Acceptable or even GOOD pubs in London city centre?

Meeting a friend who lives west and figure centre is the only option. Is Soho the key here? Where? Ideally a nice bar with good beers and possibly food, though food not essential.

Somewhere where you can sing if the mood takes you, yet not the kind of place where one is coerced to sing. The kind of place where smiling is not frowned upon.

Unfortunately Soho is precisely the kind of place where smiling is frowned upon. It's not like in the old days when you could kick a Jeffrey Bernard in the street.

Haven't been to an FAP for centuries but the Glasshouse Stores is all right.

The French House, but be advised the beer is served in halves.

The Endurance

http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1552.html

Much maligned by the FT crowd back in the day but I like it.

They're all good! All of them!

i.e. they fill up the pint then cut it up with a chainsaw, so make sure you attend wearing appropriate protective headgear in accordance with Nanny State Politically Correct Regulations (xxp).

Try around the Goodge Street/Charlotte Street area, there are four or five very good pubs around there and the place is generally pretty lively.

The french house is crazy talk as it is almost impossible to get a seat unless you have been there since oliver reed was in short trousers.

The French House is nice but TINY.

(xpost)

, dahling

xpost

The Endurance is forever scarred by horrible memories of Beth Ditto turning up to a FAP and pwning everyone at karaoke. ::shudders::

it was the KoC then, though, surely it has been purged by cleansing redesign?

I think the Endurance has gone downhill, if sis-pub the Perseverance is anything to go by: gastros where the salad comes out of a Somerfield bag.

Also there are a shit-ton of pubs around Broadcasting House that are reasonably OK but beware R1/6Music types. Great Titchfield Street etc. Ed, where was the nice one with the decent food your work people liked?

The best in Soho are probably the Old Coffee House and the Shaston Arms but both can get pretty rammed. Endurance has always been unbearably crowded whenever I've been in. Generally speaking Bloomsbury/Holborn are better for pubs than Soho though.

I am a big fan of the bar underneath the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road as well, real old underground theatre club sort of vibe, homosexual old dudes nodding along to show tunes in the background, that kind of thing. Arrive before 8.30 though as it's members only before them, but it opens late.

Also the worst pub food I have ever ordered was in the Perseverance. Gastro my arse.

The septic crown, (the crown and sceptre) on foley street, is utterly heaving, especially early on. The King and Queen down the road is a good boozer that does and acceptable pie too.

Actually, don't go to Soho on a Thursday night if you want to sit down.

I am a big fan of the bar underneath the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road

Haven't been there in years! I remember Sophie Ellis-Bextor used to be in there a lot.

And that woman who used to be in the yoghurt adverts

Last time I was there I spotted a guy who used to be a minor gay character in Eastenders AND a guy who used to be a minor gay character from Holby City. All we needed was one from the Bill and we'd have had the hattrick.

I saw Adam Ant there once too!

I am a big fan of the bar underneath the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road as well

that place is grand.

last time super hans was there, my friend went up to talk to him he asked my friend if he had any drugs lol.

We had a Shimura Curves aftershow there. After the first of the Ebony Bones support shows I think , IIRC. I don't recall much about it, though - beyond getting in a fight with Cowboy Jim. (Now that's a surprise.)

The plethora of Sam Smiths pubs in central London are not that busy, and cheap, and actually quite nice. The Blue Posts,the Cock or the Champion of the Thames or somewhere like that (there are actually a few different Blue Posts, which aren't Sam Smiths, but they're good too - I like the one on Berwick Street). If you do go to Holborn, as recommended by Matt DC, the Princess Louise is amazing - this incredibly ornate victorian restoration.

I am a big fan of the bar underneath the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road

I like this too.

You could also do worse than the Social on Little Portland Street. It's actually a pretty nice place for a few beers and a fishfinger sandwich before the music starts later on.

lame tv celebrities hang out.

Samuel Smiths pubs are the key here; they are generally quite cosy and unponcey and always very cheap. I have a soft spot for the Crown on New Oxford Street, particularly in the summer when you can sit in that square type thing out back.

I am a big fan of the bar underneath the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road

Me too! I only discovered it about a year ago.

NO NO NO NO NO THE SOCIAL IS THE WORST PUB ON EARTH THIS IS PROVEN BY SCIENCE!!!

the social has dyson airblades in the toilets, which is a plus (and the fact that you have to walk through the stage area to get to the toilet also doubleplusgood). expensive drinks though.

