please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Late night visit on a Tuesday in mid October after being at a party locally.
This was my first ever visit to this traditional corner plot Samuel Smith’s pub right in the heart of Soho. Even though it was late it was still pretty busy.
As expected the bar had the full range of Sam Smith’s ales on and the Sovereign bitter was in very good form.
The interior looks fairly untouched with stained glass panels and mirrors and a mosaic floor running up to the bar.
I’d like to say I will visit again but with so many pubs on my “tick” list who knows if I ever will.
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Very old fashioned pub with a strange but tasty beer selection. It's not huge and is pretty much one room with very high ceilings with some kind of classical design. For me, it was borderline too old looking that it looked a bit unclean but it was a pleasant place to drink just on the edge of rampant and somewhat sleazy Soho. It is cosy and I can imagine it being a nice place to be during a cold winter's day in London.
Only real down side was the barman served us a glass of white wine when we asked for Rose. But it was still a nice glass of wine either way, and we were too polite to complain!
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Standard Sammy Smith's pub...enjoyed a couple of pints of Old Brewery Bitter post work. Very busy pub but service was prompt and professional.
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Very old-fashioned style pub. All beers gas powered but very cheap for London - the Yorkshire Bitter was enjoyable enough. Bar staff very friendly
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I love this pub, the staff are always friendly, I would reccomend this pub to everyone who likes a relaxed friendly atmosphere. Bonus feature FIT aussie barman.
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Typical Sam Smith's boozer - dreary but historic interior, perhaps a bit lighter than many of their pubs, as rpadam notes. Didn't note any handpulls here (I think that's also the case at the very nearby Glasshouse Stores, also a Smiths pub). Good, prompt service though, and overall I thought this was an average Sam Smiths pub, and probably one of the best without handpumped ale.
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go to this pub every sunday for afew jars,as the beer in some of nearby samsmiths pubs has to be questioned? I just got in the pub,and the manager greeted me and said sorry just flushing water out of beer pipes and will serve you in 2 minutes, He then asked me what i would like drink,. alpine i replied,he then pulled my pint and brought it over appolligised to me for having to wait.{it was 2 minutes only} and said that one was on him, now i know why the is good in here and will come back every sunday, the beer in here is always good.
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Typically good Sam Smiths pub, just let down (as are so many others) by the ridiculous refusal to serve the proper version of OBB. Had to 'make do' with a pint of Extra Stout (which is actually no great hardship as it is a good beer at a great price). NB - For those who find many Sam Smiths houses overpoweringly dark, this one is relatively light and airy.
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Love this pub, its my favourite of the soho sam smiths, good beers friendly staff . have been coming here for the last 2-3 years on and off. the landlady jenny is always up for laugh, bit scared of her husband though bit scary looking. I always make this my regular when in town, good beers, good staff & big meals. MAGIC
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Warm clean pub, nice xmas decorations and of course a good pint if Sam Smiths OB
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Simple lay-out, reasonably friendly staff, the main attraction is, of course, those Sam Smith prices! Got to love them. I would return for a cheeky pint if I was walking by.
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A Samuel Smiths pub, average bar, friendly enough staff but does get a bit busy at te bar after work, so could do with a few more staff.
Good beer though!
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Typical Sam Smiths pub. Quality beer at reasonable prices no Fosters, Stella Artois, Guinness etc. Friendly service. Didn't order any food.
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Fantastic pub...great beer at really cheap prices. Good food and a really nice atmosphere.
Aussie barman on duty when I was there last week was very friendly and excellent at his job.
Will be a regular of mine on my London visits.
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No messing about in here. Proper boozer, good atmosphere - quite often you'll get small groups of folk getting well plastered on the cheap ales, but not intrusively so. No airs and graces behind the bar, and rightly so. Decent service of good beer at great prices, another feather in Sam Smiths' cap!
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great boozer, the sam smith stout was on awesome form saturday afternoon. this is what its all about. (no handpulls though)
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We went for the pub quiz and had a great night. The staff were really friendly, the beer was good (and cheap) and the food was yummy. The only downside was how smokey it was. Defo recommend it though.
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This little diamond of a boozer is my London local.Been coming here for years and it feels like I'm in my local at home.Landlady Jenny will go out of her way to welcome us back again.This type of pub is extremely endangered and should be supported whenever possible.We do!!
Excellent Sam Smiths ales.and at 2 for under a fiver (pints that is) it's impossible to knock it.THE BEST!
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Normal Sam Smiths produce, but NO CIDER ON DRAUGHT! tradgedy! Welcome staff buta little cold. Food looked good value but we didnt brave it.
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A decent pub, which sells the typical Sam Smiths beer at typical Sam Smith great prices. Better during the day when it is not so busy, as in the eveneings it can get pretty smokey. Only negative point is the extremely racist graffitti someone had scrawled in the Men's Lav. Not the best advert for London. Hopefully this has been cleaned off now.
anonymous - 22 Dec 2006 11:21 |
When you consider the prices in many of the nearby watering holes this is a bargain And you get a decent pint in a good atmosphere of what is, in my humble opinion, what a pub should be like
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had lunch in this pub recently HUGE PORTIONS well worth the money. beer was great too.
