The Dickens Tavern

We were in here a few times during our trip, as our hotel was right down the street. Beer is nice & cold, the meat pie, bangers & mash, and fish & chips were excellent. But the cheese & bacon toasty was hardly edible, not recommended. Service is on the slow side, with us having to ask twice for our food before it finally came out. But the atmosphere is great, so as long as you’re not starving and not in a hurry it’s a good place to hang out. One note: Everything in this area apparently closes at 11:00, so if you’re out late looking for a place to get a drink, you’re out of luck.

Nothing special to write about, but that works. It’s a charming little pub much like any other. Quiet atmosphere with music playing in the background loud enough to hear but not so loud you can’t enjoy a conversation. Pleasant staff. Solid service. No complaints here.

Must be the worst pub in London. Don’t believe the reviews. No-​one speaks good english behind the bar. Ordered a pint of Cider got a pint of Lager, corrected them they tried to tell me they didn’t have Cider on draft so I had to walk to the hand tap and show them. Two girls behind the bar had crappy attitudes. I ordered fish and chips for the first time in 50 years I sent fish and chips back. YES I SENT FISH AND CHIPS BACK and I’M ENGLISH. Save your money don’t eat here. Drinks are ok but can get a pint anywhere. Totally crap place!

Because some of our dearest friends have the family name Dickens, my wife and I had to go to this tavern on a recent visit to London. The tavern is located on London Street directly across from Paddington Station. The experience was everything I was looking for in a British Pub. The bar was well stocked with beers and ales from some top name European brewers as well as a good selection of English cask ales.
The food was good and freshly prepared. I had a steak and ale pie with mashed potatoes and peas … all good.
The service was good and the staff was friendly. All in all, we enjoyed the experience and would go back if in London again.

One of those pubs that is «TARDIS» like in that it is much bigger inside than the frontage suggests! Small selection of draught ales, Sky sports on several screens, pool table, close to Tube…

Fullers pub. Long long pub. Nice n chilled. Pool at the far end. The green baize type not the wet kind. Pint of explorer for me and mate. What the dickens indeed

Nothing special just another watering hole near Paddington station. I actually can’t remember much about this place at all :-)

Decent place for a quick bite and a pint. Not sure that you’ll ever be blown away by the food but a good value all around.
I had an hour between a quick visit to Central London and catching the train back to Heathrow. Not being familiar with local beers, I asked for some help from the bartender. He offered up a London’s Pride ale. From the menu I ordered up the steak and ale pie.
Food was decent and at £11 for the Pint and Pie, was decent value.

The «tavern» has three levels: drinks, pizza and a restaurant level. I was disappointed that the first item I order was not available — early on a Friday night. The food is okay, I am sure that they hope you drink enough that you don’t notice the taste.
The service was slooow, it would have been faster if Mister Dickens was working the orders.

After a day of sightseeing and Boris bike riding and basically wandering around the west end, I decided that it was time for what the locals call a «swift half», i.e., a beer. I think it’s supposed to be just half a pint, but I was hot and sweaty and I wanted to cool off before sitting on a crowded train. Here’s Dickens Tavern to the rescue.
The place is quite deep with several separate sitting areas, many of which are dominated by wall mounted televisions tuned in to the latest sporting event. It seemed that most of the patrons were cheerfully stuffing away whatever the day’s special might have been with eyes fixated on the tube.
I got my pint and found a comfortable seat way in the back, which helpfully had an electrical socket nearby. I nursed my pint while my laptop and iPhone recharged (and me too) and watched some ladies playing snooker on the billiards table.
A nice little pub, great for a beer or a meal before jumping on the train.

The Paddington area is a convenient place to stay if you need a night before catching a train to elsewhere or catching the Express or Connect back to Heathrow. If you look in the guide books you will find that the area is void of highly rated restaurants. Hopefully, that will change given the wonderful mix of ethnicities in the area.
That said, we opted for Dickens Tavern based on the reviews here, plus we wanted to charge the meal. We don’t eat meat so the favorable veggie reviews helped sway us. Plus it was just around the corner from our hotel.
As you enter be sure to go all the way to the back. As noted earlier, this place is long. There are 4 or 5 distinct rooms all serviced by the same bar. Each room has its own feel and character. We opted for the first room off the street. The back room seemed more pub-​like.
The menu was varied offering salads, sandwiches, fish and chips, bangers and mash, lasagna, etc. But we did not find the menu as veggie-​friendly as others did. The prices were reasonable. A variety of beers and wines are offered too.
We opted for the falafel burgers which were serviceable but fine. They happily substituted a house salad for the chips for my wife. Unlike other pubs, staff came to each table during the meal to see if anything else was needed. They also refilled our drinks during the meal instead of us having to go to the bar. Before and after our meal our table was wiped clean.
You can’t go wrong here if you’re looking for a predictable but quality meal served by a friendly and attentive staff all in a clean and welcoming environment.

We stumbled upon this place and man, am I glad we did. This place was right around the corner from our hotel and we needed to eat lunch. They had so many options for vegetarians! We got two of them: «fish» and chips and veggie sausage with mashed potatoes and mushy peas. Oh my. They were both EXCELLENT and I am still thinking about them, two weeks after returning back to America. I will definitely seek this place out when I am in London again. SO GOOD.

Nice Pub. Very warm service. Good british pub food and rumpsteak burgers. Pool table.

Just got back from an overnight stay in London, was looking for a place to eat and came across the Dickens Tavern.
What can I say, well first of I must disagree with all of the below comments staff were very freindly and the food wonderfull.
I had the steak, and asked for it to be Blue and when it arrived it was just the way I liked it.
The peas were fresh, and the chips cooked just right.
Seeing that it was Halloween night iI thought it would have been a bit more packed, but no just a lovley atmophere and an enjoyable night at a pub.

The longest pub in London is probably some sort of justification for the slow service, but the good beer, good food, nice atmosphere and generally languid pace of life is a pleasant antidote to some of the other watering holes around here.
The set menu is supplemented by regular specials — I had the greek salad which was colourful, filling, tasty and set me back £7.40. My friend had her usual falafel burger — did I mention that the choices for veggies are excellent. £8 for a main is standard for London, and having eaten here a few times, I can vouch for the excellence. Chocolate fudge cake is to die for, but is only ever on as a special.
the ale is real, and this place comes recommended, if you can deal with the slow service.

It bills itself as the longest pub in London. That might be true: it’s certainly narrow and long, and that affords it some different spaces to choose from from front to back (areas with TVs or without, for example).
But otherwise it’s a pretty ordinary, average pub. Extremely close to Paddington so it’ll have lots of tourists, usually. Food and drinks are standard fare; staff are friendly but not what I would call consummate professionals. Not as gaudy and over-​touristy or over-​chained as some, but not a cozy place to find a fire and sip ales all day, either.