There are four Blue Posts I think, there was a good pub crawl that encompassed them all.

Sam Smiths is fine with me but a bit short on music. The Social is fun.

Does anyone still call under-Phoenix place Shuttleworth's?.

when the endurance was the king of corsica it was brilliant. the endurance nowadays has a name that is apt that's what it takes for staying inside.

You could also do worse than the Social on Little Portland Street.

This is my default post-last orders destination in the WE. Free to get in, and the music's often pretty acceptable (your standard hipster funk/soul/hip-hop mix). The decor makes it feel oddly like a bar in Soviet era Russia.

Sam Smiths = Fitzroy. Gets busy, mind you.

And the Perseverance is the sort of place where they apply grill marks to the panini with Sharpies. xpost to chu...

Also the Princess Louise used to be nice but those wooden screens have ruined the vibe downstairs. Upstairs is nicer but there are better Sam Smiths pubs (Old Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street is the best). The Fitzroy is great but gets unbelievably crowded.

I have come round to Freuds in Covent Garden now, as far as bars go. It's the only place in town that actually feels like a proper New York bar.

After 7 years of me expounding on this fact he finally comes round.

another sam smiths = the crown on new oxford st (as opposed to the old crown also on new oxford street, or the other the crown that's on monmouth street, all within 50 metres from each other, so maybe not a good one to meet up at)

would like to hear Local Garda sing

Freuds: I go for lunch there most Fridays! VERY slow service. I've never been in the evening.

That Crown business is annoying

I am happy to report that it is still 1992 inside freuds and still the place in london where you are most likely to hear some Acid Jazz.

freuds is alright but once again lacking in the being able to sit down front. plus, lame bar staff. plus, people who defrauds your card in the bar tab.

I was never particularly anti-Freuds, but I like it now as opposed to being indifferent to it. The Crown is the worst Sam Smiths in central London, unless it's sunny and you get a table outside.

I have heard Local Garda sing. It mostly involved Frank Sinatra I think.

xpost to jamie t smith wow this thread is MOVING

xpost to matt dc wow this thread is MOVING

Oh man Freuds... ::drools::

Get there early or it's impossibly crowded but MAN those cocktails are worth standing up for.

Which one is the Sam Smiths with the Fleet running through its basement? Is that the Cheese? (I always get it mixed up with the Titty of Yorke which is not so good.)

freuds is ok, the cocktails are lethal

as far as other bars go, I like two floors on kingly street

dunno if that's too poncey for the old man pub crew here

someone bought 4 margaritas using my card :( did the barstaff care? like they gave a shit

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/91/916/Yorkshire_Grey/Fitzrovia

Once saw Tim Westwood outside this Sam Smith's pub off GPS, can usually get a seat upstairs if you're there by about 7, 1.90 a pint, vass wo' iss orl abaht

WTF kate cittie of york is fucking grand.

not really, I never go there, and I usually work from home on Fridays! but there is another pub closer to my office that I have been to on Fridays that is usually not that busy so we can always go there if the Artillery is no good

Any nice pubs around Blackfriars?

The Black Friar is worth seeing, if only once. https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/41

the black friar is fine. and i was always intrigued its exterior even when i’d never been in.

It's nearer Cannon St. but The Banker is decent (after the initial post-work rush at least) with actual river views from inside

I used to work around there and as a result I’m fond of a few of the ordinary pubs, just alright ordinary places to go and have a beer - the St Brides Tavern and the Cockpit both spring to mind. The Black Friar is an amazing one-off that may be better to look at than to use but I love it.

Go very much west of New Bridge Street and you’ll be drinking next to lawyers.

I'll pass on that.

Thanks for the recommends!

I should know this but I'm just no good at North London. Where's good for a drink before The Roundhouse on Saturday? Ideally dodging a bit of the crowd, but I don't expect miracles.

The Queen’s, the Engineer, the Pembroke and the Lansdowne - all good pubs in Primrose Hill. All 10-15 minutes’ walk away from the venue and unlikely to be full of pre-gig drinkers. All with decent food if you need to eat, too.

Perfect - thank you Suzy

What's a good gastropub in the Kings Cross area?

Tamil Prince, a little way into Barnsbury but not far from King’s Cross at all.

