Betsey Trotwood

Oh the betsey. Forever it shall be my local that never seems to be very local.
What a pub, mostly because of the warm wintery nights spent there, looking out the window and slugging back plenty of pints of good quality ale. Friendly bar staff and lots of space to sit down.
That’s right, a sit down pub! the way it should be. I can’t stand standing.
Food is excellent and plentiful. Cater for most palettes. I recommend heading here if you are after that decent «walking for ages and can’t find a pub» pint.

Nice small friendly pub in the Farringdon /​Clerkenwell area. I came here for a pub lunch with some colleagues. The man behind the bar was very attentive and friendly and served us at our table, I almost forgot I was in a pub.
The décor is of a more old fashioned /​traditional pub. The food was very tasty and they have a good selection of beers on tap and wine. The prices are on the higher end for a pub, but couldn’t complain after having such an enjoyable lunch.

Shepherd Neame pub in Dickensian Farringdon. Decent ale, decent prices (for the location) and all around decent. Nice food and what.
2 Lovely function rooms– prefer the basement where you might get murdered and stuck inside a whisky barrel.

As soon as my friends and I walked up, the patio area was packed full of people. Granted, it was about 10:30 on a Friday night, so things were already in full swing. We eventually sidled up to the bar, and my friends aren’t beer drinkers (or anything drinkers, really), so they asked for some recommendations, and the server was helpful and indulging of us Yanks. Good beer and wine selection, overall!
Drinks were good and cheap, and though the crowd was a little intimidating at first (just a bit cliquey), we ended up chatting with a couple of people who were friendly enough. We also hung out until last call, which is always a good sign. Loved the ambience and hope to catch some live music here eventually — will certainly be returning soon, and often.

This is a Shepherd Neame pub but has the feel of an independent drinking establishment. It’s nicely decorated in an understated way and has a good vibe. The manager was friendly and told us straight away that they weren’t serving food in case we wanted any.
They had a great selection of wines, plus the usual beers and spirits and numerous whiskeys. There was a further bar upstairs which I didn’t visit, plus an «acoustic room».
There was a definite Elvis theme while we were there — tunes being played in the background and evidence of a guest ale named «Ale House Rock» — pure genius! Unfortunately, this wasn’t currently being served, otherwise I may have stayed all night.

It’s a fab boozer in farrington (which is lined with bars and restaurants, so there’s more than a few places to choose from). I booked the lounge area at the back as it was my birthday and there were about 15 of us, so we were out of the way of the main bar, but could still hear the Northern Soul DJ who was playing.
In the main bar area there are lots of wooden chairs and tables and two walls of windows — in summer the floor to ceiling front windows are opened up so the sun streams in. Head up the spiral staircase and there’s an upstairs with some comfy chairs and tables looking down over the main bar.
There’s usually a DJ at the weekends, and sometimes in the week, too. There’s also a stack of board games to play — Scrabble, Cluedo, that kind of thing. it does get packed on the weekends and it can take a while to get served, but you’ve got to expect that, right?
They have a terrific choice of bar food and the menu was handily plastered on a huge blackboard on the back wall right by where we were sat. I ordered 4 tapas-​style dishes for £11, good value as they were quite big portions. The spicy chipolatas were tasty and chunky and hit the spot after a few drinks.
Loss of one star because when one of my friends surprised me by buying a bottle of champagne we poured it and it wasn’t chilled — come on guys, if you’re going to sell champagne make sure you chill it!
Overall a fab pub to spend a few hours in with friends

A great Shepherd Neame pub int he heart of central London. Enjoy a private party int he room upstairs last night and the only thing more impressive than the bear breasted women adorning the walls was the spread put on by the team!
It was a buffet that would leave even the most hard to please carnivore finding it hard not to smile. From amazing sliced meat, to pâté, to cheese and on and on.
A great place to have an office or any other party and the beer on tap is of course to die for!

Clerkenwell has pubs-​a-​plenty, so if you’ve just stepped off the Farringdon tube, I can say with severe conviction that you should walk past the Castle, and ignore the other old men pubs, (perhaps stop by Jerusalem). But if you’re looking for something with a bit more charm, and a younger clientele than some of the other after-​work haunts; the Betsey Trotwood is just up the road and has a lot more character packed into those tiny walls than some of the bigger pubs try to put out.
Their beer selection was a bit different for the area, and different is good my friend! You’ll find a good mix of people and a new favourite pint in the neighborhood.

Disappointed! This looks like the kind of place that would suit me down to the ground, but I found myself seriously underwhelmed by my visit.
The tables were very small and seemed to be set out for food, rather than for drinkers. The layout somehow contrived to make me feel cramped in a quite empty pub. Also 3 of their 5 ales were off, and the clip of a 4^th was half turned, as if they were unsure about its status.
This is the 2^nd Shepherd Neame pub to have let me down since I made my suggestion (
) that they might be my favourite of the pub chains. I guess I had better rethink that one!

This is close to work. Had lunch a few times, and the food has always been great. Ham, egg, and chips are a favourite. Nice for an afterwork pint too. Pull a decent Guinness.

So here’s a little background about the essence of the bar — betsey co-​owners razz and scott are some badass individuals.
I have never seen scott remotely close to sober. The first time I met him, he forced me to take sambuca shots with him. The next time, he insisted my name was Joanne and forgot to charge me cover within 30 seconds of mentioning it (cover only on select nights… but go later and bet on him being drunk and you prob wont have to pay). The last time I saw him was when i ran into him passed out in the club (ghost) across the street, on a couch, with his apron still on. Razz has great taste in music, and will jam and dance with you past 4 am even though the place is supposed to close by 2. They’re super friendly and there are often bands playing up/​downstairs — good ones, too.
They got some good beers on tap, a good number of ales, and everyone that goes there just seems to be really cool, open and out to have a good time. Cute décor, cozy and warm.

