The Admiralty

The Admiralty is A-​OK. Starving after walking nearly 10 miles all over London, my husband and I were looking for a hot meal. After seeking out two highly rated Unilocal pubs (and finding them to be closed after walking several blocks), we were happy to just settle for this place. Was it great food? No, but it was tasty enough and reasonably priced for one of the most expensive cities in the world.
The atmosphere is VERY loud and boisterous. We must’ve hit just as the after work crowd was piling in because the lower level pub was completely filled with people in work suits. It was obvious they were hanging out after work, so I’m guessing this must be a big hangout to let off some steam at night. The concrete floors and sweeping vaulted ceilings don’t help with the noise. If you are looking for a dark, quiet and intimate night out, this is not the place.
We were seated upstairs and had a great view of the cacophony below. It was fun entertainment with dinner! When in Great Britain, one must order a local dish and beer. One menu item immediately caught my eye as soon as I sat down, and I knew I had to order it. It was the Ale and Pie Sampler. I mean, come on! Three mini pies paired with three mini beers? SOLD! My husband ordered the fish and chips which were just okay. In fact, they seemed like quite the afterthought (especially the peas — come on, peas are an important element to the dish). My pies were very tasty with a flaky pastry crust; hot and fresh. I enjoyed having a variety to taste. For the record, the spicy vegetarian pie (chickpea, tomato and squash) was my favorite! The beer pairings were great, and is something I wouldn’t have done a la carte. The sampler gave me the opportunity to do so.
Overall this was a decent meal at a decent price. I’m sure there are better pubs in London, but you could also do much, much worse than this place. If you go, order the ale and pie sampler!

First time eating pie and it was super good! Got a flight of beers and pies to share with my mom and it was super good! We got a sweet potato pie (loved these flavors, warm, savory, really homey and reminded me of the holidays– probably the nutmeg), and two beef pies. The menu said we get potato, chicken and beef so I have to give four stars for no chicken pie and no explanation. Anyways, the beef pies were so great and the accompanying beer was good too. I particularly liked the honey dew beer– probably since I’m a newbie to beer and can’t handle the hard stuff.
Despite the quite unsocial Staff and missing chicken pie the meal was quite delightfully delicious!
Will come back.

BEST FISH AND CHIPS IN ALL OF LONDON!!!
The fish and chips is served with actual fish. As in you get an entire piece of fresh sizzling cod fried in batter. My entire family and I loved this dish and ordered two even LOL.
Overall a lovely restaurant. Very British looking. Nice place for pics. Great location on Trafalgar Square. Also a pub!
Scenery was really pretty and food was good. We’re only in London for 8 days but we already want to go back.

This place is pretty freaking cool. We went here twice on a recent trip to London. once for a much needed mid-​day glass of wine (don’t judge. it was raining and we were traveling with kids. nuff said) and again for dinner.
It’s a gorgeous establishment. very well put together. Experienced outstanding service and an excellent meal.
It gets crowded — our first visit we noticed a lot of tables already reserved. I think we were lucky to get a table for dinner as they were PACKED for a game. I think the ladies at the front took pity on us and found room.
Get there. Because Lord Nelson said so.

Horrible service. Took 45min+ to get our food. People next to us ordered 30 min after us and got their food first. Oh, the food taste like dishwater. This is just a tourist spot. Get a pint then leave.

Cute pub in a convenient location. The ground floor is nautical, while the downstairs is much more cave-​like.
We just stopped in for a drink, and their cocktails are decently priced.
We started in the downstairs, but apparently they close that floor at around 9:30pm. The upstairs was much louder, but still fine.

This is a cool pub. Recently renovated to have a very nautical theme, and they don’t overdo it. Some might find it gimmicky, but taking in what it is, I much enjoyed it.
The location is great if you think Trafalgar’s square is a good location. We were in the area to meet friends for dinner and wanted a pub to go out to after. Of course this is tourist central (no offense) and finding a nice pub can be difficult. I was happy with this choice, it was big covering 3 floors and while busy there was plenty of room on a Saturday night.
Either way if you need a nice pub around here this would be a good choice. Drinks prices are a bit above London average (a little more than £5 per drink!) which nocks a star off of this review. And while the style is nice and enjoyable, this is in no way traditional.

Stopped here while site seeing in Trafalgar Sq. Great pub. Beautifully decorated. Food was outstanding! No complaints here. Wish we had one back home.

A nice pub on the corner of Trafalgar Square. Considering the location it wasn’t too busy even on Saturday afternoon. There are 3 floors; a top balcony restaurant, the ground floor pub with bar (big open ceilings and chandelier) and the downstairs which has a bar, lots of seating for food along with «private» alcoves. They have screens around the basement showing the rugby. There is a good choice of beers however some are seriously pricey at nearly £6 a pint. The food menu looks quite good — jazzed up pub food so I am sure would be good and warming on a cold winters evening with a few pints.

Didn’t try the food as we were just passing by (so 4 instead of 5 based on that) — but this is a great looking pub. Friendly staff and it was very clean (including the bathrooms). Great downstairs bar — the ‘gun deck’. If we’re back this way again will try the food. (Fullers pub btw)

Staying at the Trafalgar next door, stopping in for a pint and a bite, in a tourist area, I wasn’t expecting much. No offense to the locals but traditional British food doesn’t usually stand out as high end cuisine… And I say that with love because London’s Italian and pizza places rival New York, and the Med and Indian options are even better. I plan on going somewhere «good» tonight. But pub food? That’s why they pour beer. I just needed to eat after a long flight.
But this place definitely stands out. Ale & Pie? Really? So cool… Super friendly staff all around and I followed the recommendation by my super happy server for for the Chicken & Chorizo pie. «Pies are our specialty, you gotta have a pie!» I was not disappointed. I hear the house fish pie is really good but chicken & chorizo just sounded right. Chips (fries for us Yanks) were amazing, the gravy was not bland as I expected, rather, had all kinds of great flavor! And an awesome kale salad served with it made me feel less guilty and in fact complemented everything perfectly. I ended up mashing it all together halfway through! So good!
Oh, and the ESB was a real surprise treat! I didn’t know the Fuller Brewing company owns this place until I was done. And I didn’t know Fuller made more than just the plain old London Pride. ESB reminded me of a nice San Diego Red/​amber but with a hint of citrus and of course the classic British nitro pour.
Loved every part of this. Thank you Ale & Pie, and thank you Fuller!

