please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
unchanged since my last visit 10 years ago.
Or there may have been less furniture.
Restaurant currently closed.
Decent London Pride.
Check out the alley along the side - location for an opening scene in the 1960 Film, Peeping Tom.
Photo at my blog - http://bit.ly/2dAN8k3
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Lovely dark seawood fed with copper. Served with Tintagel Ale and the barmaid offered a topup even before I could ask for such a thing. Upstairs is now a restaurant and this their opening night. Cornish by theme. I wanted to put on a terrible accent and call people 'my loverrrrr,' fortunately I did not. Much recommended and worth looking for in the maze of streets behind Charlotte Street where the Villa Carlotta used to be.
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Fantastic pub, great pies upstairs, good team behind the bar and staff upstairs. Mikey's head wear is all part of the process there.
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Nice 'old fashioned' pub very quirky with a good atmosphere.
The Dark Star APA was in good order.
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Top pub, beer, food, atmosphere, everything. My one reservation would have to be the prevelance of 'beanie hats' behind the bar, very strange. It's cost them a point, 9/10.
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Love this pub. There are a few good pubs in Fitzrovia, as they appear rarely on the tourist routes around W1, but The Newman is streets ahead of the rest. Excellent staff and beer have made this my absolute local. Would have given a 10, but can't because of the welsh/Irish barman's headgear....!!
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was in the Newman last night... as busy as ever. The Seafarer Ale was on top form and the food & service good as always.
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Very nice pub, good beer and fantastic food served in the pie room upstairs.
Floyd - 20 Mar 2011 19:22 |
Had a couple in here yesterday 22/12/2010, very impressed, fast friendly service and nice atmosphere. Duke of York up the road is worth a visit too.
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Can't believe the ratings for this pub are so low. Possibly one of the best pub finds for the trip. Service, beer and pub itself is top notch! Location is nicely hidden, but there were a number of pubs nearby.
My friend had never had an English "pie" so had heard this place had some of the best. It was around 3 or so New Year's Eve and we popped in looking forward to good food and drink.
We were not disappointed. Ordered our pies and started off with a couple of pints of Fullers Jack Frost - very good brew.
Young bartender clued us in on history of place (Orwell hangout - Mick Jones of The Clash occasionally drinks there). My friend is a rock musician and we find out that the guy drinking next to us is also a rock musician (The Cheek) who has played the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Small world eh? Nice rock music conversation while waiting for our pies.
All the hype is warranted - great pies, hit the spot. Realize that we got to this place at a perfect time, but these are the experiences that an American Real Ale fan live for. HIGHLY recommended!
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Nice little spot away from some of the lesser pubs in the area. Good atmosphere and worth a visit.
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Found it closed today at about 3pm. Not sure if Saturday/weekend closing is routine, as other pubs locally were all open. Not rated.
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Tiny pub with the almost mandatory laneway at the left hand side. The ground floor bar is tiny with about three tables at the front aand half a dozen stools at the side. The decor was something like a kitchen after it had been stripped down before the painting and tiling had started. God knows how places like these carry on - it's not offensive in any way but has nothing much to recommend it.
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I hadn't been to this pub for a while and I am glad to see that while the decor may have changed, the feel of the place hasn't. It is still a cracking little pub with a friendly atmosphere and good beers.
It is on Rathbone Street, hidden away a bit form the heaving pubs on Charlotte Street, but well-worth the trip. The place is well known for its pies from the upstairs pie room. Booking is essential at lunchtime especially, but after eating there, you'll know why!
I won't leave it as long before my next visit!
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It�s a good few years since I�ve visited this pub, and judging by previous reviews I was expecting something much worse to have been done to it. It�s still reasonable inside, although it doesn�t have the �old pub� feel of the previous d�cor. False flagstones don�t look right, and nor does the distressed grey/green/yuk colours which the bar has been painted. This must be one of the smallest pubs around, with only one room (ignoring the pie restaurant upstairs which is not really part of the pub proper) and only a handful of seats and stools. They had Black Sheep Bitter and London Pride on � the BSB was fine, which you would expect it to be at �3.20 a pint. One plus to be mentioned is the fact that they still sell toasties and pasties from behind the bar at reasonable prices (�1.50 and �2 respectively). Not as good as it was, but still a decent pub. Image two shows how the exterior of the pub looks now, and in my view is something of an improvement as the tiling is now revealed from under the green paint.
