please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This is a pretty standard Central London pub, which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion.
The barmaid was very friendly and the selection of drinks available included Old Speckled Hen, Bombadier (which was very good), Adnams, Pride, Leffe, Hoegarden, Staropramen and a few bog standard lagers.
There are four small tables on the pavement outside the pub, but it obviously gets busy with pedestrians and vehicles being on Whitehall. Good for people watching though, if you are that way inclined.
The toilets were a disgrace with piss all over the floor interspersed with bog roll and green towel. Funnily enough the toilet door was propped open with a “CAUTION CLEANING IN PROGRESS” sign. One of the staff obviously has a sense of humour!
In my opinion, this is not a bad pub but there are better in the area.
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Had a great visit in here the other night. 4 ales on (2 quite obscure sounding ones).
Friendly staff and a nice,unthreatening cosy atmosphere.
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OK nothing special wee pub its not to busy for the are but, if I was in the area I would maybe pop in again but there are so many nice ale houses in this area with a far better atmosphere.
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the food is very disappointing, the drinks are not kept well and the quiz machine still owes me money.
one redeeming feature; the two fellas who seem to run the place are very accommodating and very friendly. pity that the fundamentals are so lacking.
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Okak for a pint its cosy but certainly not a night ouy or session , nor would you eat in there.
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I must admit that this place is slipping - quite often there are no real ales on although many are listed as "available soon". The food choice is poor (there now seems to be dozens of pubs with exactly the same menu) and the specials remain on the menu permanently - hardly special then. You can wait up to 40 mins for food. Not as good as it used to be.
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I started coming in here to watch some of the early evening World Cup games after work last year and have found myself popping in here on the odd occasion ever since. I have always found it to be one of the more accommodating pubs in the area and there are 4 constantly changing Ales including the occasional unusual offering. The Deuchers that kept me and my entourage going for a few hours last night was as good a pint as I have come across and deserving of their Cask Marque accreditation. The knocked through interior is quite dim and there is a false Ye Olde Pubbe feel about the place with chunky fake wooden pillars and beams, lattice windows and old lanterns over the bar. I would like to think even the most gullible tourist would see through the pretence. Nevertheless, it has a pleasant atmosphere with friendly, efficient staff and tends not to get too overcrowded. For some reason the TV’s appear to have disappeared but there are the usual run of fruit and quiz machines to relive you of any change from the bar. The stairs to the Gents are a bit hazardous after a few pints and the toilets themselves leave a lot to be desired but I have generally had some decent evenings here. The pub that is, not the toilets.
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I like this place. It has a nice friendly atmosphere and is one of the more traditional pubs in the area. Good selection of ales with guest ones regularly. Good food as well. Lots of tourists in summer, but they tend to drift away as the evening goes on. Cash machine has proved useful as well on more than one occasion.
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Looks to have a good range of beer, but quite a few seem to be "available soon". Not bad for Whitehall, through.
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Awesome pub friendly staff and the manageress is brilliant. Went to there comedy night i nearly had to go to surgery to stitch my sides back up. Keep up the good work
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OK for a couple of pints but wouldn't want to spend an evening in here. Average beer, average atmosphere, average staff and average punters. Can only be an average 5/10 for this place.
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I went to this pub two days ago to use the table footballing facilities. However, it has no table football. It therefore does not fulfil its decription on this sight.
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Okay - it's in Whitehall, so you're going to meet Tourists. But hey, talk to them and enjoy it!! We met a Dutch guy who spent ages telling us about how he sees "dead people". Sixth Sense has nothing on the Clarence on a Wednesday night...
Bar guys are v nice - quite happily said they'd pay for the dry cleaning of Loose's top as the wall mounted candles dripped on it and said "it happens every day" - erm, remove the candles from the walls, perhaps?!
Good grub. Try the "speciality" sausages.
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Unadventurous selection of beer, and most of it was off when I visited.
Nothing to write home about.
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Everything was average - look elsewhere for a pub to spend more than 15 minutes in !!
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The problem with this pub is thus; It doesn't seem to know what market to cater for. Should it be the hordes of tourists, who want to sample the "delights" of a "traditional" English pub? Or the numerous Civil Servants who work in Whitehall? IMHO it (The Clarence) gets caught between the two and not offering anything for wither party to want to spend time in here.
