please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Tourist pub but with well maintained Victorian features especially tile work. Square shaped bar, relatively small but plenty of seating suited to theatre crowd. It lacks much in the way of personality and there is little to separate from many other pubs in the West End but the ale was well kept and it does the job if you're passing by.
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Popped in here about 1.30 pm the other day and it was standing room only. Not surprising as it's in a prominent position and very popular with tourists.
The beers on offer were Doombar & Rev James. The R J was okay.
I didn't eat at all though plenty of others were tucking in so they must be doing something right.
An okay pub for a quick drink but not one I would stay in for too long and there are better available not far away.
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Good service, with none of the problems encountered below. Beer fabulous and the pre-Christmas atmosphere was great. Certainly one of the better pubs in the area.
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On the tourist trail so watch your change as the tall short haired barman will try and short change you.
I took 6 Norwegians to this pub Friday 13th December 2013 around 2000 - 2030.
I asked for x 3 guinness, x 3 Heineken and a cider. £30.40 - fair doos London prices - cannot complain.
Gave the barmen (tall short hair) x 1 £20 as I could not hear him over the music. He made a joke as if to make me look stupid.
OK so I acknowledged my mistake and gave him x 2 £20s and expect £10.60 change.
You can guess what happened he put 0.60p change in my hand and moved off REAL sharpish. Normally I do not check my change but the fact that he ran off got me suspicious and low-and-behold I was a tenner down.
Finally I got his attention and made him aware of his 'error' he said he would have to contact the manager. But again he went off sharpish not giving me time to say to him to turn the music down as anything we say must be witnessed. I was not going to be accused of fraud by him. He went just around the other side of the bar where I could not see him (probably to get the stashed tenner) clicked the til open and returned my change. By the way the money wasn't even mine you thieving scum.
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Popped in as the Northern Line was up the spout so had to change at Piccadilly Circus. London Fields was good and the barman even topped the head up, but others weren't so lucky; perhaps I looked like a serious beer drinker. My wife liked the wine as it was cold (not always a given) and fresh (likewise). Had difficulty getting served for our second drink and I suspect the bar man only did so after we were comparing the service we get in Ireland (which is excellent). I'll call in again another time to see if my experiences were one offs or standard.
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A fairly typical large Victorian-evoking city pub just off the main drag of Piccadilly. Its pleasant exterior gives way to a similarly-well-preserved interior, following the faithful dark brown wood and heritage decor that is so beloved of large pub-owning companies who know the target market is the tourist.
Clearly there were various tourists in tow on my last (and first) visit here on Tuesday. But there was in fact a mix of people and probably as many locals in taking a punt on the place, because of its sheer convenience if nothing else. A pleasant buzz ran throughout the place and I sensed no minority interests or troublesome behaviour.
Service was from the now-customary East European staff, who were efficient in keeping up with the steady flow of trade. 3 cask beers were available; nothing especially adventurous as presumably this pubco is tied to limited options, but reasonable enough - Brain's SA Gold sampled and was in good order despite unnecessary usage of a sparkler.
Food menus were inevitably much in evidence, and a number of customers were enjoying their wares. As I had no need of solid sustenance myself I can't comment any further, but observations suggested the usual 'traditional' pub fare was on offer (sausage and mash, fish and chips et al). Nothing unusual, but as with the ale, passable enough.
Not a destination pub as it's simply too identikit and innumerate examples of this kind of pub can now be found across central London. But it's not bad and worth popping in if it suits you - certainly preferable to negotiating the constant hurly-burly of shoppers on the streets outside.
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popped in on the way to the tube as it was the nearest pub, served it's purpose but don't specially need to go back again.
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Went there over the weekend and had the worst experience ever in a pub. Went to the bar to fetch a drink and although there were 3 bartenders behind the bar, none seemed interested in serving any customers. They wer just doing there chores behind the bar. One of the bartenders (who i later realised was the manager) was too busy chatting to one of his friend that he did not even see me standing right in front of him seeking some attention to get a drink.
Eventually when his friend left, he looked at me and I asked for a pint of becks. He did serve me the pint but the head was about 20% (no exaggaration here). I asked him to top it up and he did put another 3 r may be 4 more drops literally in it. I was very surprised and wanted to speak to the manager but this French Bartender was indeed the manager of the pub. He took the drink anway from me and asked me to leave the pub and told other bartenders not to serve me. Upon enquiring why he has done so, he replied...'because you did not respect me and my decision'
That was going to be my first drink of the evening and I was looking forward to a very nice evening but that of course did not start well. After reading some of the comments below, I can now understand completely this pub does not really care about customers just because of their location.
Pub in itself is not too bad but the staff and customer services was appauling.
I have got lots of french friend but over last few days i have had a couple of bad french experiences......Mr Manager at the pub and just read about Top French Actor Gerard Depardieu peed...in the aisle of a plane....how disguisting.
For a good experience and a great evening....please avoid this pub....much better options around.
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Visited on Easter Saturday afternoon. On entering, we sat at the only empty table, just being cleared of glasses by a barmaid. She proceeded to tell us that a group at the bar were waiting to sit at the table. Why weren�t they already sitting there then? Thanks to some stupid policy we walked out and they will never see the colour of our money, as there are so many other choices in the area. Still, I doubt if they will give a monkeys as it�s not the type of pub which has regular or even return customers.
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Must disagree with some of the comments below. I went there for a late lunch with a few work colleagues today and thought it was great!
Lots of nice nooks and crannies to occupy without feeling too dingy and some reasonably priced (and tasting) pub grub fare. Drinks a bit on the pricey side but what can you expect from a bar in this neck of the woods?
Staff were very speedy and efficient and even brought the change over to our table when one of my dozy colleagues forgot to pick it up after buying a round.
All in all, one of the better pubs in this area and certainly no reservations about drinking here again, though can imagine it gets a bit rammed on football days or at the weekend.
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not the best pub we called into on our xmas crawl yesterday 22/12/2010. Just off Piccadilly Circus, it was full of tourists and the beer is three pound odd a pint, average for the area. We've been here a few times as it's near our favourite curry house (spice bazaar, rupert st.) and it's always busy and never had any issues with the place.
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Last time I was in it was dark, loud and full of drunk tourists - most noticeably the two middle aged northern women at the next table.
I know these places have to exist in the West End but I also know there is no reason for me to visit any of them in general and this one in particular ever again.
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On a sunny Saturday afternoon it was packed out with tourists, which is not surprising considering its proximity to Piccadilly Circus. It had the look of a Spirit Group pub, with its faux chalkboards and staff in their black uniforms � but I could be wrong. They had London Pride and Courage Best clips on two pumps, but unfortunately the Pride went off with my pint. But credit is due to the barman here as he spotted it before I did and exchanged it for Courage Best. The Best was OK, tasting as it is supposed to, and I suppose not unreasonably priced for the area at �3 a pint. As rpadam has said, it�s an unexciting pub � I would say unremarkable other than for the rather nice (original Victorian I believe) tiled mural at the back. To be honest I would struggle to find a reason to return � but it was there, and open, when I fancied a drink as I was passing.
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Unexciting, if typical, central London pub; with the most interesting feature being some decorative tile work on the back wall. Having watch two 'pints' of Amstel with at least an inch of head being given to the punters in front of me, I fully expected to have to demand that my pint of Pride be topped-up - however, all was well. OK for a 'quick half' before going to the theatre, I suppose...
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