The Old Red Cow

A Victorian boozer with a highly rated Sunday roast, The Old Red Cow fits in perfectly on the edge of the ancient Smithfield Market. Throngs of local workers flood the pub during the week and while the rest of Smithfield, Farringdon and Clerkenwell snooze sleepily throughout the weekend, the Old Red Cow drags you in with promises of craft beer and cooked meat.

Set over two levels on Long Lane, this is a pub that doubles as a dining room. On the ground floor, where you’ll find high tables, elevated sofas and stools, the space is tight. Good looking and tidy, the bar is busy most nights during the week but becomes a more quietly appealing place for those tourists and Londoners soaking up the area’s history on weekends – and there’s plenty of it to see.

The pub’s first floor is regularly fully booked out on Sundays by anyone who has had a whiff of the rumours of the quality of the Old Red Cow roast. So book in advance if you’re coming for food. For the rest of the time, the room provides extra drinking/eating space for the pub. Branded as a ‘craft beer pub’ – like so many these days – the Old Red Cow has an enviable selection on tap. But what really impressed us was the beer knowledge of the staff behind the bar. We drank Kernel IPA (at a whopping 7% and £7.50 a pint) and Neck Oil Beavertown Brewery from the keg, and there are further stouts, real ales, lagers and wheat beers to choose from. It clearly takes its beer seriously, in much the same way as its food.

We booked in for Sunday lunch and tried a selection of the pork belly roast and the Lancashire hotpot. Each meal was as good as the staff promised – yes, they’re confident – although I would go as far as to say that the hot pot eclipsed the roast. Not cheap, but hardly expensive either, the Old Red Cow is a worthy place to take a group. During the week, the food menu extends to burgers, sausages and sauerkraut, steak and fish and chips.

On our visit the service was faultless; friendly and educational, we’d go back in a hurry.

The Old Red Cow

The Old Red Cow Picture Gallery

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