There's nothing cosier then warming your cockles next to a roaring open fire with a pint, a brandy or an Irish coffee when the weather outside is inclement...
Well, lucky for you the Great British weather is absolutely dismal 90% of the year (probably the only time this fact is celebrated) and so you've got ample opportunity to cosy up with your tipple of choice, Aran jumper and re-enact that Foster & Allen video.
We chart London's best pubs boasting an open fire...
Positively ancient, The Spaniard’s Inn has been serving up cold beers in front of a warm fire for centuries. Featured by Dickens in his Pickwick Papers and believed to be home to multiple ghosts it has oodles of history along with its Hampstead cosiness.
Dark green leather booths, austere wooden partitions and etched glass and mirrors; The Holly Bush in Hampstead is about as classic as they come. This is one of Fullers’ most aesthetically pleasing pubs and the open fire is the cherry on top.
Located on a residential Angel street, its separation from the busier parts of North London does nothing to halt visitors. Maybe that is because of the excellent food and fine range of beers. Or maybe it’s the cosy open fire that keeps the place toasty.
We’re firm fans of The Star Tavern in Belgravia Mews and not only for the way it tends to make us feel like we’re mixing with the upper classes when we visit. Dimly lit, compact and charming, the open fire is the bow on one of West London’s quaintest pubs.
Perched on the corner of Stoke Newington’s Church Street opposite Stoke Newington Town Hall, the Rose and Crown is just the kind of pub you want to retire to on a winter’s day. The stone floor and wooden beams provide a classic look that is only enhanced by the large roaring fire. And if the warmth makes you too sleepy there is always the boutique hotel upstairs.
Clapton Hart does ‘hip open fire pub’ to a tee. It is a vast space that actually needs its fires burning brightly. Visit for a strong craft IPA, a basket of white bait and that welcome feeling of boiling hot cheeks that comes with being in the close vicinity of open flames.
Formerly The Britannia, The People’s Park Tavern is big enough to boast more than just the one open fire. Think red chesterfields, beer brewed on site and homemade pies to go with the cosy wood burners. And if you’re really lucky you’ll visit on a day when the huge garden that leads out onto Victoria Park is covered in a blanket of snow. Now that would be really cosy.
If you are lucky enough to be able to live in Angel then you are also lucky enough to have The Harlequin on your doorstep. A beautiful pub both inside and out, it plays its heritage card to perfection. It is all simple pleasures here; good wine, good beer and an open fire.
In a toss up between the Three Kings and The Jerusalem Tavern for our favourite Clerkenwell pub with an open fire, The Three Kings came out on top. Why? Because the less busy, infinitely more soulful pub is a more open fire kind of a place. While the Jerusalem Tavern has the ales and the attractive architecture, The Three Kings has a plastic rhino and a vinyl jukebox to bed down with. And that is us all over.
Having initially squeezed this out of the top ten, on second thoughts let’s just include the beautiful Jerusalem Tavern after all. The rickety, wooden pub revels in the warmth of its open fire. We could settle down here in front of the flames and work through the large array of beers for a whole weekend.