Follow Katie in London
Speedy’s Sandwich Bar & Cafe
If you want to live like Sherlock Holmes for a day, then you need to start your morning in the great detective’s favourite greasy spoon. Enter Speedy’s Sandwich Bar & Cafe, conveniently located (in the TV show Sherlock at least) on the ground floor of the Holmes & Watson residence. Outside of the magical world of television, this cafe bustles in the morning with local tradies, commuters, and friends catching up for a coffee. The menu here is the standard greasy spoon format - pick a meal and a hot beverage as a nice little package and enjoy! Speedy’s absolutely leans into its Sherlock fame with framed photos covering almost every bit of wall, so there’s no mistaking that you’re in the right place if you want to follow in Sherlock’s footsteps!
Sherlock Statue & Sherlock Holmes Museum
As we dissect in our episode in London, the locals really seem to have adopted the character of Sherlock Holmes as if he were a real historical figure. Benny even described it as ‘Santa-esque’ and I couldn’t help but agree. Case in point: a large statue of Sherlock at the entrance to Baker Street Station, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum in the famous address that was his fictional residence. So serious is this museum taken that filming is forbidden inside (so just pretend you didn’t see us do it). Having said all that - this museum is ultimately a tourist trap. It is nicely done and the staff are more like actors, wonderfully in character with appropriate Sherlock-y costuming. I wouldn’t say DON’T come here - but maybe consider the cost of a ticket against your interest in the Sherlock stories, and your threshold for finding pretend artefacts interesting. We did have a bit of fun playing Sherlock trivia at the statue, but I only really recommend this if you or someone you’re travelling with considering themselves a real Sherlock-head.
The Mind Palace
Now this is a gaudy touristy thing that I can get behind. The commitment to the bit is great enough that we genuinely had fun at the Mind Palace bar, even in the middle of the week during the day with almost no one else present. The Mind Palace itself is actually an escape room of sorts, but we opted to just go for cocktails and the minigames in the bar itself. In complete honesty, the main reason for this is that the escape rooms are based on the Sherlock TV show, and Benny only really gets behind the books, so I didn’t want to lose favour with him on a technicality!
The bar and escape rooms are hidden behind the guise of an optometrists within an actual shopping centre. Although there is quite large Sherlock Holmes signage near the entrance, the façade is convincing enough that some people may genuinely walk past it without realising it is not a real eyewear shop. Moreover, you need to buzz and let them know your ‘appointment’ time and name before being allowed in. So you’re already off to a fun start before you even make it through the labyrinth of backrooms to get to the bar. When we visited we saw a decent rotation of groups using the escape rooms, and they are well reviewed online, so I’m definitely not advocating against them! The decor and games within the Mind Palace were a lot of fun, and the cocktails were fun and tasty. Successfully complete the minigames and you get a discount on your next drinks too, which ups the stakes and makes it a whole lot more exciting!
Sherlock Holmes Pub
The Sherlock Holmes Pub is a bit of a London institution - in the way that a lot of pubs are for their own reasons. Located in the central St James area and extremely popular for knock off drinks and family meals, this Victorian-style hotel once inherited an entire Sherlock Holmes exhibition, hence the theme. All throughout the multi-story pub you will find Sherlock memorabilia on display, some of which is behind glass for preservation (again - Sherlock being treated as a real historical figure). The food is classic pub fare done exceptionally well, and whenever Benny and I see a pie in an English pub with beef dripping gravy, we cannot go past it! They even have their very own Sherlock House Ale, which is a delicious bitter with caramel and brown sugar notes (at least to my unsophisticated palate).
Of course, anything marketed around Sherlock Holmes is bound to be gimmicky. That doesn’t always necessarily have to be a bad thing. If you like something in popular culture, and there is an immersive way to enjoy it that is done well, why shouldn’t you give it a go?! That’s how i feel about most of the activities from my day in London. If you’re a Sherlock fan, give my day a go. If you’re not a Sherlock fan.. maybe just give the pub a go, it won’t let you down!
