Jerusalem Tavern

Ohhh it’s so small in here it makes me feel like I’m on the Northern Line during rush hour. The choices of brewed beers and ales may be good, but I just can’t face coming in here after work. People spill into the street and road outside, which may be nice in the summer but not when it’s so cold outside!
I have never seen it empty, though that would be nice. This place is tiny and super old. Worth checking out as long as you can handle the tight squeeze!

An extremely cool little pub which makes you feel like you’re drinking in the 1700s in a secret place no one knows about.
Unfortunately we were in a rush to get somewhere the evening we stopped in so we only had time for one pint, but the selection alone should give it 5 stars.

So this is what a damp squib feels like. I had wanted to visit the Jerusalem Tavern ever since buying the 2009 Good pub guide in which it was named pub of the year. A tiny, atmospheric ex Georgian coffee house it sounded beguiling. However it’s in a tricky part of the City (for me at least) so I only just got round to it. I visited at the start of after works drinks. As I approached, I started to worry, would it be ram jammed with the after work crowd? Would I get served? My concerns were baseless as when I arrived there were only a couple of people in (discussing loudly the failings of Ed Milliband!). It was all a little flat and the opposite of what I expected. It is a pretty unique space, consisting of two small rooms. the front has a couple of tables and some original looking tiles on the wall. The tiny bar is on the back-​if you want bitter it is on the back wall of the bar. I didn’t see them and ordered lager from the pump. They have about five bitters and pale ales. One strength is that this pub is one of a small number which exclusively serves St Peter’s ale. The lager I had was quite nice. Three stars due simply to a lack of atmosphere. Will return.

Cuando vas a Inglaterra, todo el mundo te dice, tienes que ir a un pub «auténtico» a echar unas cervezas… Pero ¿qué es un pub auténtico? ¿Uno lleno de gente beoda? ¿Uno que huela a fritanga de los fish&chips?
¡¡¡Nooooo!!! Un pub auténtico es este… De hecho, me explicaron, que si no es el más antiguo de Londres, es uno de los más antiguos.
Cuando accedes al local, primero entras a una sala cuadrada, acristalada, en la que hay varias mesas dispuestas y en la que hay cierta cantidad de oxígeno para respirar… Después llegas a la barra y aquello de estrecha y el ambiente se «enrarece» un poco (amos… Que empieza a oler a perrico muerto) y al fondo también hay mas mesas por lo que mi vista alcanzo a ver aunque no llegué allí por la cantidad de gente que había allí (era un martes por la noche… ¡Ohhhh yeah!).
En la barra tienes montones de cervezas de grifo y en los paneles superiores puedes leer toooooda la carta de cervezas de barril y botella que tienen, junto con sus precios.
Pillamos las pintas y salimos hacia la sala exterior, aprovechando que unos lugareños se daban el piro…
Disfrutamos mucho de las cervezas, del ambiente y de la compañía…
Recuerda, si vas a Londres y alguien te dice aquello de «tienes que ir a un pub „auténtico“ a echar unas cervezas», no dejes de ir a visitar este local.

Le Jerusalem Tavern est un des plus vieux bars de Londres. L’ambiance est assez typique, un peu hipster. Quand j’y suis allée avec la Team Unilocal,de nombreuses personnes étaient debout en train de boire une pinte de bière: très british!
Je n’avais pas spécialement envie d’une bière alors j’ai choisi un verre de vin rouge, celui à la carte ce jour-​là et il était délicieux! Les lumières sont tamisées, de belles fresques bleues sur carrelage blanc recouvrent certains murs, les tables et bancs en bois créent une atmosphère authentique et chaleureuse, et le service était très sympathique.
Ici, rien de surfait, on va à l’essentiel. Résultat? Un beau moment!