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Very small pub with limited seating options downstairs; was relatively quiet on a midweek lunchtime visit, but can imagine a squeeze in the early evening. The beer was fine and the food very tasty. The pies may be on the expensive side at �10 a pop, but they are worth it.
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Drinking here was like drinking in a living room that has been recently burgled. The upstairs was roped off and the downstairs was heaving with about 30 people.
I had a pint of Standard lager (can�t remember what it was) and it came in at �3.40. In my opinion the surroundings do not warrant the prices.
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We went here this week for a team event and had an excellent evening. No tears! Unspoiled pub with a pleasant upstairs dining room and bare boards throughout. The service was very good and the food and ale were fine.
Don't expect to have anything other than a pie here (choice of about 10) - there is nothing else on the menu. Puddings were equally filling - a selection of the best in English stodge. Very tasty too!
Beers were Black Sheep and London Pride (the Adnams I had last time was no longer on offer) and the Sheep I had was in very good condition.
Overall, good English fayre in good English surroundings. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Footnote:
For "pie" read: "oval bowl of very tasty stew with an inflated puff pastry lid." I argue strongly that a pie should be made with shortcrust pastry, having a base and sides as well as a lid!! Especially in a pub that sells itself as a "Pie Pub."
Is there a Campaign for Real Pies? There should be!
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Do not, under any circumstances, think of hiring the upstairs pie room for a private party. It will end in tears, ours did thanks to the incompetence and rudeness of the management.
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Been trying to visit for months but it never seems to be open.
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Strangely, given its location, it was closed last Saturday afternoon on Six Nations weekend.
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Good friendly waterhole away from Tottenham Court Road / Oxford Street. I had a perfectly acceptable pint of Adnams (a bit steep at �3) and London Pride also on offer. Small downstairs bar with scrub floor and tables and a dining room upstairs. Good to see they specialise in pies (several to choose from) and you can still get a cheese or ham toastie for �1.50.
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I visited the Newman Arms on a recommendation of a friend. I was told to book ahead and after my meal I knew why. We had dinner upstairs in the pie room, an interior which seems to have managed to escape the gastro wave. Traditional English character filled the room, with "Players Cards" and butterflies hanging on the wall. I had the gammon and my partner the lamb and rosemary pie. The order took 15 min to arrive and was absolutely delicious! We took a punt on a bottle of Merlot from Montenegro and were so surprised by the quality we decided to buy another bottle to take home with us. On our way out we stopped off downstairs at the bar for a cigarette and were pleasantly surprised to see the staff spoke English and could pour a good pint. Highly recommended!
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What depressing reading these reviews make. This was one of my favourite haunts when I worked in St Giles High St and and I wanted to go to a pub where there was no risk of meeting anyone from the office. In the words of the song "Another one hits the dust".
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First time visit here last night and was a trifle disappointed. No soul to the place and fairly miserable Aussie barstaff (yet they won The Ashes today!).
Plenty more great pubs up Charlotte St to try.
anonymous - 19 Dec 2006 15:35 |
Why Why Why??????? Destroyed - a beautiful dark scruffy atmospheric pub. Used to vie for 10/10. Now a wannabee trendy souless hollow shell complete with faux distressed painted wooden surfaces - very 1984. Anyone who loved this pub, DON'T GO AGAIN. Better to remember it as it was.
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A dreadful refurbishment - this pub is no longer worth bothering with. All in all it's a crying shame what's been done here in the name of so - called "improvements"
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Oh dear. What on earth have they done to the once-wonderful Newman Arms? Where other pubs are installing faux oak panelling this pub has taken the brave step of ripping their magnificent interior out. I've been going to this pub for years but will give it a miss now they've ruined it.
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What a crying shame! This was a very lovely pub full of character and characters. Now an ill advised refurb has ripped the still beating heart from this pub's smoky, mahogany history filled chest. Everything that was great about it - the battered exterior, pannelled walls, dodgy toilets and the sensation of drinking on board a cramped ship have been chucked in the skip. Now we have bright lights, gastro pub detailing, neon lights everywhere and music playing "hip" tunes. It's criminal. George Orwell, a regular drinker and who immortalised the pub in 1984 as an example of the great "common man" boozer, will be turning in his grave. It tragically goes into my Room 101.
anonymous - 17 Oct 2005 09:03 |
I was always tremendously curious about this place when I went past it but found it closed. It looked like a place with an intersting history, and sure enough I've since found out that it's always been a popular location for photographers and film makers, both internally and externally.
