A birthday treat of pie, mash and liquor, sandwiched between a couple of London's finest heritage pubs

It was the lad’s birthday this weekend, and as well as going out for a meal, or perhaps ordering a decent takeaway, to mark the occasion, Matthew informed me that he fancied popping up to London for some pie and mash. This was after his interest was sparked by the following incident. A couple of months ago, whilst driving back from Northumberland, we were caught up in the traffic chaos caused by closures of the M25 and the Blackwall Tunnel. We ended up driving through Greenwich, where our route took us past the legendary Goddard's Pie & Mash shop.

We’d visited Goddard's a couple of years previously, and seeing the shop decked out in its traditional white and green livery, kindled a desire to once again sample this traditional London delicacy. Goddard's had been rather crowded, during our July 2022 visit, so we both had a look, online at alternatives. We were surprised to discover that despite dozens of these most traditional of fast-food joints having closed down over recent years, there are still 40 or so still trading in the capital.

One outlet that caught my eye was that of F. Cooke, a family run business who opened their first pie shop in the 1860s. The family run four pie & mash shops, including one in Hoxton (the others are either in Essex or Hertfordshire), so after reading some good reviews we decided that Hoxton would be the easiest of Cooke’s outlets, for us to get to. This area of north London is still relatively central and is also close to a couple of CAMRA National Heritage Pubs, that I had in mind for us to visit.

It was after midday that we boarded a London-bound train, surprised to find plenty of empty seats on what was only a 4-car train. Alighting at London Bridge, we transferred onto a Thameslink train, travelling just a few stops across the Thames to Farringdon. From there, it was just a short walk to Smithfield Market which, with its cast iron columns and ornate curved roof girders, still operates as a working meat market, although not for much longer. The historic market is due to relocate to a £1 billion high-tech new site in Dagenham, thereby ending over 800 years of trading meat in Central London.

Most of Smithfield’s activities take place in the early hours of the morning, typically between midnight and 7am, so it was no surprise to find the place quiet, and almost deserted when Matthew and I walked through some twelve hours later, but it was liquid nourishment that we were after, rather than the more solid type. Quite a few years ago, I set myself the task of visiting as many of the “Heritage” pubs listed on CAMRA’s National Inventory as possible. Originally this meant all pubs with a “Red Star” listing on the Heritage Pub Website, or in other words every pub with an historic interior of national importance. I have been doing this quietly, without fuss or fanfare, for the past 10 years or more, although recently CAMRA changed the rating system, to a simpler system of three categories of historic pub interior - Three Star, Two Star and One Star.

Without going into too much detail, Three Star pubs represent the highest category, and One Star the lowest, but all entries are special in their own right. For further details, click here. As London contains the highest concentration of inventory pubs, and for this reason I try, whenever possible, to “tick off” a heritage pub or two. Friday afternoon was no exception, and “just in case” I had selected a provisional list of possible pubs to stop off at, in between our visit to the pie and mash shop.

Back to Smithfield, where there just happened to be the first of two “heritage” pubs that were on my list of places to visit that day. Situated down a narrow side street to the east of Smithfield market, lies the Hand & Shears, a grade 1 listed building, that is a rare, intact example of a Victorian pub layout. Several doorways each lead into separate drinking spaces around the central servery, including a Saloon and a cosy Private Bar, with an unusual pair of curved doors at the corner entrance adding to the appeal of this unspoiled gem. The pub has served the Smithfield area, in various guises since 1523, although the current building dates from Victorian times. The unusual name relates to the pub’s association with the medieval Guild of Merchant Tailors and the cloth trading that would have taken place at the former Bartholomew’s Fair.

I must admit, I’d never heard of the Hand & Shears, before researching suitable watering holes for Friday’s trip, although I did wonder why the pub hadn’t registered on my radar before. It is a real delight, and to use an over-worked cliché it really is like stepping back in time. Despite our visit taking place at lunchtime, the place wasn’t too busy, and whilst there was a group of drinkers occupying the bar at the rear. We made or way to the adjacent bar, with its ancient clock hanging above the fireplace, and had the place to ourselves until a couple of rather smart-looking, “ladies that lunch” turned up, possibly city-types, but both getting stick into a roll each, along with a glass or two of white wine.

Beer rather than wine was the tipple of choice for Matthew and me, with Madri for the lad and Draught Bass for me. The latter was drinking rather well, and it was good to see this Burton classic on sale in a city pub, something that several decades ago would have been commonplace. Taylor’s Landlord was the other cask offering, although according to the pub’s website, a house beer brewed specially by Portobello Brewery, is also on sale.