I’m starting to get really confused about what is genuinely really old and what is hipster, you tend to find that hipster pubs install old furniture to increase their authenticity. I can 100% confirm that the Jerusalem Tavern is genuinely really old. Here’s the ways you can tell; firstly they have original tiles on the wall that no matter how hip or quirky you were you couldn’t replicate. Secondly there were original scorch marks on the ceiling form the light bulbs and thirdly no one, no matter how hipster, would install old uncomfortable benches like they have in The Jerusalem if they wanted customers to actually stay.
Being from a land steeped in culture I love an old pub and to be fair The Jerusalem Tavern has all the makings of an absolute gem! Good beers on tap, a nice ambiance and low ceilings that create that allow conversations to echo around the bar. All in all I had a great experience, I tip my hat to The Jerusalem Tavern.

Love this place, one of my favourite pubs in North London. There’s quite a debate about whether it’s a new, or old pub, but some digging appears to clear this up.
There have been several Jerusalem Taverns in the area for many years, but although the exterior is obviously old, the current Jerusalem Tavern is a fabrication — the building was bought by St Peter’s brewery in late 1990s and the internal construction was built then to create a pub.
It had never been a licensed premises until then.
Check out Martyn Cornell’s history here:

This place is a classic, old pub. There’s chopped wood stored under the benches around the small seating area in the front; and everything in here is hard wood. I found my way here because it is a real ale pub. The pork sandwich I had was pretty decent, though it was nothing too special. The chips were also average at best; solid pub food for inhaling some beer. They basically have a lot of St. Peter’s beer on tap and in bottles, which is fine by me as I can’t get many of them at home. It was definitely worth walking out of my way to find this little place.

Hidden gem serving a great range of real beers. There’s something very enjoyable about walking into a pub and not recognising any of the beers they have available. The process of discussing what each is like with the bar man and tasting a few is a great part of the real pub experience. I opted for a pint of the Golden Ale which was beauty.
The bar itself is very small and intimate, with wood panelling, you can really imagine people sat in here a hundred years ago drinking beer out of tankards in their Victorian regalia. I had a pale ale after which wasn’t quite as nice, but as they say, horses for courses. I would recommend this place for people who like real beer and traditional pubs. Oh, and on the continuing theme of the spiralling price of scampi fries, they are £1.10 in here so perhaps the Montpelier weren’t taking the piss too much after all!

I really liked this place. Quite interesting to find a traditional pub in the middle of corporate London. The staff were helpful when I chose one of the beers they stocked.
They serve some really nice ales and local pale ales.
Definitely a place id return to!

Quite a legendary pub in the area. It’s been where is since 1720, but there was a Jerusalem Tavern on different sites in the area going back to the 14^th century!
This is a St Peter’s brewery pub so has all their ales in bottle or in the barrel. Not sure how extensive their list of other drinks is, this is very much a beer pub! I love the shape of their beer bottles. Very cool. They taste pretty good too.
Layout is quirky, but I like it. In the summer the drinkers sprawl out onto the street. It can be quite entertaining when it starts raining!

This is a brewpub which is part of St. Peter’s Brewery. Stopped by here any had many pints. The beer is hand crafted in London and the atmosphere is really neat. Very young crowd here which is quite refreshing. Ended up sharing a table with a couple who live down the street and they picked up a round for us — cheers! While the beer was a bit pricy compared to other offerings at London pubs, the value is more made up for by the quality of the beer, the selection of brewed styles (red ale, strong ale, wheat, bitter, pale, etc), and as stated previously the atmosphere.
Highly recommend just getting here early to get a good seat and staying the afternoon/​evening with good company until they close.

Can’t add much more than has already been said other than this is a great typical pub. Never had a comfy chair to sit on (always a hard wooden bench), the paint is flaking off the walls, it is always packed, the real ale is always room temperature (I prefer cold beer) BUT this is exactly what a true British pub experience should be.
In the summer, good luck getting in and getting to the bar, it is literally bursting at the seams!
Try the pork scratching, they… are…epic

Like no other pub in London. The interior is very plain, all exposed, unpainted wood. Slightly cramped with a small bar, this is not a place for big crowds. Thankfully there are some nice wooden benches outside. The range tends to include the general St. Peters offerings, but on occasion they will have a less generic beer. Prices are good. Definitely worth visiting.

