Marquis Cornwallis, Bloomsbury, WC1

One of those pubs which takes on a new identity every few years. Currently trying to be a slightly trendy place, with a dark grey colour scheme, some areas of distressed wood and a bit of brickwork for luck. Two high ceilinged rooms show some original pub features underneath, but with the main bar room mainly equipped with high tables and lower tables in the next door room aimed more at diners. A couple of Meantime lager tanks stand between and an upstairs 'Drawing Room' bar was not visited. Draught ales were Landlord, Doom Bar, Dark Star Partridge and a special from Brew York, with a 5th pump reversed. Fair enough but wouldn't go out of my way.

A bit understated but decent enough place with several real ales to be had. Toilets upstairs - must be looking at Wetherspoons!

As described below a mixed style interior. 6 real ales, meantime served from a tank and food served.

I'd not been here before so it was a surprise just how big this place is, especially when climb the rather grand stair to the large upstairs separate bar. It's a mix of traditional and modern with some industrial lighting, a tiled bar apron, some high tables and chairs and a granite bar top. Ales: Britannia's Navigation, Sharp's Doom Bar, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Thwaites' Wainwright at £4.55 a pint and decent enough. I'd come here again, but it's a bit corporate and soulless. I'd make the 5-minute walk to The Lamb and Perseverance.

There’s a decent ale selection in here – London Pride, Doom Bar, Tribute, Adnam’s Soul Star and Mauldon’s Silver Adder (£1.90 a half) were all available when I visited on Wednesday afternoon. But this is still a food led gastropub, even though the menu wasn’t too expensive by London standards. Sandwiches were mainly £5 - £6, and they advertised a fixed price (and no prix fixe here) 3-course menu for £13, featuring stuff like gammon steak & chips, and fish and chips (or more precisely “breaded hake with crushed minty peas, tartare and fries”). Main courses on the a la carte menu were mainly £10 - £11. This looks like an old Victorian boozer, but inside it’s all sofas, banquettes, and normal shaped but chunky tables and chairs all in neat rows. In the gastropub way, all the tables in here bore a single stemmed flower – on Wednesday it was a single yellow tulip. Some large potted ficus benjaminii added to the saloon lounge atmosphere. The high ceiling which is typical of pubs of this era, coupled with the bare-boarded floor, allows the ambient noise to bounce around the place making it quite noisy. But it was doing a very good trade so must be a thriving concern and is presumably giving the customers in this area what they want. It’s not the sort of pub in which I’d want to spend an entire evening, but it’s OK for a swift one. The Silver Adder was good as well.

This is one of M&B's "Metro Professional" brand which I guess is supposed to a pubbier variant of their awful All Bar One chain. It certainly does seem to attract the same sort of younger well-heeled types who go here for a four quid pint of daftly named beer rather than an ABO for a seven quid glass of Pino Grigio. It is pleasantly appointed if rather noisy due to bare boards and high ceilings, and doesn't suffer too much from the huge leather sofa disease, and yes you will get a pint of something unusual. Service is a bit haphazard though and there was an unpleasantly strong cooking smell when we called the other afternoon. I wouldn't stay for more than the one pint before moving on.