Londoners who have recently handed over the better part of £8 for a pint may want to familiarise themselves with Old Jewry.
The Albatross opens near Bank on 7 September, promising Guinness for £6. So far, so pub. Less conventionally, there will be native lobster and Norwegian king crab on the menu, with much of the shellfish kept alive in tanks until required. This is, after all, the City.
The new arrival comes from George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev’s Wild Group, the restaurateurs behind Goodman steakhouse, Beast, the surf-and-turf specialists, and the Tokyo-inspired Wild Izakaya. The pair were also among the co-founders of Burger & Lobster before formally splitting their business interests with the group in early 2025.
Their first pub is not a modest undertaking. The former Commonwealth Bank of Australia at 8-10 Old Jewry has been turned into a two-floor, 200-seat operation, with room for 400 standing and a 14-seat private dining room. Goodman City and Wild Izakaya are both nearby. Evidently the group likes to keep an eye on its neighbourhood.
The food is pitched somewhere between pub lunch and expense-account seafood blowout. There is smoked mackerel toast and Devon crab toast, seared scallops with burnt butter and seafood bisque, followed by roasted sea bass, pan-seared turbot with beurre blanc and chicken schnitzel. Those determined to behave as though they are simply in the pub can finish with sticky toffee pudding. Chocolate soft serve and cinnamon milk cake complete the desserts.
Chris “Howzit” Piorkowski, formerly of Goodman, will run the kitchen. There is experience behind the bar too. Chris Dunlop, who previously worked at New York’s celebrated Spotted Pig, has been given the pleasingly old fashioned title of landlord, while Alice Tayler – who spent almost a decade working with Tom Kerridge – will be landlady.
There will be more than 15 beers on tap, alongside wine and cocktails. The house Albatross Martini mixes Gin Mare with olive and the pub’s own vermouth blend. Still, it is difficult to imagine anything on the drinks list attracting quite as much attention as that £6 Guinness.
The Albatross will show major sporting events and host live music, initially opening Monday to Friday before adding Saturdays later. Lunch runs from noon until 3pm and dinner from 5pm until 10.30pm, with the bar remaining open in between.
The pub describes itself as somewhere equally suited to quick lunches, long evenings and those merely stopping in for a pint. The latter may want to exercise caution around the lobster tank.
The Albatross opens on 7 September at 8-10 Old Jewry, London EC2R 8DN. Read more of this week’s restaurant news here.