This is what I find to be THE perfect pub! I really love how they managed to create an atmosphere that transports you back a century, but at the same time makes you feel you’re in a pub that captures the Zeitgeist of… well of really any time. In fact, the Jerusalem Tavern feels timeless to me!
The folks behind the counter will let you taste anything from the tap before you make up your mind and I really encourage you to do that. They have a few barrels sitting right behind the counter, from which they will draw you a nice tasting. (I would recommend going for a few half-​pints and explore the nice variety of ales and lagers they have on tap.)
Given the location, this pub does get busy with the after-​work crowd, so my recommendation would be to come here at 4pm (for a pre-​Feierabendbier) and soak in the rustic & cosy atmosphere…

Quite the popular pub in Clerkenwell, Jerusalem Tavern is renowned for its long standing as an historical place for a proper pint. If the massive size of the crowd outside on a sunny summer weekday afternoon is any sign, JT’s doing something right.
If you’re popping by for a real ale or two after work, be certain that you don’t stray beyond the bounds of the pub’s storefront. Apparently the neighbours get disgruntled if you do, and one of the folks from this establishment will be quick to let you know. It’s great to be conscientious about clogging up the ingress/​egress of nearby buildings, however it’s worth noting that outdoor standing room is effectively limited. Especially if you plan to bring along a large group of people.
I could see cozying up to this joint on a cold winter’s day, having some stick-​to-​your-​ribs pub grub, and whiling aways the hours watching the grey pass by.

From friends who took me here, I heard that this is one of, if not the?, oldest tavern/​pubs in the London area. It is a bit off the beaten path, and certainly the journey is even stranger now that the Barbican tube station currently under construction, but the atmosphere of Jerusalem Tavern is truly unique and definitely always worth a visit.
Jerusalem is tiny, meaning that when we arrived just before 10pm on a Friday, there was no hope of tucking in for a while. We ordered drinks and stepped back out onto Britton Street and made ourselves more comfortable on the sidwalk. That was a good setup given we couldn’t get a table, until 10pm when they made everyone come in and pack into the small space; then a table would have been prime.
The space is used in an interesting and efficient way: tables are tucked in everywhere they can be, and it’s not hard to make friends with your neighbors if so inclined. There is a great selection of beers on tap (as is standard for pubs in London), and the smell of beer-​soaked wood is actually a bit charming, bringing me back to my college days. I’d love to set up here for a night and watch what happens in the tavern, what characters come and go, the space empty and fill, and all the while have a cold drink at hand.
Like I said, definitely worth a visit.

When you can actually see the inside when it’s not filled with the after work crowd, the tables are roomy and the inside is pretty neat. However, when this place does fill up with the usual after work crowd, it’s charm still goes untouched. The bar lets you drink on the street directly outside AND across the street.
I believe they only serve St. Peter’s, but that doesn’t matter — definitely worth checking out. Only downside is they close incredibly early!

In diesem Pub wird Ale der St. Peters Brauerei ausgeschenkt. Der Pub ist herrlich alt und traditionell und man muss sich hier einfach wohlfühlen.
Das wichtigste ist der Service und das Bier, beides stimmt. Gerade die seltenen Biersorten mit Fruchtgeschmack sind ja normal nicht mein Ding. Aber hier schmecken diese ausgezeichnet.
Die Lage ist ein wenig ab vom Schuss, wenn man in der Stadtmitte geschäftlich zu tun hat.
Jerusalem Tavern ist zum Town Pub of the Year 2009 gewählt worden.
Bin wenn das abendprogramm eines London Besuches es erlaubt gerne hier.
Es gibt nur Knabberkram zum Essen, den angeblichen Mittagstisch habe ich noch nie probiert.
Abends ab 5PM wird es voll und da stehen wie beim Frankfurter Apfelwein alle beisammen und keiner fragt Dich woher Du kommst, aber alle haben Spass.
Eine schöné Quartierkneipe — so der Hochdeutsche Ausdruck — in London.
Cheers

