The Cross Keys, WC2

Pleasant oasis close to Covent Garden. Well tended baskets and shrubs to the front. Dimly lit, bar with brass footrail to one side with the majority of seating opposite. Full of assorted bric a brac, everything imaginable in brass, a couple of old street signs, plenty of Beatles memorabilia over the bar, pics, album covers and discs, (is there a connection?), and the aforementioned dark wood panelling covered in portraits,landscapes, cartoons and caricatures. There is even a deers head. Dimpled pint jugs hang from hooks over the bar, but I didn't spot anyone drinking from one. Brodies IPA and Special, Crouch Vale Brewers Gold plus one pump reverse clipped, additionally a real cider, Janet's Jungle Juice, 6%. Busy and chatty Saturday afternoon, I just sneaked a seat as a couple left after I got my pint. No sign of a TV and music playing at a very low volume. In all a nice spot, but a touch too gloomy to read my book.

This pub is now (I believe) leased by Brodie’s Brewery. Anyway, they had three Brodie’s ales on yesterday – Amarillo; IPA; and Red – as well as Black Sheep Bitter and Harvey’s Best. I went for the Brodie’s Red, which is a rich autumn/winter style ale that I rather like, and at the reasonable (for London anyway) price of £3.00 a pint. The pub itself is a fairly small one-roomed affair down Endell St, just a stone’s throw from the hell of Covent Garden. Furnishings consist of round metal-framed tables, coupled with small stools and banquettes. Comfortable enough place to sit and have a drink then. This is one of the gloomiest places I know, in terms of lighting, not atmosphere. There is virtually no natural light getting in from the small window at the front, and the artificial lighting is very low, to put it mildly. There is masses of bric-a-brac covering the walls and over the bar, as well as the more rarely seen feature of a grandfather clock on the wall on the left. Another feature is the Gent’s toilet, which rivals that of the Nell Gwynne in the steepness of the stairs leading down to them. But this is a superb pub, and a very welcome refuge when you have had enough of Covent Garden.