The Poet is a pub and dining room from Spencer Large, Honey Spencer and Charlie Sims, the team behind Hackney restaurant Sune. It occupies a historic building beside Smithfield Meat Market and is one of the six 'Houses' built into the perimeter of the Victorian General Market, home to London Museum. Charlie Tayler, formerly of Aulis and The Ledbury, oversees the food.
The ground floor pays homage to the classic Victorian pub, leaning into the era's maximalism with high ceilings, elaborate joinery and richly textured surfaces. A double-height bar fills the entrance with natural light, and further inside there are snugs and alcoves beneath the mezzanine. The bar serves fine ales, real wines and quality spirits alongside a snack menu that riffs on pub favourites, from a House Pork Pie with Piccalilli to a 'Scampi Fries' Scotch egg.
Upstairs, The Poet Dining Room reworks British pub classics with seasonal British produce, drawing on London's cultural diversity and restaurant heritage. A generous Sunday roast is served every weekend. The room has wood panelling, leather seating and a rich colour palette, with large windows running its length. An open kitchen sits at the entrance, so guests can watch the chefs at work. Honey Spencer's wine list covers both well-loved appellations and lesser-known regions.
The building also houses two further spaces. On the mezzanine, Envoi is Tayler's ten-seat chef's table, with a 14-course tasting menu structured like a sonnet. In the attic, Shambles is a standalone cocktail bar inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which flourished around the time the building was completed. Its name comes from a Middle English term for butchers' stalls, a nod to Smithfield's meat-trading history.