Never seen much detail about what the actual deal is with Sam Smith's before - only knew the usual bits and pieces & treated the pubs as a largely happy mystery. This is fascinating.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/dec/19/humphreys-world-how-the-samuel-smith-beer-baron-built-britains-strangest-pub-chain

Their London pubs are looked after by the son rather than the old man, AIUI, so none of them have been closed, but prices have gone up crazily in the last decade.

Absolutely, the days of four pints for a tenner are long gone.

I may be wrong but I tend to assume the London ones don't really enforce the no-swearing or mobile phone rules. I haven't been loudly playing TikToks but there are a couple of beautiful Sam Smiths pubs in London, like the Angel near Rotherhithe, and fairly sure I sat in them reading on my phone and nothing happened.

yeah that's my experience. never seen any enforcement in the city but vibe is usually a lot better than non smiths in central.

the bricklayers arms is a reliable one that has come in handy a few times this year

This pub looks really nice.

https://www.thesekforde.com

used to go to the rising sun near barbican on fridays as some friends worked near there, was p nice.

i feel like the drinks are now not cheap enough to make a huge difference but haven't been in one in a little while, so not sure.

xpost it is a nice pub for sure, friend had his 40th there.

The Sekforde currently threatened with closure because of complaints about noise from one particular tireless local resident, I believe.

It used to be my work local about ten years ago, it looks like it has been done up since

(xp) Not Bobby Gillespie again is it?

The Sekforde currently threatened with closure because of complaints about noise from one particular tireless local resident, I believe.

― fetter, Thursday, 19 December 2024 bookmarkflaglink

They are doing a Marx reading group from the 13th Jan, which is how I found out about it.

Even more reason to shut it down.

Noisy buggers these Marxists.

read that earlier; atypically great Guardian article

Favourite central pub for a few years now is Sutton Arms (no The, importantly), Clerkenwell.

So this is apparently Sam Smith boss' daughter

Britain's most extraordinary homes: Maude Smith's handmade haven https://t.co/Hh9HPhUcSt pic.twitter.com/d0SLiuDwLi

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 3, 2019

Yeah I enjoy the Sutton Arms. Good beer and a friendly atmosphere. They just took over the Kings Arms in Bethnal Green also, a decent pub which they'll hopefully improve.

whoa that Sam Smith article is bonkers

funnily enough my friend and i were in the old cheshire cheese just this weekend and were discussing how weird he is tho we didn’t know how bad it had got. the Lister’s crisps *were* really good tho. #yorkshirepotatoes

sam smiths beer is pretty good tbh imo

It's sold in the US as fancy craft beer which was always so weird to me since it's the cheap beer here but I always thought it was pretty good too.

Reluctant vote for "it's piss" here

Long time since I've been in one though, maybe my palate was youthful and unrefined

https://www.the-londoner.co.uk/noise-complaints-killing-londons-pubs/

Looks like Sekforde is done.

what a depressing read.

I find it depressing that this is happening but the figures are miniscule, 1% of pubs subjected to it. Also who's to say why - the article suggests it's class-related but I wouldn't say too many of the areas it mentions are newly well off, ergo maybe it's more to do with changing habits or attitudes.

Don't disagree this is shit for the pubs involved just thankfully doesn't look like it's too many.

@Sekforde just now. What a lovely place.

A friend had his 40th there, lovely pub. Not sure why so many brilliant London pubs all live in the slightly east outer edge of the centre, from Bloomsbury out, but it's defo a thing. Maybe older places have managed to survive based on the work crowd in those areas or something.

In Deptford's Dog & Bell right now and due to Belgian beer and roast I'm obliged to say that this is also fantastic

As the main pub thread: https://thefencecapitalletter.substack.com/p/capital-letter-4

I hope you approve of Jimmy McIntosh.

Don't know him

He wrote the guide you just shared!

As in, besides being the author I don't know what else he has done.

The guide seems pretty fine. Found it via Bluesky.

Kind of bemused how there is so much content like this, again, or still.

Gotta have content.

I keep seeing the Cockpit (the one near St Pauls Cathedral) on best pub lists. As far as I could tell, it seemed particularly unremarkable apart from being in an historic area. A lot of this 'best pubs' content does seem to be endlessly recycled - I was just reading the Telegraph's list of best pubs a couple of weeks ago. I no longer understand the finer points of pub connoisseurship, I guess.

current trend is for "old man" pubs. Cockpit has tatty carpet, red velour seating, obsolete brewery (Courage) branding. unremarkable then, fetishised now.

I think people also reckon the pints will be cheaper in old fella pubs.