De Hems is a café, pub and oyster-house in the

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

area of London just off Shaftesbury Avenue. It made its name purveying

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

and now sells beers from the Low countries such as Grolsch and Heineken with Dutch food such as

bitterballen Bitterballen (plural of ''bitterbal'') are a Dutch meat-based snack, made by making a very thick stew thickened with roux and beef stock and generously loaded with meat, refrigerating the stew until it firms, and then rolling the thick mixture i ...

and frikandellen. It is on the site of the Horse & Dolphin

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...

which was built in 1685 and had been owned by bare-knuckle boxer Bill 'The Black Terror' Richmond in the early 19th century. This was rebuilt in 1890 by the accomplished pub architects, Saville and Martin, for the publican, Mr Crimmen. It was renamed The Macclesfield, being in Macclesfield Street, and was soon leased by a retired Dutch sea captain called "Papa" De Hem who ran it as an oyster-house, charging a

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

and fourpence ha'penny for a serving. It was patronised by '' fin-de-siècle''

literati Literati may refer to: *Intellectuals or those who love, read, and comment on literature *The scholar-official or ''literati'' of imperial/medieval China **Literati painting, also known as the southern school of painting, developed by Chinese liter ...

such as the poet

Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

, who travelled 10 miles daily to eat oysters at the long marble bar, and George Sims who wrote a

quatrain A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...

in praise: De Hems shells

The rhyme alludes to the common proverb that it is only safe to eat oysters when there is an ''R'' in the name of the month — after the hot summer months from May to August. The

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

referred to was ''The Shell Room'' upstairs, created from the discarded oyster shells which decorated its walls — some 300,000 at their peak. Only a few now remain but the bar now claims to sell a similar number of pints of

Oranjeboom The Oranjeboom Brewery () was founded in Rotterdam in 1671. The brewery there closed in 1990, with production shifted to Breda. That brewery was sold to Interbrew in 1995 and was closed in 2004 by InBev, Interbrew's successor. Production of the b ...

each year. De Hems bar

In the early 20th century, literary figures such as Clemence Dane continued to purchase the establishment's oysters,

stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

and champagne for their theatrical celebrations. In the 1920s, it became the hangout of gangsters too. When World War I started, patriotic Papa De Hem gave his staff £50 each to return to their threatened country. During World War II, after Holland actually fell to the German invasion, Dutch resistance exiles then met regularly at the pub which became their unofficial headquarters. Another patron at that time was the notorious spy, Kim Philby, who was friendly with the

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

, who wore a tall white hat. In 1959, it was renamed ''De Hems'' in honour of the captain and then, in the 1960s, it became popular with

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

people such as

Alan Price Alan Price (born 19 April 1942) is an English musician. He was the original keyboardist for the British band the Animals before he left to form his own band the Alan Price Set. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a m ...

, Georgie Fame and Andrew Loog Oldham, manager of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. At the turn of the new century, the venue hosted a comedy club — the ''Oranje Boom-Boom Cabaret'' — which included the debut of '' The Mighty Boosh''. In the early 21st century, De Hems was popular as a place to celebrate and follow the successful

Dutch football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal ...

. During the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, hundreds of fans had to be turned away and manager Sian Blair had to hire a security staff of seven bouncers for the occasion. The upstairs and downstairs bars each accommodated a hundred cheerful revellers for these big matches. In July 2015, the venue began hosting a new comedy club, ''Linde Boom Boom Comedy Night,''.

References

External links

pubs.com review
{{Coord, 51.5120, -0.1313, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Pubs in Soho