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Fantastic pub, happy and outgoing staff even if they have got strange hairstyles! check out the quiz nights on monday night great laugh. cheap beer that tastes great, atmosphere is always friendly a good and safe night out in soho.
anonymous - 28 Aug 2006 16:01 |
Not that long ago, had the best jukebox around - filled with 60's rock that totally suited the pub. Then without any apparent reason, they removed the jukebox. Now it's just a bland pub full of people drinking up the nerve to do their dirty shopping on Brewer Street.
The least interesting of Soho's Sam Smith pubs.
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I love this place as it is a nice quiet oasis in the madness of Soho - beer is good - all the usual Sam Smiths offerings.
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Great pub. Was in here on a Sunday afternoon; initially quiet but gradually got very busy. Excellent beer at really cheap prices. Would recommend it for a sensible drink in the den of iniquity that is Soho!
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The Duke is back, alive and kicking. Closed for just over a week for a bit of a spit n polish (and new urinals...the swamp has gone!).
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We were in there on 29 April 06 for a drink on a stag tour of Soho. Barman was welcoming, was happy to make 9 Bloody Marys to get us going again..... Would be a shame if it is closed...
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Tried to go there last Thursday (May 11th) and it was closed with scaffolding outside. Possibly for refurbishment but there were no signs indicating this, so maybe it's just closed...
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Top quiz on a Monday night.
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I meant to type "meant" and not "mean"
I am a spazz
anonymous - 20 Feb 2006 14:28 |
I mean to type "expression" and not "expressive".
anonymous - 20 Feb 2006 13:46 |
Sorry, don't mean to be rude but that is absolute tosh. The term "real ale", whatever you might like to define it as, has come to mean live beer which is still undergoing fermentation (be it in the cask, or, in the case of bottle-conditioned beers, in the bottle). If a beer is in the keg it is almost certainly pasteurised and probably filtered as well, meaning it is dead rather than live.
Perhaps years ago when CAMRA was founded and the term real ale came into common parlance, the expressive "live ale" might have suited you better. In the absence of a time machine and mindful of the way in which language and its usage develops, I'd say you're wrong, anon.
anonymous - 20 Feb 2006 13:45 |
Stonch - just because an ale isn't cask conditioned and on hand pump it doesn't mean it's not 'real'. It can still be a quality real ale, it just means it's been been fully fermented in the brewery and not in the cask
anonymous - 20 Feb 2006 13:04 |
No music is not a wierd policy at all, many pubs don't have piped music and its something some people consider a very desirable attribute.
This place is ok, standard SS pub, although I seem to remember this is one of their pubs that doesn't do the cask Old Brewery Bitter - so no real ale.
Been in here loads though can't say why. Maybe its because its next door to all the mucky bookshops. A solid 6/10
anonymous - 10 Feb 2006 15:47 |
The DOA rules the roost in Soho. As in all Sam Smith's, its cheap drinks, no branded products except for the crisps, friendly management and staff, as well as a nice open main room.
No music is a bit of a weird policy I must admit.
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Decent pub quiz on Monday nights, from 7pm, usually finishes at about 9pm. Costs �1 per person, up to four people on a team, the winning team gets all the entry money.
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I have found it very hard to come by decent pubs in London. The Duke of Argyll is definately one of my favourites. Mainly because they do really nice beer at cheap cheap prices. The pub itself pretty good too, nice atmosphere and doesn't look like one of those tacky new style pubs. The other pubs who serve the same beer are worth a look in too.
Barmaid is very nice and friendly too, always has a smile on which makes a real change. No shiny suits or Toni & Guy haircuts either which is even more of a bonus
anonymous - 15 Aug 2005 13:59 |
another samual smiths pub - fantastic. The fish and chips heres is the best (you could play cricket with the fish) BUT theres a really miserable aussie bird with NO sense of humour!
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Good pub, great beer, have Ayingbrau. Nice eastern euro ladies in here.
anonymous - 9 May 2005 20:08 |
AWESOME, BEST PUB IN SOHO
Richard - 15 Nov 2004 21:44 |
Great to watch the world go by as you sup decent German DRAUGHT lagers, which come in 3 strengths, depending on your tastes. Very well priced drinks considering it's the West End. A good mixture of tourists and locals, you will need to get there early on Saturday night as the door staff will wait for space before allowing you in. During the day, you will have the run of the pub and will have time to reflect on life and relax. Recommended.
Cody - 11 Jul 2004 23:16 |
Food is excellent, especially the side salad
anonymous - 11 May 2004 15:21 |
Very good (and cheap) pub - same price and beer (Ayingbrau) as The Chandos (near Charing X - also good). Good for a cheap night out.
Rob - 19 Mar 2004 16:28 |
I like the stout think it's gone up tuppence.
Simon - 7 Mar 2004 18:02 |
I would strongly advise saying anything about this pub to anyone. I mean, where else in the west end can you get four pints for under a tenner? Its about �1.90 odd a pint of the lovely lager (I'm not even going to try and spell it, but its got an old dude with a white beard on the pump). They have just done up the jukebox and the bar staff are always friendly. Did have an odd encounter with the bouncer once though. he told me and my girlfriend to stop kissing, which I found rather off as it was my birthday !! Other than that, its a blinder of a boozer
Ben - 13 Feb 2004 15:04 |
I find this pub as a quite lively place at night. It is off the beat and track slightly but it is clean and serves decent pints,of their own beer.
pat - 22 Oct 2003 14:34 |
Fabulous Samuel Smiths stout on sale for �2 a pint....
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