It was time to move on, and find a spot of lunch for this couple of Kentish lads, but this is where I messed up slightly. I had it fixed in my mind’s eye, the Hoxton was quite close to Farringdon, but after looking at Google, I discovered it was a good 35 minutes’ walk away. Rather than mess around changing underground and overground lines, I decided we would walk instead. It was a bright and sunny day, and we would have the opportunity of seeing a part of London we hadn’t experienced before. That wasn’t quite true in my case as many years ago I had been pub-hunting in the part of north London, that bordered on the city. I had also visited the famous Pitfield Off-Licence former home to the Pitfield Brewery, that had paid a pivotal role in the capital’s burgeoning cask ale scene, back in the 1980’s.

Pitfield Street runs parallel to Hoxton Street, where the pie and mash shop of F. Cooke is situated. This part of London is both vibrant and culturally diverse, so there was plenty going on, but towards the end of the road, in between the myriad of different shops of all sorts of varieties, was the place we were looking for. With its tiled frontage, plus its unmistakable façade of green and gold, Cooke’s looked worryingly empty. Hunger though had got the better of us, so we stepped inside and noticed the presence of several other diners, so we were not alone. We both opted for the traditional order of a meat pie, mashed potato, plus liquor.

Despite its slightly off-putting, bright green appearance, and strange name, liquor is a parsley sauce that is ladled liberally over both the pie and the plate, but not on the mash – as that is the final item to be added to the meal. Diners can have a more traditional looking, brown gravy, if they prefer. The pies were straight out of the oven, whilst the mash and liquor were served from saucepans, on top of a gas stove. Both could have been slightly warmer, for my liking, but that’s just me. Rather more annoying was the lack of tea (or other hot drinks), due to an issue with the hot water urn. The other issue was the shop has no customer toilets, which seemed a bit strange. The girl who served us said there were some Public Conveniences, just up the road, which indeed there was, and very well kept they were too, so full marks to Hackney Council.

On balance, we both preferred Goddard's Pie & Mash at Greenwich – it’s larger, and seemingly far more popular. It also has tea and customer toilets,  but you have to try these things and given the decline in the numbers of these traditional, Cockney shops, they all need our support. After all, where else can you purchase a substantial meal for £5.40? Upon leaving Cooke's, we walked along to Hoxton station, which is on the London Overground, and took a southbound train to Whitechapel A quick change onto the Elizabeth Line, took us back to Faringdon where, in nearby Hatton Garden, the second of the planned “Heritage Pubs” was to be found.

Ye Olde Mitre, is a traditional pub dating from 1547, tucked away in a small alleyway between Hatton Garden and Ely Place. It is believed that the property was founded for servants, at the Bishop of Ely's London house, and I remember reading that until fairly recent times, the pub was considered as part of Cambridgeshire. The pub’s license was administered by Cambridgeshire magistrates, and the situation stayed that way until the 1960’s. The site and adjacent properties in Ely Place were cleared after the Crown took over the area in 1772, and the current building is believed to date from this time. Fuller's took over in 2009, but beers from other brewers' are still available. The Mitre’s early 20^th Century footprint and fittings remain almost entirely intact, vindicating my long-standing desire to visit this survivor from a bygone age.

Ye Olde Mitre is situated at the end of a narrow alley that today forms an overspill area for drinkers crowded out from the main part of the pub. It was certainly heaving when we arrived late on Friday afternoon, but we managed to squeeze into the nearest of the Mitre’s two, wood-panelled bars. Finding Fuller’s 2024 Vintage Ale on sale at the bar was a rare sight indeed, as this 8.4% abv beer is normally sold in bottled form only. I braved a half and found it rich, strong, and warming, but slightly vinous, as is sometimes the case with beers of this strength.

There was also a Chocolate Plum Pudding, Dark Mild at a more sensible strength of 3.5% abv, and had the pub not been quite so crowded, we might have stayed to try it. We took our drinks outside, where there is a covered seating area at the end of the alley, that like the pub itself is hemmed in by the surrounding buildings, most of which are modern in construction and associated with the diamond trade which Hatton Garden is so famous for.

We left the pub, squeezing our way past drinkers, occupying the bench tables lining the alleyway, before emerging back into the bright lights of the surrounding jewellery shops, with their glitz and glitter. In the blink of an eye, we were back in the hustle and bustle of the 21^st Century, packed out with people either celebrating the end of the working week, or on their way home. We too, said goodbye to central London and made our way back to London Bridge for the train back to Tonbridge.