On the odd ocacsion that I have been here it has been because it is the nearest pub to the office (no small feat considering how many pubs there are in Whitehall!). Beer is okay though.
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Excellent selection of (apparently homecooked) food until 9 p.m. and of real ales. Hey, and we managed to get a table on a Friday night. It empties out earlier than most pubs. Good 60s/70s music too.
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Great location, big sized pub. Had some food, but the trouble in getting it wasnt worth the hassle as it was only so so.
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Shame - nice looking trad pub, reasonable beer (Youngs et al - freehouse?), decent family room upstairs. Just don't bother eating: surly staff with limited linguistic skills. Fish'n'Chips £6.95 luke warm, crusty mushy peas, tiny portion of french fries (hardly Great British fare) took 45 mins on fairly quiet Sunday afternoon. "Award winning" barely warm Sausage in inedible chewy roll returned - waited another 20 mins for replacement. Went to ask what was happening and found it lying on counter downstairs and was told it had just arrived! Best that can be said was that refund given without quibble. Wished we had gone to Lord Moon opposite, OK service + food for half the price.
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Thoroughly enjoy every visit that I make here. Beer is great, food is ok, music is terrific and the babe behind the bar is mine!!
Graham - 10 Nov 2004 16:47 |
Location not exactly great, the pub looks OK, but doesn't work somehow - You can even sit outside and watch the annoying tourists/Chavs/Civil Servants(delete as appropriate) go by
TheGP - 13 Sep 2004 11:04 |
Apart from being close to a number of government departments and therefore ideal for Civil Servants, I would avoid this boozer, especially over a Friday/Saturday night. No atmosphere, no talent and a poor excuse for a 'big screen TV' in the corner. Music played here is fairly decent though and who wants to go drinking with (YAWN) Civil Servants anyway!!?
Mckenzie on En ger land tour - 26 Jul 2004 11:17 |
La Clarence - a fantastic pub, especially popular with the people who work in the building opposite,civil servants i think and they're a lovely bunch of people. i look forward to hearing their conversations every friday. i also like the way the staff never appear to recognise you, however many times you go in there. priceless.
redbear - 9 Jul 2004 15:36 |
London 11-04-2004 evening about 7pm
Horrible service very improfessional ass. manager loosing his nerv with customers. First impression- never recommend to anyone.Left this place very upset and offended. Waiting for meals aprox.30min, wrong portions given us by mistake. No apologies from the staff espec. person in charge which asked us to leave. Thanks never see U again
Simon - 11 Apr 2004 20:25 |
Worl local. Very nice inside. Best thing though, apart from the fine and indeed very cold beer. Is the Honey behind the bar. Always put's a smile on my face!!!
Rob - 1 Sep 2003 15:49 |
Most disappointing, despite extensive recent refurb. Seems unsure of whether it is a traditional English Pub [as imagined by tourists] or a hybrid American bar. Food very bland and meagre fillings to sandwiches & baguettes made from tastless US style bread.
Martin - 30 Aug 2003 22:49 |
Huge ham and cheese sandwiches but utterly without taste!
Michael J Merry - 15 Aug 2003 16:38 |
It's not as soulless as the wetherspoons but can't help feeling it's soul is a bit... off? Strange atmosphere, should be ok but isn't.
It's got a bit of a pro-tourist slant- perhaps that's what feels unreal about it.
Justine - 10 Jul 2003 14:17 |
Has re-opened after refurbishment - a few more tables for the lunchtime tourist crowd, and the bar looks better. Unfortunately they haven't touched the gents toilets (bad thing...) and have removed the jukebox (very bad thing)!
Pauly H - 23 Jun 2003 17:17 |
Glad someone out there agrees with me! Be warned - closing for a refurbishment on 28th April, although I don't think its giong to be anything too drastic...
Paul - 22 Apr 2003 08:48 |
The best pub this side of London. Friendly and Gorgeous Barmen and Barmaids. Great selection of Drinks. Jukebox, fruit and golf machines, TV.
Sasha - 11 Apr 2003 13:07 |
Oh, and one of the most attractive barmaids this side of chucking out time!!
Paul - 9 Sep 2002 14:39 |
Good old spit-and-sawdust stuff if you're fed up with the Wetherspoons over the road. Billiards table sadly replaced with table football, but there is a jukebox and a TV. Lunchtime tourists generally fade away by early evening.
Paul - 9 Jul 2002 15:45 |
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