So we’re back. And back to the Counting House in the heart of the City of London. The old pub was heaving on a Thursday evening, now by far the busiest night out in London post Covid.

This is a venue with a lot of history – for the Second Wednesday group, as a former bank, and a building that sits partly on the north sleeper wall of an approximately 2000 year old Roman basilica. At its peak it was the largest building of its type north of the Alps.

But this unique pub moves with the times, with Fullers opening a hotel upstairs, reserving the balcony area for food only, and improving its pie offering.

It was good to see that the pie platter still features, although we know from experience that you end up paying for a lot of pastry. Most of the group chose the steak and ale pie classic (£18.95), now a very good short crust pie served with either chips or mash. Vegetable portions were small and we ordered further sides, but there was ample gravy. As always, there was an excellent choice of ales, with the table service limited to a smaller range.

We finished the night with a final drink at The Jampot up St. Michael’s Alley. One of London’s first coffee shops and trading centres in the 1652, it became a pub in the 1800s and still retains many of the old features. The step into the pub is hollowed out with age and the passing of patrons over 400 years.

Pies, ales, history and a lot of laughs. What better way to spend an evening.