Pub in London SE1
Understudy
National Theatre, South Bank, London, SE1 9PXClosest station: Waterloo, about 7 min walk4.3out of 5 on Google, from 2,136 ratings
Details last checked January 2025. Things may have changed since.
About Understudy
Casual bar with riverside seating, for craft beers, cocktails and a small plates bar menu.
A craft beer pub at the National Theatre. There are 12 craft keg beers available from local micro breweries. Additionally there is a range of bottled real ales from the likes of Kernel and Brew by Numbers. There is no traditional cask real ale at the moment.
Description from WhatPub, CAMRA’s pub guide, with a summary from Google Maps.
Features
- Dog Friendly
- Outdoor Seating: Seating to river front
- Serves Food
- Serves Lunch
- Serves Dinner
- Real Ale
- Disabled Access
- Accessible Restroom
- WiFi
- Reservable
- Good for Groups
- Accepts Credit Cards
- Accepts Debit Cards
- Accepts NFC
Opening times
- Monday
- 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM
- Tuesday
- 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM
- Wednesday
- 12:00 PM – 12:00 AM
- Thursday
- 12:00 PM – 1:00 AM
- Friday
- 12:00 PM – 1:00 AM
- Saturday
- 12:00 PM – 1:00 AM
- Sunday
- 12:00 – 8:00 PM
As listed in January 2025. Hours change, and bank holidays differ: check with the pub.
Good to know
- Operator
- Independent
- Price
- 2 out of 4 (Google’s price level)
- Phone
- 020 7452 3551
Google rating and reviews
4.3out of 5 on Google, from 2,136 ratings
5 out of 5Luke Hearfieldon Google, October 2024
Thank you to The Understudy for hosting us for the annual Film Twitter drinks/event during the 2024 London Film Festival. If you're looking for a nice space to host a casual drinks/meetup around the Southbank, then I highly recommend using the Understudy. Manager Nesrine and the bar staff were so accommodating and helped me to put on a great event. The vibe is relaxed with both indoor and outdoor space available. There are plenty of food options in Kerb next door and the aesthetic is very chilled with a brutalism-architecture feel. Thanks again for having us and hopefully they will have us…
2 out of 5Griff Haywardon Google, March 2024
Decent food overall with an OK price, although you’ll definitely do much better going to the market outside. The service was fine overall- there just isn’t much of it: you order at the bar and collect the food yourself. What absolutely killed it, in my opinion, was the utterly abominable atmosphere. Disgusting music was blasting to the point that it was impossible to have any shred of conversation, and the tables were weird and uncomfortable. Quite a poor experience overall.
4 out of 5Laura F.on Google, December 2024
Nice pub/food court style place with some good options to eat and drink and reasonable prices.
5 out of 5Dessi Veltchevaon Google, June 2024
The location was lovely and the vegetarian burger was great. I liked the sofas for seating but some people had high tables that did not look too comfortable. The food was nice as well.
5 out of 5Keane Gordonon Google, January 2025
Was walking by and took a chance, was well worth it. The vibe was super chilled and comfortable, they even let me sit quietly with my pooch. I was served by a lovely, charismatic woman who, once I told her my preference for non-sweet tipples, recommend a Negroni. Hands down my new favourite drink. Unfortunately I didn’t get her name but she had long brown hair, plain tee and friendly vibe, would definitely recommend this place to anyone and hope the owners see this and recognise her as an asset! 😊❤️
Rating and reviews are from Google Maps, as they stood in January 2025. See the latest on Google Maps.