Acceptable or even GOOD pubs in London city centre?

nah that Ugh was more loaded than that

hatred of fun detected

not liking drinking outside and not having pub preferences = some of the worst stuff ive ever read on ilx.

come back roger adultery all is forgiven

haha

what's the point in having a preference for anything

hatred of fun detected

― vacuum head tree disease (imago), Saturday, 7 March 2015 23:58 (Yesterday) Permalink

you're catching on.

I think it is actually a guide to which pubs will have the sun through the windows at any given time, rather than outdoor drinking per se. Or at least, it lists five or six pubs in my immediate area without beer gardens. If you prefer to avoid the sun entirely while drinking it could also serve as a guide to doing that, so everyone's a winner.

any quick recommends for pubs around South Kensington?

Slim pickings round there iirc. Some great mews pubs up towards hyde park corner though - grenadier, nags head and wilton arms maybe.

And the star in belgravia.

See I was thinking more around Goethe or Cine Lumiere - went to the former on Friday and there is that one pub near South Ken tube and its just the most depressing place.

If I wanted to join the Mormon church = great, drinking-wise = turn away.

Yeah we spent about half an hour looking for somewhere decent to drink round there recently, it seriously is a wasteland. We had to settle on a Spoons. Good luck!

The Queens Arms, up around the corner from the Royal Albert Hall, is pretty decent. Mews pubs are the single best thing about West London, especially if you have room to spill out on a sunny day.

Thanks! looks good - will try this week.

Yeah, I ended up in the Queens Arms once by dint of following some musicians, I reasoned that if anyone would know of a boozer round the Royal Albert Hall it'd be orchestral musicians.

Yeah, decent pub, plenty spillage-onto-pavement space as well. Could do with a couple more tables outside though.

if i may extend the thread remit from good pubs in the centre to bad pubs in the outskirts, visited by dint of necessity the old bull and bush in golder's green. it's large and lavish and done up to attract the local range rover set and every square inch of it, and all the customers, and the beer, were all awful.

Noticed that the owner of the Ape & Bird in Cambridge Circus has given up and turned it into a Polpo. It was a nice idea but in practice unless you were eating there (or in the terrific downstairs bar) it was just like any other vertical drinking shithole round there.

Is 'by dint of' staging a comeback from the 1500s (two instances in one afternoon)?

that ape and bird was p bad foodwise imo. total ripoff for v basic pub food. polpo is acceptable but russell norman places generally are poor, ime.

on friday night i found myself in a small french wine bar near that dairy just off columbia road - past the nelson's head if you're heading south. it was a p great atmosphere, really good music, and went on till late. i'd recommend it - only thing was the wine was shit - perhaps they were palming off crap on paddy irishman, i dunno. still was a place i didn't know existed.

Is 'by dint of' staging a comeback from the 1500s (two instances in one afternoon)?

didn't consciously see it in tomd's post, cursing my suggestibility.

friend staying in shoreditch for work and i want to meet him and watch the champions league tonight - surprisingly unsure of a place to go that'll show it and also have good beer. any thoughts?

prob will get food also, less stumped for that but open to any ideas there too.

Bit off the beaten track but the Baring, about halfway up New North Road from Old Street, is very good for sport watching and more comfortable that anywhere you'd find in Shoreditch.

I'd go with the water poet. It's got decent enough beers (beavertown etc), will be showing the football, is pretty friendly and is just round the corner from hawksmoor

didn't think of that actually, that's probably a good shout for where my friend is staying.

Any ok pubs around near Kings College bit of the strand?

First one I thought of that was reasonable is the Irish pub but that is a bit too further on.

edgar wallace is your best bet. one of those places where it feels like there's a fug of cigarette smoke still lingering after all these years. probably aided by all the vintage cigarette and tobacco ads over the walls (definitely not in a wanky hipster 'retro' style though). or on the same street there's the temple brew house (wanky hipster modern craft beer in a basement) or the devereux (standard taylor-walker chain place).

Sadly I think the friend I am going out with will like wanky hipster blah.

Thanks!

Edgar Wallace seconded, it's lovely in there.

I like* the Seven Stars, tucked in behind the Royal Courts of Justice, though it does fill up with lawyers.

*Liked is probably more accurate, haven't been there for years.

wanky hipster place is not that wanky hipster tbh, although i was only there on a sunday afternoon when it was notably devoid of wanky hipsters. ok enough of the wanky hipster.

seven stars very good too. cat with a ruff, toilet up some rickety stairs with spooky music playing in the room next door.

I was in the Seven Stars about a month ago and it is my sad duty to report that the cat with the ruff is no longer of this world. As a pub it is fantastic but it's very pokey. On an evening like the lawyers will all spill outside anyway so you might be in luck.

If they haven't stuffed or mummified that cat they've missed a trick.

it's about 10 mins walk away (by google maps measure, so prob 7 for a human) but the harp on chandos place is prob my favourite pub in london, or certainly in the top five. wide selection of ale and a craft beer or two, quick and friendly bar staff, and a nice dark interior.

The George opposite the RCJ is a reliable post-work staple for me & my colleagues, a good range of real ales. The White Horse, on LSE campus, is also good. Thirded on Seven Stars, very good on a nice day like today to stand outside.

yeah came here to post ^the george. They've recently done it up so will prob satisfy yr wanky hipster mate - as well as good ales it's a sierra nevada on tap sort of place now.

(o wait I'm a day behind, sorry!)

Thanks for temple brew house recommend ledge - just the kind of place the friend I went with loves. I was more like jesus @ > 4.50 for certain of beer.

4.50 for some cans in the young vic theatre bar. that's equivalent to 7.75 a pint!

#worldisgoingtohell #lovingit

it's about 10 mins walk away (by google maps measure, so prob 7 for a human) but the harp on chandos place is prob my favourite pub in london

It wins all sorts of awards as well - I've never quite understood its exalted status but for the area it's certainly a very good one.

The cat with the ruff was called Tom Paine, I think. TBH it did used to freak me out slightly that his catfood was put out on the bar and Roxy the landlady would brush him while he ate it.

It was indeed called Tom Paine. Still, you don't get that in the Draft House.

with the harp it's prob a case of so few good pubs in the area - the service is brilliant too which also puts it way ahead of most london pubs.

Tom Paine one of the stars of

http://www.pubcats.com/

there have been several other beruffed cats at the 7* since Tom Paine. Can't remember what the last one was called. this was about a year ago tho:

http://diasyrmus.tumblr.com/image/100086316322

http://diasyrmus.tumblr.com/image/100086316322

any pubs around holborn that do good food, are informal, and good to hang out in for an hour? i prob take a proper lunchbreak once a week but i would like to be able to read when i do. basically a place to escape being in a chain lunch spot.

i have gone to the lowlander now and again which does a job like this in a kind of weird way, but it's not the cosiest.