to relax with a beer and spend time viewing the pub.

More Photos of The Black Friar

Venue Location

The Black Friar

174 Queen Victoria Street

London

EC4V 4EG

Tel: 020 7236 5474

www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/theblackfriarblackfriarslondon

View on Google Street View

Robert Gale (Twitter: @awv)

Beer Taster, Pub Attendee, Photo Taker

Robert Gale likes beer, pubs and beer festivals. He also likes to take photos of beer, pubs and beer festivals. Most weekends of the year you can find him travelling around the UK (and sometimes beyond) photographing and reviewing good quality pubs and beer festivals. He also has a day job in the form of a web developer for Ozum.

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http://www.blogobeer.com Darren T

This place looks Amazing. And my office (when I’m down in London a couple of times a month) is literally over the road and for two years now I’ve been asking colleagues what the Black Friar is like and they’ve all said “it smells like old men”. So we’ve always gone over the Bridge to Doggett’s Coat and Badge instead.

That’s the last time I ask for pub recommendations from my colleagues…
rob

I haven’t noticed an old man smell in there but if there is, it’s worth putting up with it to admire the interior.
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