Bloomsbury · Camden
Museum Tavern
Across from the British Museum, where Karl Marx took a break to write Das Kapital
- Address49 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1B 3BA
- Websitenicholsonspubs.co.uk
- OwnershipPart of Greene King
About Museum Tavern
A Victorian pub right across from the British Museum, famous because Karl Marx used to stop by while researching in the Reading Room.
With roots in an 1723 tavern known as the Dog and Duck — after the duck hunting once practised in the nearby ponds — the current building went up between 1855 and 1864, the work of architects William Finch Hill and Edward Lewis Paraire. It's Grade II listed and recognised by CAMRA as a historic pub interior of regional importance. Its fame comes above all from Karl Marx, who lived a short distance away and used to cross the street from the British Museum's Reading Room for a drink while writing Das Kapital, which is why it now features on tourist routes dedicated to the philosopher. It's part of the Nicholson's chain, owned by the Mitchells & Butlers group, though it keeps its original décor of etched mirrors and dark wood. Its terrace facing the museum's railings makes it an almost required stop after a visit.
On tap
Rotating real ales — it's a regular outlet for Theakston's Old Peculier — alongside lagers, wines and cocktails.
Food
A British pub menu of classics and seasonal ingredients, geared towards tourists and museum visitors.
More pubs in Bloomsbury
- Queen's LarderThe tiny pub that once stored a queen's pantry
- The LambThe neighbourhood pub where Dickens and Bloomsbury's poets drank
- The SwanA one-room Bloomsbury local on a traffic-free lane