William Blake

Decent priced drinks but its a very big pub with little to no atmosphere. Nothing special, a standard chain pub.
Also there are TV screens on every wall, something I cannot stand.

Do not! I repeat, do not order the Pulled Pork Nachos! Take normal, bad nachos and poor cheap, nasty canned pulled pork over them. Barely edible. The jalapenos were okay, though.
Absolutely ghastly experience at the William Blake. Expected at least a decent pub fare, but the service was poor, the tables wobbly, sticky and unclean.

Nous avons fait un tour dans ce pub pour un match de Rugby France Angleterre. La France a gagné et nous avons donc par définition passé une bonne soirée. Pour faire simple, c’est l’endroit parfait pour regarder un match avec un gros groupe d’amis. Il y a beaucoup de place, beaucoup de télés, beaucoup de sports différents, et meme un grand écran. En revanche, si vous voulez profiter d’un vrai pub, ce n’est pas la que j’irais, il y a beaucoup d’autres endroits avec plus de bieres et de la nourriture de meilleure qualité.
Ils proposent une sélection de bieres correctes en bouteille ou pression (les bieres les plus classiques + quelques extras) mais elles né sont pas servies tres fraiches. Nous avions aussi commandé des Nachos qui était bons. Puis des burgers qui l’étaient moins (presque aussi décevants que le jeu des français a la fin du match!): la viande n’était vraiment pas bonne, la garniture un peu seche et les frites étaient froides.
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I’ve been there for a France-​Angleterre Rugby game — France won, which by definition made it a good night. Overall, it is the perfect place to go and watch a game with friends (plenty of room, plenty of TV, all sort of sports, cheap and even a wide screen!) however, there are plenty of places with more ales/​nicer food.
Regarding the food and drinks:
The beers are fine there is a ok selection of bottles and the classical tap beers. We first ordered nachos to wait until the beginning of the game, they were good. Then we moved on to burgers that were as disappointing as the game of the French during the last minutes of the game. The meat was no good and they were a bit dry, the fries were cold.

Certainly more atmospheric than a typical Wetherspoons Pub. It’s is absolutely huge like most Wetherspoons, but doesn’t have the bland cafeteria feel. Stopped in mid afternoon, so it wasn’t crowded. Beer prices were typical, and quite low for London, around £2.30-£3.50 for most of the beers. It’s near the Old Street tube station. Didn’t try the food.

I was here last night, on a slight bender with my acting champions after we decided that we were spending far too much money in our usual post-​class haunt!
I didnt realise that WB is massive; they have a whole section at the back I imagine being very helpful on match days but similarly, I imagine it gets positively rammo too.
The staff were really friendly — Lydia ;) — and the anywhere I can get 3 double and 2 pints for £26 I like!
My ONLY issue was that one of our party was vaping and we got told off for this as vaping could encourage other patrons to spark up a real cigarette which frankly is a little silly as why should we be held responsible for someone else’s buzzing behaviour when it is pretty obvious that smoking is banned in indoor places like these?! Anyway, the manager was quite nice explaining that it’s the Head Office’s policy and not his so this hasnt affected the overall star rating.
The guys that I was with said that it was much better on the Friday night, which thinking about it, makes kinda sense as I imagine it’s where local workers will come drown their post-​work sorrows.
Overall, yay, im a fan.
I think I may find myself here again :)

Ce petit pub de quartier est calme, très agréable. Bonne musique d’ambiance le vendredi soir et en dehors des matchs.
Des prix sympas offerts pour une petite sélection de leur carte: deals 2 plats à moins de £10 les 2, 2 desserts pour le prix d’un, pareil pour les cocktails.
Les frites à la patate douce sont excellentes. Les plats et quelques desserts étaient vraiment très bons, mais la carte a été changée récemment. Dommage. Certains plats sont encore bons. Les desserts sont désormais seulement basiques.

Was there early afternoon. Grate selection of whiskies and spirits. Love the look. Food and service could be much better.

4 Stars for Ambiance and Burgers. And yes, another chain…
I vowed, «No burgers, no shakes» as the wheels of the Triple Seven threw a spray of water from the tarmac of Heathrow 5. Baffled and disappointed by pub food at this point of the journey, and simply burger-​crazed, Sweet D ordered one here. I had the open faced chicken pie.
We share food, tasting each other’s dishes, swapping commentary. This was the best pub pie I ate on the journey, and the last. However, D’s char-​grilled burger was excellent. Outstanding job William Blake.
Service was fast and friendly. This place is a cavern, stretching west to ??? The music on Halloween was loud enough to make dining difficult to enjoy and the crickets in me ears chirp louder.
I’d return for breakfast or lunch. Management might not be trying so hard to stir up a fun time for customers.

Our first day in London and I needed my Fish & Chips fix.
This place was close to our hotel and so we said why not.
Nice big place with TV’s to watch Cricket (Yawn boring…) Food arrived and it was big portions but the food was just OK. Fish was to greasy for my liking. plus fries were just OK.

