Lamb & Flag

Photos and First Impressions

Approaching the Pub

The Bar

The Back Room

 

Chronicling from the Barstool

I got lucky stumbling upon this one. You see, once a pub becomes well known in London, it’s common for others of the same name to spring up in a bid to steal business. Think Ray’s Pizza in New York, of which there are countless variations and knockoffs.

Anyway, I’d marked an imposter on my map, and just happened upon the original while wandering through Covent Garden. I am, indeed, the pub whisperer.

I’m glad I found it, because it’s a damn cool spot—in many ways one sitting out of time. The area of central London where it’s located has been especially modernized, but if you wander just a bit off the beaten path and down a wide alleyway, you’ll run smack into it.

Though the brickwork facade only goes back to the 1950s, the building frame is early 18th century, and the inside very much reflects that feel. It’s a fairly simple structure, with a long bar and limited seating to the front and rear. The open windows near the entrance allow for a nice cross breeze, but they also connect the bustling bar area to the spillover of patrons out front, so there’s a nice sense of continuity.

The following is inscribed on a large crossbeam just above the bar:

Meum est propositum in taberna mori vinum sit appositum morlentis ori, ut decant cum venerint angelorum chori, “Deus sit propitus huic potarori!”

My Latin is nonexistent, but I believe it translates as:

My purpose is that in the tavern of the dying the wine should be placed in the mouth of the dying, so that when the choir of angels come they may say, “God find favor upon this drinker!”

Cheers to that! And more appropriate than you may think. The pub has a long history of violence. It once hosted bare-knuckle prize fights, earning it the moniker “The Bucket of Blood.” I didn’t see any fisticuffs breakout during my visit, but it was rather early.

Also in the pub’s founding year of 1623…

• James I rules England.
• Virginia enacted America’s first temperance law.
• Urban VIII elected pope.
• William Shakespeare’s plays, collected into one volume, purchased by Edward Dering.

On Draught

 

Seafarers

Fuller’s Chiswick

3.6% ABV

Just a really solid amber ale here. Light, yet full-bodied, it’s also crisp and malty—and it has a little fizz despite being a cask ale.