Pub of the week: Toast Award-winner The Rising Sun on Carter Lane
Nobody loves a pub as much as City AM. Over the years we have campaigned for them, we have reported on their plight, and we have honoured them in our Toast the City Awards. Now we’re launching a new regular feature celebrating the best drinking holes in the Square Mile and beyond.
While the exact number of pubs contained within the banking district is ever-changing and hotly debated, it’s safe to say there are upwards of 200, making it the most drinker-friendly place in the country. You can barely move in the City’s winding streets without stumbling across a bar boasting some 400 years of history. To put that number into perspective, St Albans Old Town, often credited with being a haven for publicans, has around 60 pubs. Rookie numbers.
So from now until our collective livers pack in, you can now expect a fresh recommendation of a City pub every week – and what’s more you can get it delivered straight to your inbox if you sign up to our new weekly newsletter. And what better place to start this new feature than with the winner of our Toast the City award for the best boozer in City.
The Rising Sun on Carter Lane
What’s the vibe?
There’s a reason this is officially the best pub in the Square Mile. From the mural on the window celebrating its Toast Award to the bright, open space of the traditional Victorian gin palace, you just know this is going to be a place you can while away an entire afternoon. Arrive early and you’ll find a handful of locals gathered at the bar, with a smattering of laptops arriving at lunchtime before the rush later in the day. The walls are decorated in old black and white photos of the City and old adverts for Guinness and Taylor’s.
The soundtrack veers from Tom Jones to Fleetwood Mac to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, played quietly enough to blend in with the general hubbub of the place, the noise echoing pleasantly around the high ceilings.
What’s the history of The Rising Sun?
It was originally a 1720s vintner’s house and was converted to a pub in 1831. Today it’s run by a lovely couple called Sheila and Tony – a proper labour of love which would make it worth a visit even if it wasn’t such a banging pub.
How’s The Rising Sun’s food?
A lot of bars have an idea of what pub food should be – fish and chips and burgers and some kind of pie – and try to replicate that. But fish and chips and burgers and pies are very difficult to do well. They require a dedicated chef who knows his way around a kitchen and access to decent ingredients and possibly a trip to the wet market at 5am. The Rising Sun, on the other hand, makes an excellent selection of toasties, which are reliably great: nice sourdough, heaps of cheddar, a range of toppings including jalapenos, tuna and classic ham.