Tucked down a sloping street beside Cannon Street station, next door to a bookie’s shop, the Bell offers a taste of Macmillan-era London – there’s even a framed portrait of Sid James on one wall. They also promote and sell Courage beer, one of several ale options (Sharp’s Cornish Coaster, Harveys Sussex Best, St Austell Tribute, Hooky Bitter) that encourage a blokey crowd to gather in an intimate, wooden, low-ceilinged interior.
A kitchen serves hot food five times a week – this is the ‘home of the Bell burger’ – but most punters come here to talk over the cricket scores before catching the train back home to the suburbs. Wine choices, chalked up by a museum-piece back bar, include unnamed sauvignons, chardonnays and pinot grigios at City prices.