‘Hundreds of outdoor drinkers’: CityAM’s Pub of the Week is The Wren on Watling Street
If you’re looking for a man in finance, go to TikTok, where videos streamed millions of times tell you to go to Watling Street. It’s the skinny lane with St Paul’s Cathedral at the end and four pubs along it, where in the summer hundreds tightly pack with al fresco pints. Ye Olde Watling, where Sir Chris designed St Paul’s, stands at the crossroads.
The Pavillion, towards the Cathedral, is further west, but a little out of the way. Then down the hill at the easterly end is Core bar, with inexplicably cheap £4 pints and a rowdy crowd of twenty-something excitable first-job bankers. In the middle of Ye Olde Watling and Core is The Wren, which recently opened in a historic pub building.
Pub of the Week: The Wren
What’s the vibe?
The Wren has the biggest space outdoors for standing around in with a pint, which sounds silly but is super important. Over the road there is outdoor seating, so The Wren tends to be the busiest of the bachelor-strewn pubs along the street. Spot the TikTok girlies looking for a husband on any sunny day between April and October. Interiors-wise, it’s plush. Dark wood fittings look expensive or at least sturdy, there are comfy banquettes, and the best bit is the fairly under-the-radar underground bar. It is quieter than the main pub so it’s great if you want to have a chat and not have to shout. Plus there’s more seating down there that’s more commonly free on busy evenings, and the dance music – which isn’t too loud – feels more tasteful than trashy.
What’s the food like?
Nine out of ten frequenters to The Wren won’t have considered ordering food. But if you are one that does, it’s fairly traditional pub fare. Starters of salt and pepper squid and double fried crispy chicken, mains of fish and chips, steak and Guinness pie, and red lentil Dahl with aubergine, and desserts like sticky toffee pudding and chocolate brownie.
Anything else?
The venue’s popularity means it has got a little big for its boots. Some pints are north of £8, which has put off CityAM staffers. Wren himself, who the pub pays homage to, was dedicated to the public good. Perhaps the pub should do its regulars a solid and dial back the prices. Or perhaps showing off with spenny pints is exactly what The Wren’s crowd of finance bros want when they’re peacocking?
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