Pub of the week: The Walrus and Carpenter is pints perfection
We have opened nominations for the Toast the City Awards 2026. Each week we’ll be profiling some of the nominees: today it’s the Walrus and Carpenter, a pub like no other beside Monument. To find out more and to nominate your favourite bars, restaurants and hidden gems, .
“‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, To talk of many things: Of shoes – and ships – and sealing-wax – Of cabbages – and kings – And why the sea is boiling hot – And whether pigs have wings.”
So reads the most famous line in Lewis Carroll nonsense poem, after which this iconic City pub is named. In the 1871 poem, the titular Walrus and Carpenter are strolling on the beach discussing such important topics as whether seven maids with seven mops might be able to sweep up all the sand in half a year (probably not, they sensibly conclude). They decide to recruit a gaggle of young oysters to join them on their walk but end up eating them. It is a very good poem, fun and silly on the face of it but with a serious message about power, greed and hypocracy.
The Walrus and carpenter pub, likewise, is fun on the surface but underpinned by the foundations of a quality boozer. Now owned by Nicholson’s, it has been serving pints for more than 150 years (it was previously known as The Cock, which may or may not be related to the fact it’s located on what was then called Love Lane, owing to its reputation for prostitution). The walls are adorned with stencilled quotes and prints depicting scenes from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, the sequel to his Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which is where you can find the poem, spoken by Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
The Walrus and Carpenter: Food
Upstairs you’ll find a classic Victorian pub, complete with wooden bar and mirrored spirits shelves. There are a few banquettes here but if you’re there after work it’s largely standing room only. When the weather’s behaving, the crowds spill out onto the wide expanse of what could charitably be called a terrace, where you can find beer barrel tables and benches. Look up at the facade and you’ll spot what must be among London’s biggest lanterns hanging above the signage – a suitably oversized addition to an Alice in Wonderland-inspired pub.
There is a downstairs bar that’s more modern in style, with tables crammed into every nook and cranny, and an upstairs dining room that’s a great (and apparently fairly well hidden, given it’s often half empty) spot to enjoy a plate of fish and chips.
Speaking of food, the fact it’s a Nicholson’s pub means you know what you’re getting: decent but spenny pub fare. A steak and ale pie will set you back £19 and fish and chips is £20: hardly a budget option but nice enough. There are no oysters, sadly, which feels like a missed opportunity.
Next time the sun’s out, head across to The Walrus and Carpenter, where you’ll more likely than not bump into someone who works for Morning Wire; our office is just over the road.