Editorial
A great pub is built around the regulars, not the menu. A cask ale list with at least four hand-pulls. Staff who recognise their regulars without being matey to outsiders. A room that doesn't try too hard. The 20 below all qualify. From Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (1538, where Dickens drank) to The Brazen Head (Dublin's oldest, since 1198) to The Long Hall (Victorian Dublin perfection), these are the rooms that have earned the word 'pub' — not gastropub, not bar, not lounge. Pub.
Each entry below is a a look at the best 10 bars in that city — picked by editors who live there.
Forget the gastropub. The best pubs work because of the cask ale, the room, and the regulars — in that order. The 20 above all do that. The French House and The Coach and Horses represent Soho old-guard. The Long Hall and Mulligan's the Dublin tradition. The Philharmonic and The Bartons Arms the Victorian gin palace. McSorley's the American outlier. Pick the room that matches the pour you want.
European Editor — based in London. Twelve years across Soho, Marais and Mitte. Strong opinions about ice.
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