West End
Alphabet
Best Soho
joint (with an outside clock) in which to gain sustenance for the
eyes as well as the belly.
They hang contemporary art on the walls of the laid-back
downstairs bar here and manage to do so without tripping across
the line marked 'Pretension', perhaps thanks to the live music.
Upstairs, things are more more typically bar-like, but the whole
place has a great, top of the world, atmosphere. The clock outside
is a helpful signpost for newcomers.
Alphabet,
61-63 Beak Street, W1, 020 7439 2190
Tube: Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus
Map:
Click here
The Corner
Store
Best place
to find what you're looking for: The Corner Store.
Nip down
to the Corner Store and you'll enter a haven of calm in busy
Covent garden, with some 25 wines are available along with the
usual beverages. If you feel like giving it a bit of a whirl
there's always the private party room upstairs, and downstairs the
food is swankier than the usual pub grub but just as cheap.
Whether you're hungry, thirsty or ready to move, the corner store
has what you need.
The
Corner Store,
33-35 Wellington Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 7BN,
020 7836 2944 Tube: Covent Garden
French House
Best bar
within dreaming distance of old France.
The
place de Gaulle spent much of the war, the French House still
retains just about enough Gallic charm to attract a few of the
general's modern-day homesick compatriots, though it is the
unusual preponderance of native drinkers supping wine that marks
its difference from most British pubs. The restaurant upstairs is
worth a visit, too.
French
House,
49 Dean Street, W1, 020 7437 2477 Tube: Leicester Square,
Piccadilly Circus
Map:
Click here
Gordon's
Best bar in
which to time-travel back to the clubby Edwardian era.
Dark, smokey, cramped - this is what they want. No really, it is,
or was, and will be, or something, at least once the
minimalism-by-numbers crowd have bitten the dust. Reckoned by some
to be the oldest bar in London, Gordon's is one of the few places
that manages to retain its ancient charm without straying into the
banalities of kitschy nostalgia.
Gordon's,
47 Villiers Street, WC2, 020 7930 1408
Tube: Embankment, Charing Cross
Map:
Click here
John Snow
Best compromise between a traditonal pub and a trendy bar,
complete with media types.
Upstairs
is more cosy and laid-back than downstairs, though both exude an
easy-going charm and attract a good crowd as a result. All those
plaudits mean nothing if you have little time for media types,
however. Never mind, by Saturday most of them have gone with live
comedy as their replacement.
John Snow,
39 Broadwick Street, W1, 020 7437 1344
Tube: Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus
Map:
Click here
Downstairs at
the Phoenix
Best
under-a-theatre bar that somehow doesn't feel all pretentious and
actory.
Relaxed atmosphere, plenty of seats and high-quality eavesdropping
all help make this pub-style underground bar a haven from the
usual West End garishness. Arty people do happen by, but they
don't feel the need to ham it up. Entrance is for members only
after 8.00pm on the weekend.
Downstairs at the Phoenix
1 Phoenix Street (Corner of Charing Cross Road), WC2
Tel: 020 7836 1077
Tube: Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road
Map:
Click here
The Roadhouse
Best bar in
which to become mesmerized by the barman's cocktail tricks whilst
getting the drinks in.
American
50's style music venue and bar with plenty of memorabilia on show
including a 1952 Harley Davidson. The bar boasts an impressive
array of cocktails as well as an Americal style menu complete with
authentic over-sized American style portions for anyone in need of
extra fuel. Generally a lively dancefloor crowd fills the place up
on most nights.
The
Roadhouse
The Piazza, Covent Garden, WC2E 8BE
Tel: 020-7240-6001
Tube: Covent Garden
Map:
Click here
The Coach and
Horses
Best West
End pub in which to recall the old homespun drunken sleaze that
pre-dated Soho's present international cool.
Once the haunt of big-name writers and actors taking a drink to
fuel their crafts, the Coach and Horses is nowadays mostly reduced
to living off the reputation of its past. The décor offers some
continuity, however, as well as Norman, the famously sharp-tongued
landlord.
Coach and
Horses
29 Greek Street, W1, 020 7437 5920
Tube: Leicester Square, Tottenham Court Road
Map:
Click here
Tin Pan Alley
Best
Americana bar that featured retro stuff long before people started
going on about retro stuff.
Rock 'n' rollers are the obvious cliente but they are usually
easily outnumbered by ordinary punters and London characters who
recognise this as a bar in which to avoid the artsy-trendy folk
who many find annoying.
Tin Pan
Alley, 7
Denmark Street, WC2, 020 7836 0032 Tube: Tottenham Court
Road, Leicester Square
Map:
Click here
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