The Perseverance, Bloomsbury, WC1

Quite a decent corner pub that doesn't look too promising from the outside but is now in the latest Good Beer Guide. It has a single room with toilets tucked in the far corner. With windows all around, there is plenty of natural light. Shortly after midday opening on our Saturday visit, it was quiet with just the barmaid and one other customer. Despite seeing a large group walking in, the barmaid was friendly and chatty. At the bar, there were 4 handpulls clipped with 3 ales and a perry. The ales were Dark Star Hophead, Belleville Northcote Best & Small Beer Pale. The perry was Heck's Farmhouse Perry. Craft beers were Camden Pale, Beavertown Neck Oil & Hidden New England IPA. In a short stroll around 5 Bloomsbury pubs, this was my second favourite, with the Craft Beer Co. being the pick of the bunch. It was better than I had expected.

A little corner pub which has gone down the stripped-back route: bare boards and simple furnishings with little frippery. I don't know what the upstairs room is like though. Four handpumps with London Brewing 100 Oysters Stout, Wimbledon Gold Standard, Battersea Admiral's Best and an Umbrella cider. The barman was a bit inexperienced but very friendly - I quite liked this pub.

Corner pub, originally having three doors but the corner one is no longer in use. There's an elegant pillar just in front of the bar, with a capital of acanthus leaves, at a guess. Four hand pumps on the bar, with one beer just gone off, leaving a blackcurrant cider and beers from By The Horns and Fauna, a new one for me. Bushy Tail Best Bitter 3.8% was a tremendous beer, well balanced and tasty, NBSS 4 and just £6.40/pint (ouch!).