Edgar Wallace

Came here with friends for pre-​Somerset house Christmas tree viewing drinks, which we do every year, as it was a Friday the place was packed out and they had a private party upstairs. I love the décor, lots of vintage adverts and posters, the bar was well stocked, they do good cider and good range of beers. We did only stay for one drink, but I’d love to go back when it’s perhaps a little less busy, the prices were fairly reasonable for somewhere so central. Good old timer style pub.

I really like this pub which is quirky and friendly and not bland or stuffy like so much else in the Temple/​Fleet Street area. It is now my go to pub when I’m around this little part of town. Cider on tap was Aspall’s and I had a rubbish Bloody Mary here once so it’s not perfect but it’s getting pretty close.

This is an excellent pub. It has a very attentive manager, who will serve you at your table if it’s not busy, good beer and an other-​worldly atmosphere. The prices are all reasonable, this is the only pub in the area which isn’t either full of tourists or used as meeting space for legal workers. It is unquestionably superb.
This pub could have been lifted from 1973, it’s almost an homage to the lost art of smoking* so full is it of posters from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s explaining how manly, mature and healthy you will be if you spark up another dozen No.6.
*Smoking was a hobby people had until the last Labour government when it was made punishable by long jail terms and social pariahism. Basically, to distract themselves from the meaningless tedium of life in the modern humdrum world, people would kill themselves slowly by rolling up plant leaves into a stick, putting the stick in their mouths and setting fire to it.

Not a bad place for a pint. £4−5 for a pint isn’t great but it’s not bad for the area. It’s a nice old pub with character in its décor. Friendly bartenders. A selection of 8 beers on tap and they’re not all just your boring standards. Nothing really stood out for me but I have no complaints and would go here again if in the area.

This is a very solid pub in an otherwise mostly unremarkable area for good pubs. By ‘solid’ I mean a place with a good range of beers and a nice atmosphere, where you won’t pay an arm and a leg for these two qualities. The Edgar Wallace has eight cask ales at all times and I’ve never had one in bad condition. The vibe is laid-​back, with a mixed patronage of bankers, CAMRA old-​timers and tourists. Really, on any visit you will find at least three groups, and each group I just mentioned will be represented.
The décor is eclectic, ranging from 1950s magazine to old tap markers. The prices here are high for the cask ales but given the area they really aren’t too bad. The bartenders tend to be friendly and attentive.
I highly recommend this pub for anyone wanting a British Pub experience and good beer, and who happens to find themself in this part of London. No complaints.

This pub might not be the cosiest, but it makes for a great real ale pub with a whole line-​up of beers that I haven’t supped before. A truly fantastic selection.
I enjoyed a pint of Devil’s something. I think it was Devil’s Dyke… which is a brewery. so who knows which beer it was. It was the last stop of the evening ok! Don’t look so disapproving.
Named after a crime/​writer journalist… I’ve heard that it has recently changed hands… not sure if it was before or after my visit so I’ll just have to go back… oh darn :)

Great pub, great beer, what more do you want.
Nice one Shane.
Beer festival starts next Monday 25÷01÷10
lots of lovely dark beer…
including my favourite…
pot belly beijing black wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
An so it came to pass that the beijing black was fan-bleedin’-tastic…
…as was O’Hanlon’s Dry Stout, Moles Landlords Choice, Purple Moose Dark Side of the Moose and Brodies Wild Mild. Leyden Rammy Rocket was ok.
A great evening followed by Mariza at the RFH…
Bliss!

After reading about this place I persuaded a friend to meet me here, to have a break to the usual east end pubs.
It has a historic background with the building dating back to 18^th century.
Orginally called The Essex head, which was a club formed by the Earl of Essex as a meeting point for his friends and family being close to his home. The Edgar Wallace was eventually formed two hundred years later in 1975 in memory of the writer Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace.
The pub, not as busy nor a grand as I imagine it once was. Still manages to maintain an agely character with now an informal undertone.
Popular amongst older generations, the pub serves a selection of Ales and the homemade burgers are hard to match. From obviously trying to boost their once high creditability The pub has a quarterly Beer and Ale festival, which i haven’t been to but check their website for details.

It never ceases to amaze me that central London has decent pubs tucked away that I’ve not visited before. But it does, and the Edgar Wallace was one such place (which I’ve clearly now been to!).
It’s located just off the Aldwych, five minutes’ walk from Temple tube. The outside looks promising: huge panel windows in the 18^th century style with small panes (although the building itself looks Victorian). It does, in fact, have some history: opened in 1777 as the Essex Head, it was here that Dr Samuel Johnson founded a club (known as the Essex Head Club, or, more affectionately, ‘Sam’s Club’) which met from 1783 until 1792 (Johnson having died in 1784).
It was renamed in 1975 after the prolific author Edgar Wallace (1875 – 1932), famous, among other things, for the screenplay of ‘King Kong’, and credited for inventing the modern detective novel.
Inside, there’s one main downstairs room, lit on two sides by the huge panel windows, with a rather startling red ceiling, but otherwise looking like your average traditional pub. There’s an upstairs bar and function room, open normally at lunchtimes from noon until 15h.
It advertises the fact that it has 8 real ales on at any given time, and so it does: last night these included Crouch Vale Best, Hornbeam Bitter, Edgar Wallace Pale Ale, Adnam’s Bitter, Pardoe’s Hung, Drawn & Quartered, Nethergate’s Lemon Head. The website lists its impressive rotating collection of real ales, and it has regular beer festivals as well.
It also does pub food, with a mixture of classics (salads, fish & chips and burgers) with kebabs and burritos; starters are £1.50-£5.50; sandwiches and burgers (all with chips and/​or salad) £6-£8.50; and mains at £6.50-£9.
Unsurprisingly, given its location, it gets very, very busy at lunchtimes and with the suited and booted after-​work crowd, but tends to get quieter after 20h.
Overall, then, a very good pub with an excellent beer selection and decent food. Worth a visit.