In the Library Pubs are ideal locations for a solitary read. As I had reached a very interesting bit in the book I’m currently reading while coming in on the tube today, it seemed reasonable that I go to a pub to continue perusing at lunchtime. In the end, I couldn’t have picked a better pub for the job.
The Seven Stars is a wee pub opposite the tradesmen’s entrance to the High Court, just off Chancery Lane. Despite its location, only minutes away from my place of work, I had never been there before today. I was going to have a pint of their bitter (Adnams), until I realised that it also sold Bitburger, my favourite German lager. So I had a pint of BB and a pricey-but-nicey ham and mustard sandwich. The menu veers towards gastropubbery (kedgeree, mussels) but it gave me the impression they’d be able to get away with it.
As it is just round the corner from the courts, the pub has a clientele made up of , not surprisingly, lawyers and clerks. The decor is distinctly legal – caricatures of judges, posters of Brit films featuring lawyers. While I was expecting to overhear all manner of lawful anecdotes, what I ended up hearing was a long conversation about Pop Idol between two geezers. One of them was drinking out of his own special pewter tankard, which I assume was kept behind the bar for him – classy!
On first visit, this seems to be a terrific little pub, atmospheric but not prepossessing, bustling but not too noisy to have a read in. I look forward to returning and may well be there for its four hundredth anniversary party in the summer (est. 1602, would you believe).