please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
On a bit of a crawl in this area, popped in here for one. Abbott at 2.20 a pint within 150 yards of Oxford Street ! The need to keep to the schedule meant we just had the one, but I will be returning.
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This is a good pub to remember if you're looking for a quiet drink within a short distance of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. It looks as though it hasn't changed much for many years and it does have a lot of history and character in a shabby chic kind of way, with its unusual layout, wood panelling, stained glass windows and its associations with old literary figures. It’s a little gloomy but the Wheatsheaf Ale was fine and the barmaid was friendly and attentive. Recommended.
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Not a bad pub at all. Plenty of room to sit, good selection of beers, efficient/friendly staff. Long and narrow on the inside although the fittings are perfectly nice.
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Very good pub in an area filled with very bland pubs. It is unpretentious and has retained some character - the upstairs room is all wooden panels and stained glass. They keep a couple of decent beers too. Well worth a visit to get away from the mayhem of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street.
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This is the kind of dull pub that the world will not miss if/when it closes. There is literally nothing remarkable about this pub. How can people say this place has character? Complete nonsense. Generic shell which offered 2 ales on my visit, Adnams Bitter and Spitfire. My Spitfire was fine, no complaints here, but there was no reason to stay for another. Not one to seek out.
Sharp - 22 Oct 2009 16:17 |
This is an awesome pub.
Good beers that come quickly even on a busy friday afternoon.
They hire decent, friendly bar staff and the manager has been around for ages.
One of the best around.
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Good pub ... a nice place to be with some decent beers on ... well worth a visit ?
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A nice Fitzrovia pub with (rather like the Bricklayers nearby) a laneway on the ground floor of the building on the left hand side.
It's a long narrowish single bar pub although pleasantly there is a proper window at the rear of the pub allowing for natural daylight to permeate these areas. Befitting the area it's in the pub has some literary pretensions with copies of articles on the walls at the front of the bar highlighting the fact that people like George Orwell, Anthony Burgess and Dylan Thomas frequented both the area and the pub itself.
It's a nice place this and I'd return rather more frequently than I have over the last 20 years if it wasn't for competing commitments.
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Most of the pubs in Fitzrovia seem to have lost their character and be full of braying idiots. But the Wheatsheaf still has character, is rarely too crowded, and seems to have a pleasant clientele. Friendly staff too.
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Nice enough pub, friendly staff who were cheerful to be serving on a very busy Friday night. Good enought Adnams bitter, along with Bombardier and Pride. Not a pub to seek out but pretty good if you're in the area.
ben21 - 28 Feb 2009 11:06 |
Just stumbled in to this little pub in London. We were at the end of the evening about 15 people on at trip from Norway to London and ended up here. We had a great time, lovely staff, always helpful and smiling. A smal pub but if you are looking for a nice place to sitt down and have some beers this is the place. Going back for sure..
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I quite liked it in here as the bar staff were very friendly and the Hobgoblin was very nice. The staff were dressed up and they were enthusiastically hanging Halloween decorations around the pub.
I would visit again if in the area.
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GKIPA and Hobgoblin on tap when I was in there at the weekend. I was given short measure, but my glass was readily topped-up on request. I had the Hobgoblin which was excellent. This was clearly previously a Younger�s pub, retaining all the very attractive original leaded and stained glass windows on the front and down the long side of the pub. Seating is a mixture of stools by ledges in the main part of the bar, and a handful of tables and chairs at the back
This is a rather nice little pub, but what makes it a bit special for me is the original Wm. Younger�s windows and d�cor � even without the tartan wallpaper that many of the Younger�s pubs used to have!
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Sad to read all the negative comments. The Wheatsheaf used to be a real hideaway even though the beer was never the best. I was thinking of paying a nostalgic visit tonight (haven't been for about 5 years) but not sure i will now.
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Small, low-ceilinged, attractive old pub with plenty of stained glass and leaded windows. Two hand pumps and the London Pride was in good nick despite my being their first customer of the day. Don�t imagine it�s a big sports pub but they do have a couple of screens and were happy to put the rugby on when a group of guys dropped in on their way to Twickenham for the England v Ireland game.
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I also felt let down with this pub, mind i visited before Christmas as well so sounds like it has improved.Promises a lot from the outside but as CambridgeBlue said drab inside! and hardly an all "singing and dancing" barmaid not that she has much room for dancing and her surroundings hardly made her want to burst into song.Mind you the day was"nt a complete loss as in the nearby Newman Passage is the Lamppost that can be seen in the end credits of Minder!(Well little things and all that )
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OK gave this place a second try the saturday after christmas.
Slightly better selection of Ales and they have fixed the loo but still a little drab inside.
You May do better walking a little further down the road.
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Not sure what to make of this pub. From the oustide its all "come in and have a nice traditional ale" Once inside its a bit of a let down. Nothing really exciting on tap and not a really welcoming feel from the bar staff.
