Sherlock Holmes Pub
“Excellent!” I cried. “Elementary,” said he.” Would perfectly sum up the Sherlock Holmes Restaurant, if only it said: “Excellent!” they cried. And “Elementary,” I said.”
Many of you know and love the Sherlock Holmes movies, or books. Without a doubt Sherlock Holmes has fascinated generations with his charming wit, and psychotic ways. Author Arthur Conan Doyle has gone down in history as one of the most fascinating and innovative mystery authors of his time. And with the amount of fame Sherlock has revolving around it, many visitors to Sherlock sights in Britain expect to be amazed and enthralled. Which is why the Sherlock Holmes Pub on 10 Northumberland St. has become one of the most visited pubs in London as well as one of the most iconic ones on social media sights such as Instagram.
So, arriving in London, I had the ambition to actually visit the pub and have a meal there. On past visits to London I merely only walked past to take a picture or two. This had always left me believing that I was ‘missing’ something. I was quick to find out I was not…..
The Sherlock Pub is no doubt gorgeous on the outside! It’s situated in a perfect side road right off of Trafalgar Square. The gold letters and color scheme of the outside would beckon any on looker to come in and have a peek. Even the inside incorporates pictures of Sherlock and contains weapons, papers, re-makings of newspapers and more in order to reference the many stories and cases. The upstairs even has a room one can look into and take a picture of. All this is fine to see and snap one to two pictures of. But other then that, there’s nothing else going for the restauraunt.
Now, I can’t complain how crowded it gets because most every pub in London becomes quite crowded with beer lovers who crowd out into the streets. Crowded pubs is to be expected. However, the restaurant sections, specific to the restaurant is tight, dark, and not very comfortable at all. If your fine with being close to your neighbor table then you’ll be just fine. If you don’t however, well, that’s quite unfortunate. There’s also only one bathroom tucked on the first floor (where the bar is for the most part). The restaurant up top includes another bar and seating. There’s no doubt though that it’s hard to maneuver in, and the displays of Sherlock they have are only worth a peek. I suggest only grabbing a beer or soda from the bar and then leaving.
For the most part though, the reason I have such a distaste for part of this restaurant is because of the horrible service and food. Upon sitting down (which we had to do ourselves because the guy just pointed to the corner and said “go” even though he was seating everyone else in the restaurant personally…) we then had a blonde tiny waitress who completely ignored us. It took thirty minutes for her to come over, which she only did once I started waving a menu at her. Without even greeting us she merely asked “What do you want”. Very rude and far away from the Watson manners. Our food took even longer, not once did she ask how we would like our meals/meats cooked, nor did she ask if we wanted refills, how the food was, or even bring our food out herself. (NOTE THE RESTAURANT WAS NOT BUSY). She then took forty minutes to actually give us the check. And never once did she say thank you for joining us or was pleasant in any way what-so-ever. It also didn’t help that the food was downright bad.
The overall experience was obviously “Elementary”. If you are planning on coming here, I wouldn’t waste my money on it. Merely grab a drink, or just take a picture form the outside and keep moving. There are many more pleasant pubs and restaurants in England you can go and experience. Sherlocks pub is overall not worth your time.