Such a lovely place to exist, let alone play darts. Two boards in the spacious back of the pub which seem to get plenty of use, and where you really ought to go and play darts. The website claims ‘This is not the coolest pub’, but I disagree, and my 2026 visit reminded me why. If you don’t play, you should go here anyway.
The OCH is one of the few family owned Freehouses in London, and everything on offer is from family run or privately owned businesses in the UK (or Ireland, see comment below). The owner was born in China so the name comes from the term for expats, with a nod to Cockney rhyming slang (for mate). It was shut for around 3 years up to February 2023 due to that Covid thing, but is once again one of my faves in London – the only reason it isn’t rated 5 is that it is only open 4 days a week.
Hi
I am the owner of Old China Hand and would like to thank whoever wrote our review as it really made my day. There’s another very British thing about my pub and that is everything we sell is from the British Isles (as I include our lovely neighbour Ireland) and that even includes our English wines!
Thank you again,
Rowena
Hi Rowena hope you’re both well lovely to know that the pub is hopefully surviving in these difficult times and since retirement over two years ago miss the people but not the hours .at this note I should introduce myself it’s Graham Ex Red Lion turners hill.
Graham, Thanks for your lovely comments and great to hear from you as was in your neck of the woods last year some time but never made it in to see you. But next time we’ll knock on your door! We close much earlier now and dont do the late nights anymore so it’s much easier and my customers are really lovely which also makes my life easier. Is this the best way to contact you?