Picture of Draft House Old Street, EC1V 9NR

Draft House Old Street, EC1V 9NR

  • 211 Old Street, EC1V 9NR

The Draft House Old Street was a pub near Old Street Station, part of a small chain. It closed down by mid-December 2019, and is due to be replaced by a BrewDog bar.

The information below is retained for historical purposes.

Pub near Old Street Station, part of a small chain.

Entry is into a wide, thin space with long, high tables for half a dozen people apiece, plus a line of smaller normal-height tables along the floor-to-ceiling front windows. Flights of steps at either side lead up from here to the mezzanine floor, which has a mix of seating including bar stools at a tall counter, padded banquettes upholstered in grey-and-orange, and freestanding tables and chairs.

The decor is heavily faux-industrial, with a concrete floor, walls covered in white pegboard, chevron-bedecked square concrete pillars, and large-bore ducting snaking its way all over the ceiling.

Kake visited on a Thursday lunchtime in September 2017. I was the only customer when I arrived at their opening time of noon, but a dozen more turned up over the next half hour. Music was playing, not too loud. Service was friendly and welcoming, and they offered me the option of either table service or ordering at the bar.

There were three real ales and one real cider on handpump: Sambrook's Pump House (advertised as their "daily cask" at £2.90/pint), Windsor & Eton Conqueror, Marble Uppe Hela Natten, and Thistly Cross Whisky Cask Cider. A pint of lime and soda was £1.70.

According to the Draft House website as of September 2017, food is served noon-10pm every day.

In September 2017, Kake's Cuban sandwich (£8.50) photo was pretty good. The balance of ingredients (smoky slow-cooked pork, ham, Swiss cheese, thinly sliced gherkins, and mayonnaise) was good aside from there being just a touch too much mayonnaise. Textures and flavours were nicely varied; the pork still had a fair bit of chew, which contrasted well with the soft, slightly sweet, foccacia-style bread.

Accessibility: No steps to get in, but the entrance door is very heavy. There's a RADAR-locked accessible toilet on the ground floor. There's a lift from the ground floor to the mezzanine level, but on our visit this had a blackboard and a folding table leaning against it and blocking access to it.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, September 2017.
Last edited 2020-01-05 16:21:06 (version 3; diff). List all versions.