This charming bar is one of my favorite memories from London. While studying abroad and living about 2 blocks from here, Betsey was a favorite and visited very often.
First of all, it is decorated very simply, but the combination of candles, AWESOME music, and interesting pieces made the atmosphere incredible for great conversation and pre-​going out spot. The food, wine, and beer selection is just right, as were the prices. The staff is incredibly friendly and the crowd is typically youthful, trendy and good-​looking.

Really a pleasant pub but nothing very special when you pop in some afternoon.
(It took us some time to find the one open door and the barman wasn’t much help.)
Inside, he was friendly and the choice of real ales was quite good.
I was very pleased to see Bishop’s Finger on the handpump (though is was not avaliable when we came.)
I only knew it to be on draught in London in the Bishop’s Finger pub at Smithfield.
We’ll better come back one busy evening.

Betsey Trotwood is the after-​work place to be. All of the trendy designers, writers and fashionistas of Farringdon jam pack this place with their presence most weekday evenings. The venue is funky and the pints are cheap. If you need to schmooze or get some aesthetic inspiration then come here for a drink. You’re guaranteed to rub shoulders with the in-​crowd.

I think the only time I’ve ever been in Farringdon was when visiting the Betsey Trotwood. To begin with, what a great name; Betsey Trotwood! It sounds like a porn star from the 1930’s. Not that they had porn stars in the 1930’s. But if they did.
The bar upstairs is nice. Pretty compact but a nice corner bar and it’s not too expensive. But the real treat is downstairs. If you ever get a chance to see a band play there — it’s probably the most intimate and exciting place you could ever see them.
I saw Jason Mraz play his first ever UK show here. The room has a capacity of only 40 people. By this point, Mraz had already been playing to thousands of people in the USA so to see him here with 39 other people was really exciting. And that is majorly down to this wonderful venue; it’s a real treat. And surprisingly, the sound is really great too — I’m not sure how they manage it.
So if you need a bar to go to — you could visit Betsey Trotwood, but I don’t think you should go out of your way. However, if you know someone who is playing a gig there — then DEFINITELY check it out! You’ll thank me!

Relaxed and friendly, this is a good place for a drink in the evening. It would take strong lungs to want to sit outside and enjoy the traffic fumes from the Farringdon Road, but for those happy to sit in, the pub has a warm and cosy feel. Good beers. Good name for a pub, too.

Though in a funny place, this pub has a nice chilled out atmosphere. It serves an unusual selection of beers, including Asahi on tap, which was very exciting for me. The bar menu is pretty standard, but with some embellishments such as field mushrooms and scallion mash to suit the gentrified Clerkenwell crowd. There is a gig room downstairs, from which you can feel the music reverberating through the floor, whenever a band is playing. Despite some decidedly sketchy wallpaper, though this may be an ironic statement, I like the Betsey Trotwood a lot.

If you’re into your live music then you will definitely stumble across the Betsey Trotwood at some point — and it will be memorable! The general bar is typical of your typical London pub with your standard pub grub. The actual venue section is what makes this pub so unique. ‘Intimate’ is perhaps the most appropriate word. I actually performed here myself a couple of years ago and could not believe how tiny the room was without any people in it! The stage is the same level as the audience so if you are in the front row, you will very much be ‘at one’ with the performers. It does however mean that the audience are more attentive to the acts as the size of the room discourages conversation during the performances. There are also tiny little cubby sections with monitors and seating if you can’t quite bear to stand.
The performing space upstairs is slightly larger and reminded me of a living room — perhaps it actually was the landlord’s living room as they didn’t anticipate quite such a large audience and had to move the performers ‘upstairs’ last minute. This has only happened once that I have been there so who knows?!
A charming little place. You will like it.

Although gasp I’m not a huge fan of Shepherd Neame’s selection, this pub is a gem. The staff are (thus far) unfailingly friendly and helpful. They will offer a taster if you enquire about an unfamiliar beer.
There are generally between 3 — 5 ales on at any given time — mostly the brewery’s beers, but usually one guest ale. They keep seasonal ales, and keep them well. I’d love to see more guest ales, however. They serve their ales in jugs — it’s the first time in years I’ve seen a pub with more than one or two jugs available (usually kept just for the old timers).
There is also a large selection of wines, though a VERY limited cider choice, and somewhat limited lager.
The food menu is small, which indicates to me it’s freshly prepared, and the burger and chips I had there the other day were both excellent.
They host live events — one I’d like to attend (but haven’t yet) is a folk night — first and third Thursday of each month.
This pub is swiftly becoming my work ‘local’, and hope to visit more often in the future — if only they’d get more ales in!
They have a website —
— worth checking out for a diary of the live events.

The first review for the Betsey Trotwood? Surely not? OK then, here we go
It’s actually a bit of a strange place. One minute it’s looking slightly like a gastro pub (that’s Clerkenwell for you), the next it’s a bit of a rock n roll dive. It’s not sure what it wants to be.
Thankfully, this seems to work. I’m not sure there’s much point in the ‘music room’ — you can only fit an audience on 25 in there and not comfortably either. Bit silly. But bands seem to love it and they flock here. It’s a bit strange, but I’ve never seen a bad band here.
I do like the pub though. A lot. I was going through a bloody mary phase a while back and managed to somehow drink them out of tomato juice. They do make an excellent bloody mary. Very impressive.
It’s a strange little place, but that’s really part of the charm.