Mr Fogg's Tavern, Covent Garden, WC2

Looks even less inspiring with its recent dull grey exterior paint job! Ales were OK but to suggest the service was cavalier would be to gloss over the tardiness of the desperately slow barman - even slower service than the nearby Salisbury - more than enough to put me off coming here again.

The Angel and Crown is a small, single room pub in the heart of the West End, opposite the Noel Coward Theatre. The interior is fairly traditional and not entirely dissimilar to many other pubs in the area. The dark wood floor and bar counter contrasts with the light coloured walls and the surprising amount of light afforded by windows along two sides of the pub. Seating is constrained by the lack of space, so a few high stools at the front and the odd banquette towards the rear have to make do. The place is quite nicely decorated with lots of bright theatre related pictures and plenty of deer heads and antlers. Perhaps the most striking feature is the low ceiling above the servery which has a fine collection of pewter tankards hanging from it. If some of the older reviews below are anything to go by, the beer selection has improved greatly in recent times as I was very content with a choice of Dark Star Partridge (£3.50), Adnams Southwold Bitter and Sambrook’s Junction. The Partridge was served to me by a surly and incredibly slow barman in regulation uniform, but it was a fine pint and I suppose worth the wait. It did seem a bit of a shame to be drinking in here with the Salisbury just over the road and the Harp around the corner, but in isolation, this is a perfectly decent pub and I wouldn’t have a problem if I ended up here again.