Dining Out: Five London Pubs for Eating and Drinking in Autumn

Where to eat when you want to feel smugly cosy with a pint.

[Twin Peaks sad giant voice] It is happening again. Now that the summer has finished with me, leaving me bankrupt with a full-blown re-acquired vape addiction, like clockwork my personal harbingers of autumn have appeared again. Celebrity Masterchef is back on TV, I am experiencing perverse delight at the idea of wearing my big coat again, and, of course, I have a really strong hankering for a Certain Type of Pub. 

Obviously my enjoyment of the pub is not exclusive to the turn of the seasons, because I love the pub all year round – what could be better on a boiling hot Sunday afternoon than going out “for one”, tottering back at 8PM, eating a mini Magnum out of the freezer in front of Antiques Roadshow and then just going to bed? – but there are, plainly, spring/summer pubs and autumn/winter pubs. 

A summer pub, for all intents and purposes, just needs to a) have a spacious outdoor area and b) not charge over £8 for an Aperol (and even then it’s egregious). An autumn/winter pub is a slightly more complex proposition – you are looking for cosiness, perhaps even soft furnishings, perhaps even a fire; you are looking for warmth both actual and ambient (like, as close to The Green Dragon Inn from Lord of the Rings as possible ideally); and you are also more likely than in the summer to be looking for food.   

I’ve been on a bit of a pub or bar food kick for the last couple of weeks, and this, combined with the fact that it’s getting demonstrably colder, has had me a bit misty-eyed about the pubs I particularly associate with eating and drinking in the autumn, so I wanted to write a bit about some of them this week. These are all places where I have memories of feeling full and comfortable and happy, wearing a jacket so large and/or puffy I look like a bouncer, and where I have also eaten extremely well, and hope to again soon.