The Coach is an independent pub and garden with good European food. Established in 1790, it has been the heart of the lively Clerkenwell community for generations. Lovingly restored, and with a menu from chef-restaurateur Henry Harris, it’s a warm and welcoming place to eat, drink and unwind.
An old-fashioned neighbourhood pub, The Coach serves highly drinkable ales and draught lagers from independent or family-run breweries like Timothy Taylor, Portobello Brewery, Thornbridge and Stiegl. Henry and the team have compiled a list of wines that they enjoy drinking, balancing familiar Old World names with some new and interesting producers. We also offer grower Champagnes and a selection of cocktails and sharpeners.
With leather banquettes, an oak-panelled bar, and interior designed by Liana Braune who also selected the artworks throughout the building, The Coach has bundles of charm. If you’re feeling peckish, there are bar snacks, sausage rolls by the inch, and other good things.
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7:30-11pm
(kitchen open 7:30am-10am, 12pm-3pm and 6pm-10pm)
Saturday: 11am-11pm
(kitchen open 12pm-3pm and 6pm-10pm)
Sunday: 12pm–10pm
(kitchen open 12pm-4pm & bar snacks until 6pm)
“Henry Harris is widely regarded as the best French chef with the decency to be British”
Tim Hayward, The Guardian
Henry Harris, the chef-restaurateur behind Racine, brings his passion for French cooking to The Coach. Through careful sourcing of good seasonal ingredients, he has put together a great menu of bistro and restaurant classics. Expect signature dishes such as grilled rabbit, mustard sauce and smoked bacon; onglet, frites and aoli; and steak tartare, while on Sundays, it's the turn of his traditional roast.
Flooded with natural light through floor-to-ceiling windows, the Back Room is an intimate space in which to enjoy your meal. It opens onto the Garden, a rather nice spot for lunch or an early dinner on warmer days. Upstairs, the Dining Room is 1920s-inspired, south-facing, and seats 40 covers. For private dining, we also have the elegantly-appointed Blue Room.
For reservations call 020 3954 1595, email bookings@thecoachclerkenwell.co.uk, or click below. Please note that the Garden is for walk-ins only.
*If you are unable to make a reservation online, please call us and we will do our best to accommodate you*.
Whether it's a wedding reception, a corporate function, or a royal knees-up, our team go out of their way to attend to every last detail of your event. For private dining, we offer the Blue Room, an art-filled space with 1920s accents seating up to 10 guests. On a grander scale we suggest the Dining Room on the first-floor, or the atmospheric Back Room and the Garden. AV equipment is available on request.
Choose from our sample menus, or we can design something exactly to your liking — it could be a Champagne and canapé reception, a wine tasting, or any other idea you care to discuss with us.
For more information and prices please email events@thecoachclerkenwell.co.uk
The Coach is now open for breakfast, Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 10am.
The year was 1790 when John Simmons, a victualler and coachmaster, opened an alehouse in London's notorious Hockley-in-the-Hole. The premises had once adjoined a Bear Garden that provided such amusements as bear baiting and cockfighting. Rumours that the landlord kept the bears in his cellar until one day his ladder slipped and he met a grisly end are unconfirmed. But it is true that that a travelling case inscribed with the name R. Turpin was discovered on the premises. Could the highwayman Dick Turpin have forgotten it after one too many?
The Coach has always been a sanctuary for an eclectic clientele, from the thieves and nightingales of Hockley-in-the-Hole, to the Neapolitans and Calabrians who transformed the area into Little Italy a century later. In more recent times it is architects, designers and over-caffeinated journalists who have engaged in some gentle baiting over a pint – though with no bears anywhere in sight.