McGlynn's, WC1

Described by WhatPub and other reviewers here as an Irish pub - and I suppose there's a clue in the name - but it didn't feel at all Irish (never mind Oirish!) when I came across it by accident. I was on my way to watch a football match on the TV in Mabel's Tavern, and returned here after the game. Neither when walking past the pub nor when spending half an hour here later did I see anyone drinking Guinness. There are three hand pumps and the beers were all from Southwark Brewing; my half of Bermondsey Best was in very good condition. This seems like a pub that would have had three rooms originally, and has been opened out but with the feel of an older pub somehow retained. There is dark wood panelling but the large windows give the interior an airy feel; at least they do at this time of year. It was the day of the snooker world final and plenty of customers were watching Ronnie O'Sullivan (who isn't Irish either) on the TV, and sharing comments and banter. This felt like a friendly locals pub, and I have not only resolved to get back here some time, but have also been telling anyone who will listen that they should visit too.

Taking a shortcut through the backstreets on my way to the Scala one evening, I happened upon this rather appealing looking Irish pub and decided to pop in for a quick pint. You enter into a vary spacious front bar area with a nice clean carpet and a pleasant dark wood servery on the back wall. The servery has been decorated with all manner of brass items, including jugs, pails and the like plus various farm tools on the canopy and there is a juke box to one side below a selection of horse riding equipment. Pew and chair seating runs along the front wall opposite the bar, under some half panelled walls and windows that are partly obscured by half-height curtains. This part of the pub is also decorated with brassware and has a large floral display, a pub clock, stuffed fish and birds, a rifle, various old pictures and a TV screen showing muted Sky News. High shelves running around much of the room display an excellent collection of ceramics, including lots of Toby jugs. Over to the left there is a small seating area which is also carpeted and has back to back pews under some old paintings and a high shelf crammed with bottles, jugs, scales, lamps and other such bits of bric-a-brac. To the right, the pub runs a fair way to the rear, past a huge Courage mirror, various slot machines, more old pictures and some wall mounted pistols. Back here you'll find standard tables and chairs in a white walled area with a food counter to the left and some plain mirrors and old paintings on the walls. Menus detailed some top notch, no nonsense pub grub at reasonable prices and there was a continuous soundtrack playing at a sensible volume for the duration of my visit. Irish pubs aren't always happy hunting grounds when it comes to ale, but this one had three on the go - Wells Bombardier Burning Gold, Courage Best and Brains Rev James. The Rev James set me back £4.10 for a pint and was in pretty good shape and I enjoyed it whilst watching the good-natured bunch of locals go about their business. This was very much a 'lucky-dip' visit, but I came away feeling that I'd spent a worthwhile half hour here and discovered a solid but unspectacular local's pub in the heart of the city. The pub's decision to avoid the usual gimmicky tat that plague Irish pubs has helped it to create its own well rounded identity and made this visit an unexpected success.