The Cheshire Cheese, Temple, WC2

Quite small, fairly dark and gloomy inside, it nevertheless felt warm and welcoming to me. This seemed to me to be a fairly ordinary little pub with a handful of tables, thankfully no high tables and stools, and a couple of real ales (nothing special) on. I actually prefer it as a pub to the nearby Edgar Wallace – and it is far better than the Devereaux – but the EW does do better ales. But I would recommend it for anyone who wants a quiet drink.

Nice old saloon bar with lots of dark wood, low level lighting, pots and steins hang from the black beams. Old leaded windows. The bar itself has coloured glass above the counter, seating is a mixture of stools, benches and settles. Another room upstairs was not visited, there seems to be another downstairs but this was roped off. Not unpleasant for a stop off but a more adventurous beer range would improve this place. Bombardier, OSH and Adnams Bitter yesterday. I believe the pub closes at weekends, as is common in the area.

This is a pretty good boozer that is hosted by a jovial Irish chap that made me feel very welcome. Deuchars, Bombadier and London Pride were the ales available and Amstel was also on offer along with a standard draught range of which the Guinness was very good. There was a bit of back music playing and I spotted a plasma screen which was off, but there was a list of upcoming London Irish games stuck underneath it. I liked it in here and would return.