The Salisbury, WC2

Busy this lunchtime with a mixture of visitors and the work crowd. Very reasonable selection of Bombardier, Deuchars, Rockin' Robin, Landlord and Sharps Doom Bar available, although my pint of the latter was fairly ordinary. Decent prices considering the location and a well preserved interior.

Occupying a prominent street corner position on St Martins Lane in the very heart of London's Theatreland is The Salisbury, one of London's most impressive reminders of the Victorian age of ornate pub interiors. Inside we find many splendid etched glass mirrors, an original central island bar, partly with a white marble top, and some particularly elegant art nouveau lamp statues of nymphettes with arrows. Note the different entrances indicating that this was a multi roomed pub. Despite the loss of a partition on the right of the main entrance ( note where the white marble bar top ends ), something of the original layout remains in the form of a separate screened snug with an entrance on the side street. Carved mahogany and a fine dark red plasterwork ceiling complete the picture. The pub is listed in CAMRA's book of London Heritage Pubs. A blackboard inside the pub details its history, although surprisingly, it makes no reference to an earlier name of the pub - The Salisbury Stores - even though some fine window glass bearing the initials SS remain. We learn that the pub has featured in several films and, not surprisingly, is popular with the theatrical crowd. In recognition of this, the walls leading down to the downstairs toilets are covered with theatrical posters. The pub proudly advertises itself as the "West End's Official Sports Free Pub" and people wearing football colours are not admitted. I have also previously seen male only groups being turned away, although, on my most recent Saturday lunchtime visit, a large group of a dozen or so northerners ( all drinking John Smiths Smooth incidentally and not the real ale !) were allowed in. The absence of TV's in a pub like this is welcomed by many, but, rather incongruously, background music now seems to be played continuously. I was rather surprised to see that the pub now holds poker nights - "Texas Hold Em" - on Tuesday evening. Even having regard to the current economic climate, I wouldn't have thought that a well known tourist magnet pub like this in a prime Central London location would have any difficulty getting customers through the door without resorting to putting on poker nights. The enthusiastic and friendly manager of this Spirit Group pub, Jaspal, takes pride in his real ales. Beers on were Bombardier, Young's London Gold, Tribute, TT Landlord, Purity Mad Goose and Golden Sheep. Both the Landlord and the Mad Goose were in good condition. It seems churlish to be critical, but I did notice that all 6 beers were of similar gravity ( between 3.9% and 4.3% ) and this could usefully be reviewed by management. Taking things as a whole, The Salisbury remains one of my favourite London pubs and you really should try and get there if you haven't already.

Randomness Guide to London - Salisbury entry

Randomness Guide to London - Salisbury entry

A superbly preserved interior, with a well polished old horseshoe bar splitting the main area effectively into two spaces. Lots of etched glass in the front windows, interior screens and mirrors. Carpeted with a mixture of seating, including upholstered banquettes/benches. Dark red painted ceiling. There is another small room similar to a snug to the rear of the left side. Stairs lead up somewhere but this was roped off. The walls of the stair down to the toilets are covered in theatre flyers, reflecting the location. A sign in the window states "Sport Free Pub, no TV". Very busy but well staffed and no issues with the service apart from needing to prompt for a top up. This is a busy area, frequented by tourists and theatre goers, but that should not prevent a visit to this beautifully preserved pub. 6 pumps in two banks of 3, each side, serving at the time Bombardier, Youngs Bitter, Deuchers IPA, TT Landlord, Doom Bar and Brain's St Davids Ale, curiously priced at £3.09.

As is his way, RogerB describes quite nicely the main attributes of this fine Victorian pub. In the doors and windows, and in the bar back, you will see some of the finest surviving examples of the Victorian art of glass cutting and etching. The mirrors in the main bar are more modern reproductions, and it doesn’t take an expert to see that they are of far inferior quality to the originals. Also of note is the initials “SS”cut into the glass in some of the doors and windows at the front – standing for Salisbury Stores, being an older, and perhaps the original, name of this pub. This pub also has some rather nice bronze statuettes of hunting nymphs in the divisions between the seats in the main bar. The original multi room layout of this pub can be seen in the various doors; the original “Saloon Bar” entrance is in St Martins court. When I was in there this week there were a handful of real ales on. I recall seeing Tribute, Bombardier, Timothy Taylor Landlord, London Gold and Deuchars IPA. They charge West End prices of course – my pint of Tribute was around the £3.30 mark. It’s now a Punch Group pub, so the menu is the usual pub grub, but at fairly reasonable prices for the area. It is certainly worth visiting this pub to see some internal pub decorations that have been produced by the masters of the craft; we have yet to see anyone who can come close to the Victorians in this respect. Other than that, it is a comfortable enough pub in which to spend an hour or two, but it can obviously get crowded.

I had far too many pints of Peeterman Artois in this well kept ornate Victorian pub. It was busy, yet there was plenty of room inside and out. The bar staff were very friendly, as was the inconspicuous bouncer on the door and the beer was excellent. This is definitely one to revisit.

The Salisbury is one of the most ornate and richly preserved of London's pubs and a fine example of why the late Victorian era is widely regarded as the golden age of pub building. The current building dates from 1898 and was named after the Prime Minister of the time. It stands on the site of a previous tavern called the Ben Gaunts Head and later the Coach & Horses. Historically the pub has had a fairly seedy past when it was originally at the forefront of the bare knuckle boxing scene. In more recent times, serial killer Dennis Nielson used the place to stalk out some of his victims and at the time it had the reputation as a rather seedy gay haunt. The interior is a palatial collection of Victorian indulgence with a multitude of the finest quality etched glass and mirrors all magnificently brought to life by the tasteful lighting and richly upholstered furnishings beneath a burgundy ceiling. The island bar covers quite a large area and at one end is a small snug bar with a handsome fireplace and fine etched glass screen dividing it from the main bar. A sweeping staircase leads up to a private area whilst a narrow set of stairs plastered with theatre posters leads down to toilets. At the very rear of the pub is a small room with large ornate patterned mirrors. Getting a seat is difficult as it seems to be busy at any time of the day so you may end up on a stool at the front ledge where you can watch the world pass by outside. There are no TV's (it proudly proclaims itself to be a Sports free pub) and the unobtrusive piped music is a bit bland. Despite being an obvious tourist target, it is easy to forget that apart from its exquisite interior, they do a healthy range of decent quality beers although service can be a bit faceless and the regular short measures need to be addressed. There are usually 3 regular ales (Youngs, Bombardier and Deuchars) and 3 guest ales (Doom Bar, Landlord & Cornish Buccaneer on my most recent visit) although expect West End prices. The pub grup menu is fairly reasonably priced considering the surroundings. I have always found the Salisbury a little impersonal and tourist driven but as a pub spectacle, it really is must visit pub for anyone in the West End.