Ye Olde Mitre
The Bishop of Ely owned this ground, so the pub counted as Cambridgeshire and licensees had to travel there for a licence until the 1960s.1
Why go
It dates to 1546 and sits down Ely Court, an alley off Hatton Garden that Time Out fairly calls inconspicuous.1 The house says it takes traditional pub-keeping seriously
, which in practice means real ales on tap with guest beers, craft beer and real scrumpy cider, and a food offer that stops at home-made bar snacks and toasties.2 There is a fire in the winter months and an upstairs room for private events.12 The pub also tells a story about Elizabeth I and Christopher Hatton dancing round a cherry tree in the back garden, which Time Out passes on with a reportedly
attached, and so do we.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a cask ale, and the cheese and tomato toastie, which Time Out calls
one for the history books
.1 - Order: the real scrumpy if you want the thing that is hardest to find behind a London bar.2
- Avoid: expecting dinner. The kitchen is snacks and toasties.2
What locals & experts say
- Time Out, 10 December 2024, tagged Recommended: "Boozer that's been there for five centuries (and is still hard to find!)... Once you do find the place, you'll be rewarded with all the low beams, tasty pub snacks and ice-cold pints you could desire."1
- Time Out's tip for the cold months:
As you might expect, there's a roaring fire in the winter months. Gather round and tell your best ghost story.
1
Good to know
- Finding it: 1 Ely Court, off the Ely Place side of 8 Hatton Garden.1
- Timing: Monday to Saturday. Food service runs on weekdays. Exact hours are not published in anything reachable here.
- The bar: real ales including guests, craft beer and real scrumpy cider.2
- Upstairs can be booked for private events.2
Verdict
should-visit — A pub down an alley off Hatton Garden that has been pouring since 1546, and the best fact about it is a jurisdictional one: the Bishop of Ely owned the ground, so the site counted as part of Cambridgeshire and licensees had to travel there for their licence until the 1960s. Time Out calls it a boozer that has been there for five centuries and is still hard to find, which is accurate on both counts. What you get once you find it is cask ale with guest taps, real scrumpy cider, low beams, a fire in winter, and a food offer that is honestly just snacks, with the cheese and tomato toastie the thing Time Out singles out. It is not a dinner and does not pretend to be. Go for a pint in a room nobody has been allowed to modernize.