Not enough room to swing a cat, and the smallest bar in the area… but nonetheless a wonderful pub. For some reason, I only ever end up here at Christmas time, despite it being so close to work (I suppose 4 others are closer and I’m lazy…), but every time I go I remember how much I like it.
St Peter’s brewery brews some VERY nice beer. I did struggle with the grapefruit fruit variety today — because grapefruit is an aquired taste methinks — but generally, the beer is excellent, they always have a good selection — marked up on the blackboard. The food is also good, if you can manage to snag one of the 6, yes 6, tables in the place. Ye olde wooden pub décor is the order of the day. It’s wonderful.
All in all, I wish this was my neighbourhood local, though I’d spend far too long here. as it is, it’s a lovely, cosy, understanding (we got a bit raucous with the crackers one year), and friendly pub which deserves anyone’s patronage. London should be full of these!

The United States and England are not only two countries divided by a common language.
We are also two countries divided by a common beverage; both nations adore beer but we cannot agree at which temperature to serve it.
This disagreement is so pronounced that in a joint press conference at the White House in July with Prime Minister Cameron, President Obama said:
«We have just concluded some excellent discussions — including whether the beers from our hometowns that we exchanged are best served warm or cold. My understanding is, is that the Prime Minister enjoyed our 312 beer and we may send him some more. I thought the beer we got was excellent — but I did drink it cold.»
I have a feeling that if Barack had joined me and my American drinking companion at the Jerusalem Tavern last Friday night he would have come away with similar feelings to us. This pub, steeped in history, is just the sort of drinking establishment one hopes to claim as their local when living in England. On a Friday night it is heaving with people sat ’round tables exchanging war stories from their harrowing weeks in architecture, banking, design, the internets.
The beer selection is wide and includes multiple local and organic choices. But why, oh why must it be served so warm? I got a glass of the cream stout and could not finish it. Guinness-​like in its flavour and consistency, I expected it to arrive cold but it was far from it.
Thick, warm, creamy soup? Any day of the week!
Thick, warm, creamy BEER? No thanks!
I know there’s a happy middle ground for me at the Jerusalem Tavern and I have a sneaking suspicion it might include adding ice to my future pints. And no, I’m not above that (in fact, I love it when bartenders make wild generalizations about me based on my accent and offer me the ice before I request it!)

Just moved here from San Francisco and I was eager to try this place. St. Peter’s is a popular English microbrew in crunchy California due to the fact that they make organic ale.
It did not disappoint.
In addition to serving a far more impressive array of beers than they export to the States, this is some of the best pub food I’ve had in London, or anywhere in the world for that matter. The menu changes, but if the roast pork sandwich with crackling (see picture) is on the menu then you’ve got to get it. Even if you’re Jewish or Muslim.

If you want a pub that is about the ale, the JT while a bit worn in, is cozy like a comfortable chair. This place is a good ‘ol tavern with its worn wood and creaky floors, and I say that in the best possible way, its like taking a step back in time. This place is fantastic!
The JT is the London outpost to the St. Peter’s Brewery home brews. It serves its own ale by the cask and there are seasonal varieties that get rotated in. In many ways, this might be considered a beer lover’s spot of choice as there is s certain exclusivity to the beer itself. The food isn’t bad either, and the staff take pride in the place as well. For those in the know, this place is much beloved.

The Jerusalem Tavern ist nicht nur eines der grossartigsten Pubs Londons — es ist ein ganz besonderes historisches Kleinod. Hier trank schon der Komponist Händel gern. Alt ist es also wirklich und auch klein, fast winzig, was auch wieder zur Atmosphäre beträgt. Die Sitzplätze auf den Holzbänken sind rar, eng aber gemütlich. Meist ist auch noch die Strasse (kaum ein Auto) voll mit fröhlichen Trinkern.
Obwohl die üblichen Getränke angeboten werden, sind natürliche englische Biere einer Kleinbrauerei an Besondere. Es gibt Fruchtbiere, Biobier und auch einfachere Sorten.
Mittags — erzählten Freunde — gibt’s auch gutes Essen.
Noch ist dieses Pub — wegen seiner Lage — bei Touristen kam bekannt. Also, schnell mal hin, ehe es zu spät ist.
(Öffnungszeiten Mo-​Fr 11−11h, Sa+So zu)