Came here for Arsenal v Marseille last night. There’s a sign outside saying 2 for 1 cocktails every weekday till 9pm. Went to the bar to order 2 drinks, turns out the offer isn’t valid during matchdays. Bit annoying.
They did however have a £6.95 deal for a curry and a drink so I ordered a chicken tikka masala and a guiness. It was extremely average but I’d order it again at that price point.
The pub itself is really big. As mentioned, it retains a pub feel while being almost a sports bar. There are TVs in front of every other wall facing table in the main area, and at the back area there are a few more TVs and a large projector. It all sounds great but:
— tried sitting near the projector first. They have the world’s dumbest layout. In front of the projector there’s one high table (which was occupied) and a counter (wasn’t occupied). These 2 points, in conjunction with the fact that every table behind it is low, meant that from every other seat in the area, our view was obstructed to varying degrees.
Anyway, we then sat in the main area and got a table in front of one of the TVs but:
— despite having nice TVs, they were showing the game in SD! I’ve found higher quality streams than that. HD is the new SD, and they really need to get with the times.
— Also, the commentary was annoyingly soft and the sound was a bit muffled.
It’s a place which seems to promise so much but fails to deliver quite spectacularly. The end result is an average pub for watching sports (not a bad thing) but it could easily be great.

Solid 4-​star pub!
The one waitress was a bit surly, but for our purposes… WB really fit the bill.
We needed: NCAA basketball (read: ESPN America), in a bar with 2. enough TVs where we wouldn’t annoy anyone and 3. decent food and 4. Something more than just beer. This isn’t a terribly easy combination and after majorly striking out at City Sports Café or whatever the hell that place is called… I was wary.
But WB — well done.
First of all, specials and specials and specials. Mainly, 2-​for-​1 cocktails EVERY SINGLE DAY from 5pm-​9pm. Even Saturdays! I’ll take 2 Singapore Slingers, please… transport me back to the beach. The cocktails surely couldn’t be called «craft» but they do have alcohol in them, so getting 2 is a deal. There are also some «meal deals» that are 2-​for-​1, this is found on a special section in the back and is for limited items.
I went instead with the chicken sandwich, which was great. The chips came with… salsa? Is this salsa? Yes it was, maybe someone in the kitchen was confused, but there is ketchup on the tables, so ain’t no thing. The sandwiches were good for pub fare.
It’s bright in here (even late at night) and closes at 11pm and the people watching can be quite grand. The service was adequate, the food hot and freshly made, the drinks quick and the deals somewhat remarkable. It’s a massive space (it seems like it goes on and on and on) and with only a few groups, felt nice!
We’ll be back I’m sure — and I won’t be so complainy on the way next time!

Was an alright spot for a bit of lunch between meetings. Not a fan of the lack of table service for ordering food. That said, the food was decidedly average.
Looks like it would be a good after work spot, or a good spot to catch a football match. Honestly, I had a better time with the lads at The Artillery Arms.

2 meals for £9.95– «All day every day». Tap water is free but they make you order something (else) to get it!
Cosy looking place with booths and tables and warm lighting. Their mushroom pasta is good, as are their mashed potatoes. TVs scattered around the place like a sports bar, but definitely has a pub-​like feel to it as well.

Some people might ask, why bother to write a review of a rather middle-​of-​the-​road, non-​trendy, not fabulous, plain old average pub? Those are exactly the reasons to write about it.
One could easily walk past this place on Old Street, and sneer at its typical pub décor and somewhat boring attire of the clientele. However, at times one just wants to sit and have a good old pint and a chat and not be bothered. There is quite a lot of seating and they generally have a good beer & ale list at reasonable prices. They have a good pub-​type menu with choices like steaks, burgers, steak and bacon pie, chicken skewers, and a few salads. This is simply a decent place with no pretense.
And by the way, for those who are unaware the pub is named after the Romantic era poet and painter, who is buried in nearby Bunhill Fields.

The William Blake is a great spot to sit around and watch a good game of football. It also has Stella Black which has become a personal favorite. The ambiance is also quite nice, definitely a very traditional pub like atmosphere with lots of tvs and lots of space to accommodate for all the football fans out there. Definitely one of my favorite pubs in London

A proper sports bar with a traditional pub feel, this is where I want to watch all things involving English sport. Maybe all things involving sport in general.
I went twice in the past two nights. Last night I reserved a table of 8 and was happy when I arrived over an hour early to find my table already prepared and clearly marked with my name. Arriving only to find your fears are unfounded — that makes me happy. Drinking and merriment ensued.
Still I think that the back is best for sport with a pull down screen that projects in HD and allegedly 3D (who watches non-​HD anymore). The seats are comfortable and the crowd is there to enjoy the match.
The pub favourites special (2 for £8.95) is a stupid good deal, especially since the food is half-​decent. I had a less than compelling experience with bangers and mash on my first visit here, but my BBQ Chicken dish I had was good (granted if you put chicken, bacon, cheese and bbq sauce on a plate in any combination it will probably be good).
The only drawback to this place — very slow getting drinks. I usually end up ordering two or three for myself to save time, but that could just be min-​maxing my drinking input for optimal drunk output.
Even so — Stella Black on tap is worth the wait.

Located about 200 m from the final resting place of the legendary namesake of this pub, William Blake.
The William Blake is a traditional style pub in the heart of Old Street.
The place is a legit sports pub. They flat screens everywhere — each booth has one sitting over it. In the back room they have a huge pull down projection screen that fills up to the brim with most football matches. All major sporting events shown on SKY & ESPN make this venue a great place to spend some quality time.
The thing that sets it from usual pubs/​sports bars is the food. William Blake has a wide selction of eats — — yet I always find myself at the 2 meals for £8.95 — — everyone which I have tried has been fantastic.
Stella Black on draft — — find that in every pub.