Despite the touristy location in front of Trafalgar Square, I’ve ventured to this restaurant driven by the reviews of fellow Unilocalers.
First we were greeted and seated by Simone, who was amazing, giving us sample beers to help us choose a nice, crisp, Oliver’s Island, and walked us thru the different choices of Britishe Pies. Food was a nice surprise, really good, a very British fare.
All in all: good food at reasonable prices, and considering the prime location and great service and attention, I would definitely recommend and return for a pie and a pint!

I was reluctant to try this place since it is located in the heart of Trafalgar square — one of the busiest places in London or quite possibly the whole world. I was afraid it would be touristy and overpriced but I was starving and needed a quick bite before hoping on the tube. Well I am sure glad I stumbled in because this was excellent!
The atmosphere is super cool nautical theme with a large bar open area and a seating sections a floor down and up above. I sat in the upper section on a table along the rim of the balcony and it was such a cool sight over looking the whole bar. It was busy but not overwhelming. The staff was friendly and very attentive. The price is just right too! Great value.
My meal was fantastic and paired with a london porter. Top notch! My pie was delicious and the potatoes were perfectly creamy. It comes with a little cup of gravy which was the perfect touch.
I will definitely be back again on my next trip to London! In the meantime, I will happily be referring this place to friends!

Great place to eat. Food was hot and plentiful, worth the slow waiter staff, but it was busy so don’t blame them. The Cod, chicken pie, and steak pie were all delicious. The fries are giant and fill you up. Everything is made fresh.

I had a nice lunch here in the basement. Sounds horrible, but it was quite enjoyable. The staff was friendly, the beer was fresh and my Salt Beef sandwich was fantastic. The bartender downstairs was exceptionally welcoming, he took the time to help a clueless American. If you’re near Trafalgar Square and need a bite — stop in here.

The pies are delicious, there was a great beer selection at reasonable prices, and this is quite convenient to our office. You can also sit inside or out. What’s not to like?

The location is great; overlooking Trafalgar Square.
The interior looks new with nice décor.
But it really felt Corporate owned. As if someone designed a pub that could be a chain of restaurants. It looked more coastal California diner than British pub. All of the beers on tap are Fullers brand and the Fuller’s name is on other items in the pub.
I enjoyed my fish and chips but my gf was very disappointed in her meat pie. They look great in the pictures but I think they are mass produced somewhere else. She was looking forward to a flaky dough crust but the crust was hard as a rock. She actually stab at her pie hard with a knife and pieces of crust chipped off. It was inedible. Once she pried it open she said that the contents were very bland. I thought so too.
My fish and chips were good. I could recommend this. But the meal is served on a plank of wood with peas. Peas like to walk the plank. I had to pick up my peas from the floor at least five times. I then looked around the room and there was smashed peas under most of the tables. One would think that a pub with a nautical theme would think ahead enough to serve food on a plate that can handle the pitch and roll of Trafalgar Square.

Outstanding breakfast and a great value in London.
So after hanging out at Trafalgar Square, I was looking for a place to grab a proper breakfast and couldn’t decide where I wanted to go. I found The Admiralty after seeing their breakfast signs out front.
Upon entering, there were only a couple of people in there –causing me concern because I didn’t know what I would get in terms of food if the place was so empty. Anyway, I went with the cinnamon French toast and bacon, with an orange juice. The food was excellent.
The atmosphere was quiet enough that there was actually two men working on computers. I had a nice view of the square from my seat and so after eating, I just ordered a flat white and relaxed a little bit longer.
Overall, the food was under 10 pounds, the service was good, the food was great, and the ambience was awesome as well. I definitely would come back to The Admiralty if I am back in London again.

Nice spot to hit up. Just got off a bus tour and decided to do a little walking around and seen this spot. Not a huge selection but they specialize in British pies, rather meat pies. Had the Steak pie with ESB gravy and a few pints of ESB. It was very good and the atmosphere here is very nice. It seemed a little pricey but then again what can you expect in the middle of London. Everything seems a little pricey here, but that’s the only thing keeping it from being 5 stars. Would highly recommend it to fellow Americans visiting or anyone else for that matter.

I was on a walking tour and our last stop was near Trafalgar Square. In typical walking tour style, we ended up in a nearby pub to chat more about the tour and ask questions to our tour guide. And more importantly for today, just to warm up our limbs before heading into the cold and damp weather again. Our tour guide who knows London intimately took us here. He said it just opened a month again and it is a great spot now, because it has a good location but is not yet crowded. He predicted that this place will be swarming with people in a few months when people discover it.
The pub is brand and sparkling now. It is not yet quite smell like a London pub. I don’t know about you, but as soon as I walk into a proper London pub, I am often overwhelmed by the wet, sweet and fermented smell. It is quite a big pub with plenty of seating space. Since I am really not that much of a drinker, so I can’t comment on the alcohol choices, however, I have to recommend their hot cider. It was delicious and perfect for a winter day like today.
This is definitely a good place to rest your tired feet and warm up after site seeing in London.