Brewmaster, WC2

Official site of Brewmaster - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

This was licenced in the mid-19th century as the Swiss Stores, before being rebuilt as part of Leicester Square tube in the 1930s, by esteemed architect Charles Holden, responsible for some of London’s fine Art Deco tube stations, 55 Broadway and Senate House. Until Greene King’s acquisition around 2015, there was the famous ‘dancing pirate’ kitsch illumination to the first and second floors, which was something of a landmark, especially when lit at night; what ever happened to it? This may have something to do with GK’s makeover. I last came here in the late ‘80s but the place has now been completely hipsterfied, with a white tiled fascia and glass office doors, hinting at what lies in store. The floor is modern boarded with tiles to the bar, the walls being either smoky blue, white tiled or planked. The planking theme continues to the bar front, with the pub’s name applied to it in large white distressed letters. There are more building site motifs in the form of the gantry, which is made from small gauge scaffolding with more planking. The large structural columns are, from the floor up, clad with grey painted matchboard, then large swathes of slightly beaten copper sheeting. Furniture is tall, comprising slightly industrial metal topped tables with very uncomfortable pressed metal stools; lighting takes the form of filament bulbs in caged holders. Music was barely audible, for once and an ugly games machine flashed in the corner. Décor is at least original, in that it’s beer mats housed in glass fronted wooden box frames, affixed to the walls; no indication of course of what’s available at the bar. Customers seemed transient, probably a mix of tourists and theatregoers, mainly young. Ales: GK IPA, Abbot with my Neck Oil running in at £3.30 a half. This place once had a soupçon of originality about it, but it’s a below average place, with an interior I’d expect to find in Shoreditch; I can’t think of any real reason to return. Rated 3.5.

Official site of Brewmaster - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk