Picture of Old Fountain, EC1V 9NU

Old Fountain, EC1V 9NU

Real ale pub near Old Street Station, in the Good Beer Guide. According to the August 2011 edition of What's Brewing, it's been run by the same family for over 50 years.

It has entrances on both roads either side of the Barclays on City Road. Inside, the decor is quite traditional. The pub is split-level, with the back section raised slightly above the front, and there are bars on each level with a bank of four handpumps on each.

Kake, Ewan, Laura, and Les visited on a Monday evening in January 2010. It was pretty quiet, though not empty, when we arrived around 5:30pm — unsurprising given it was early in both the week and the year (when bob visited on a Friday night in March 2007 it was rather crowded). Music was playing, not too loud.

On a Sunday afternoon visit by Kake, Ewan, Bec, and other Tube Walkers in February 2015, there were a fair few people in but we managed to find a couple of tables for our group.

Ales available on our January 2010 visit were Moorhouse Black Cat (£2.90/pint), Twickenham Sundancer, Whitstable East India Pale Ale, Oxfordshire Ales Pride Of Oxford, and London Pride (quite a good number, given the quiet time of year). Those we tried were fresh and tasty. They also had Sam Smith's wheat beer and Sam Smith's cider — unusual to see these outside an actual Sam Smith's pub.

As of February 2015, food is served noon-3pm, 5pm-9pm Mon-Fri; 4pm-9pm Sat; and 1pm-6pm Sun. Food on Sunday is mainly roasts, including a vegetarian option photo of Sunday menu in Feb 2015. In January 2010 we had a bowl of chips (£2) which arrived very quickly and were quite good; thin, crispy, and not greasy.

A sign seen in January 2010 warned that there's a minimum spend of £10 on credit/debit cards.

Accessibility: One step up to get in. As mentioned above, the pub is split-level, with two steps between the front and back parts. There are bars and seating on each level. The ladies' toilet is on the lower level and the gents' is on the upper level.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, Ewan, Bec, and other Tube Walkers, February 2015. Opening hours taken from the Old Fountain website, February 2015.
OS X co-ord: 532658 OS Y co-ord: 182636 (Latitude: 51.527064 Longitude: -0.089063)
Last edited 2023-09-05 13:28:08 (version 36; diff). List all versions.