Perhaps, somehow, it was inevitable that when I finally found it open one day it was a tremendous disappointment, and I would wholeheartedly endorse comments made in previous postings to the effect that the management(or at least those in place at the time)were disagreeable racist scum. If anything, the customers were even more obnoxious. All a shame, but then again not that much of a shame since there was nothing worth drinking in there either.
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Currently closed. Lots of building work going on.
anonymous - 31 Aug 2005 18:46 |
The pies really are fab, just don't expect a variety of veggie options, and booking is a must. Downstairs is absolutely tiny!
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The pie-room should be renamed the pie-cupboard. 25 people rammed in a room thats barely big enough for a half-dozen oompah lumpah's. The landlord needs to be careful, he's in serious danger of going O/D on those old tosser pills he must be taking. Cupboard and landlord aside, the pies are great, the prices are more in line with a local than a city-boy hangout and they do know how to pull a proper pint of guiness.
Selly - 19 Aug 2005 12:01 |
i saw this place on massivepubs.com,....imagine my disgust when....
Yeah the pies are good i hear
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A Group of our friends went to Newman Arms on St Patricks day because they serve a great pint of Guiness. We were really enjoying ourselves and our Irish friend sang a lovely sweet irish song and we clapped and cheered when she finished. We were all seated and by no means rowdy. The elderly owner actually cursed at us and made a number of racist comments. We were so shocked and offended that we all got up and left. I will never go here again. No good pie or pint of Guiness can justify racist comments.
anonymous - 18 Mar 2005 17:11 |
It was my local for two years and I loved it! Had to move back to Canada though :-(
The landlord, although grumpy at times, treated his regulars very well.
Plus the pies were to die for.
Whoever works in the area should definitely make this their regular spot.
The Canadian - 19 Sep 2004 03:54 |
I love this pub. As pubs go it is not all that lively or flashy. Instead, it has a well-loved, cozy feel.
Greg is right, the pies are fantastic (that is usually why I go there.) Shame it isn't open weekends.
The owner is a highly entertaining and very personable old man, so long as you don't get too crazy at which point he becomes rather cantankerous. Just know that that bar is his pride and joy. The barman is great and the pie-room staff are also charming.
You get what you see. Family establishment with cast of regulars and stick-to-your-bones/warm-your-heart-and-soul food (though the stuff behind the bar downstairs will take care of the latter part of this description). Not a people-magnet like the Marquis of Granby down the street.
Jonathan - 28 Apr 2004 18:35 |
I love the single-mindedness of the menu - pies only.
Richard - 24 Mar 2004 17:58 |
It seems so Matt. Never known it be open. No fat media slags to buy lunch there. Not worth opening!
;-)
Greg - 23 Sep 2003 16:16 |
The grumpy elderly landlord is fiercely protective of his grumpy elderly regulars and doesn't take kindly to people stomping in and demanding to buy alcohol.
I once fell down the narrow stairs to the khazi.
Mind you, that explains a lot.
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Is it always shut at the weekends then Greg, you (media) slag!?
Matt Le Ross - 18 Jun 2003 16:11 |
"Media slags"...? Oh. That'd be me. We're obviously just quicker dialers!
There is a reason why the pie room is always booked up. The pies are bloody fantastic!
And even though it's teeny, it never seems too crowded in the pub. I think it's a top little place. (Except the landlord was getting a little lairy last time we were in there. But we'll let him off... it wasn't aimed at us!)
Greg - 16 Jun 2003 16:59 |
I meant to say the pub was shut byt the way...
Matt Le Ross - 29 Apr 2003 13:24 |
Was shit on Saturday - therefore scuppering the route of the TANNERS crawl. Poor show!
Matt Le Ross - 28 Apr 2003 12:26 |
always god-damned booked up by media slags and brown-nosers... review the policy or boycott the pub!
howard - 25 Apr 2003 11:46 |
Seriously, the pies are the best in london. Not posh nosh obviously, but the best pub grub in London that I have found.
Kit - 14 Feb 2003 16:07 |
Years ago I met Brian, Sheila and Debbie in Antigua (Caribbean) and they owned a pub called Newman Arms. Is this the same establishment? If so, please have them EMail Roselyn Pierce at [email protected]. Thanks!
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The pies are a must. You'll need to book though
Steve - 23 Dec 2002 16:03 |
There's an upstairs pie room according to the sign.
Techno - 25 Nov 2002 10:23 |
