The Marlborough Arms, Tottenham Court Road

Another central London pub, another plethora of scathing reviews and low ratings that once again I cant really get my head round.

It is perfectly true that like other close by pubs (The London Pub, The Rocket etc) which have had a very firm set of boots laid into them by a number of critics on this website, the Marlborough isnt going to win any awards in any of its core features. But then this doesn�t mean the owners need to be lynched either as while it lacks any form of �sparkle� (no I`m neither gay or a hairdresser) it does tick all the acceptable boxes in terms of its interior, service, drink selection, price range and general clientele (the latter of which certainly isnt dominated by students). The only real criticisms I can think of is that its character is of the �forced oldie� variety (cheap wooden floors and d�cor and pointless pictures/other furnishings) and it can become exceptionally crowded on weeknights despite its relatively big size � though the last criticism is one the owners would probably be very happy with.

In the end therefore the Marlborough is a reasonable stop off point that while not lending itself immediately to any pub crawl list, is certainly alright for the occasional tipple. 6/10.

23 Apr 2005 11:22