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I've known this place for a long time, and I'm very sad to see the state it's in now.
It used to be a little haven of peace and sanity in the ocean of crap that the West End has always been, but now...
It still looks the same, but the current management really don't get it. [Why are bad publicans always such bloody conformists?]
The pub's been infested by a plague of loud, bad piped music, mostly very old very cheap disco tracks that even in their long-ago heyday would have been dismissed as garbage, and now belong in some kind of museum of ancient horrors; all played at an excessive level of volume that makes any kind of communication difficult, and serious conversation almost impossible.
Instead of relaxing for an hour or two with a nice restoring pint, you come out much sooner than you intended, seething with rage at the stupid insensitivity of it, and looking desperately for somewhere else to go. A bad time like this you can have almost anywhere in a jerkoff town...
anonymous - 6 Apr 2007 02:53 |
Small but pleasant.Decent pint. Good place for the sunday papers.
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Adequate. Three ales on (tried the Brakspear and Young's Special, not Bomba) and they were drinkable.
Certainly nothing special and sort of mingles in with most of the other pubs of this sort near the West End, but could do worse.
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I wasn't impressed with this, although I appreciate that 10pm on a Friday night isn't the time to see a West End pub at its best. Only Youngs on tap, and I thought it was poorly served. Quite pricey and I thought the atmosphere was pretty poor as well.
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The back of the pub is the best place to sit and enjoy a quiet drink in Fitzrovia. The beer range is good, and the sandwiches reliable.
Those of a literary bent can soak up the atmoshere of the bar where Dylan Thomas met his future wife Caitlin for the first time, and where many other writer and poets drank.
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I must say, if its still Ivan doing the comedy upstairs it isn't exactly the best comedy night going on in London.... the poor old boy is somewhat inept but then that's part of the appeal. Expect small audiences and dubious acts. You need to come with the right attitude or in a big group.
The pub itself is decent. Nothing special, but decent.
By the way, Ivan does have a claim to fame - apparently he played the referee in the match at the end of Escape to Victory.
anonymous - 11 Sep 2006 14:22 |
its not bad really. very london, and its worth a look once. gets a bit busy mind, and its only a small pub for so many folk (overly busy for what it is really). comedy thing upstairs is ok too.
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Nice traditional London pub - note particularly the stained glass leaded windows. Unfortunately used to be a William Youngers Scottish and Newcastle pub in years gone by, but the beer is drinkable nowadays
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Excellent little backstreet local, very much in the traditional pub style with bare floorboards and stained glass windows. Limited beer choice but excellent quality. Empty when we visited but it had only just opened. Definitely worth another look when it�s busier.
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I think this is the best pub in the fitzrovia area by a mile great for a beer day or night im a big fan
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Late afternoon on a saturday isn't the time to visit this pub. Call me old fashioned, but a bar with two used coffee cups, a cafetiere with cold grounds in it and a scrunched-up napkin ain't what I want to see when I'm ordering a beer. There were dirty glasses on almost every table. The barmaid was hardly busy � she was slumped in a corner reading a book when we went in but she was friendly enough. As we were leaving a comedy night was staring upstairs and the place was filling up.
This pub has a nice interior... one of those (30s?) cod-mediaeval themes with beams and stain glass windows and leaded lights. If I recall, the Wheatsheaf has unusual licensing hours to cater for the odd shifts the postal workers have at the sorting office over the road.
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OK place, Ivan's comedy night upstairs is a blast
anonymous - 3 Jan 2006 15:17 |
This is what all pubs should look like from outside and fortunately the interior rises to the standard set by it's facade. Room at the back to sit and chat although it can get a bit staid what with the lack of music. Towards the front there's more obvious character but less obvious seating arrangements. There's an upstairs too but I think that's for private functions
Good for: The first few of an evening.
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Small and narrow non-music pub with some stained glass bits dotted around. The public bar area is bare floorboards while the saloon area has a fireplace and carpets, though the wall dividing the two bars has been knocked down. Beer is served traditionally cellar cool. This was Orwell's favourite pub, and is one of the Literary Three of Fitzrovia in which Dylan Thomas spent much time. Two cask ales on offer. I tried the Brakspear Bitter which was in good condition. In general a quiet and old fashioned boozer.
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rudest fruity in the Northern hemisphere..
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Yup. I like this pub. It was our location for lunchtime escape for about a year a little while back. I still go there on occasion.
Greg - 16 Jun 2003 17:01 |
I have been a barman in this pub during summer 2001 and this is one of the best pub in London. If you want to have a rest in this pub i'm sure you won't be deceipt
Djo - 29 Apr 2003 13:29 |
A lovely pub. Really friendly barstaff, friendly locals, and in general a friendly atmosphere. Always a pleasure to be a customer in this place. The barmaid is a honey too!!
Sean - 3 Dec 2002 18:13 |
