Bow Street Tavern, Covent Garden, WC2

A buzzing little pub still as Tris describes below, the three beers on were London Pride, Adnams Southwold Bitter and Landlord. Beer choice aside it's a cracking little place.

Amazingly, this was a first in here for me the other night, to what was originally the Globe; the pub’s history is interesting and I shan’t repeat what’s on CAMRA’s site. It’s quite a simple place, though by no means in a bad way. The floor is rough boarded. There are drinking ledges around a couple of columns, otherwise furniture is traditional Britannia-style, with some peripheral banquette seating. There’s bare wood field panelling to the dado, then papered walls and a brick red Lincrusta ceiling. A log burning stove is present, looking used. The columns feature interesting brass ‘cherub’ lamps which may have been specially commissioned for the pub, otherwise there are Victorian sconces and simple white translucent hanging lamps above the bar, which has an attractive back. Upstairs there’s a gin terrace/roof garden and the ‘Inspector’s Room’ downstairs. Décor comes in the form of Toby jugs, Scotch jugs, a primitive portrait of the Queen, framed pictures of Royalty, similar depicting Hitchcock and Anna Massey (Frenzy was filmed here) with others depicting the area in its former market-era use; a modest TV was showing the footie; good sounds played over the stereo. Ales: an unused pump, an Adnams reversed, Wandle and Tribute at a very good £2.45 and fine. This is a decent little boozer, a rarity in the area. It’s certainly worth a visit in its own right and definitely worthy of inclusion on a crawl; the 20% discount on food and drink for key workers is worth mentioning.

Official site of The Covent Garden - www.bowstreettavern.com

Official site of The Covent Garden - www.bowstreettavern.com

There were three ales on - West Berkshire Good Old Boy, Darkstar Hophead and Sambrook Wandle all on. The Wandle was £2.50 a half, which is expensive even for this area. Single sheet menus on the tables offered pub grub such as Cumberland sausage & mash (£11), beer-battered haddock & chips (£13), and burger, etc, at £11.50. Par for the course in this area I suppose. This is a small single-room pub on the ground floor, with both doors still in use. There's a couple of tall tables/tall stools in the window bay, another at the back, plus some upholstered bench seating and a handful of normal tables and chairs. The bar back is nice, but there was little else that caught my eye. There's a large brick fireplace on the right (not in use on a warm May day), and the windows are able to open up to completely join the pub to the outside world (inexplicably closed on said warm May day). I saw a sign by the door that said that it's child and dog friendly with treats and bowls available for dogs (but not for children I guess). An upstairs bar with an outside terrace is advertised, but I didn't explore upstairs. This pub used to be called the Globe, and I guess re-named to trade on its proximity to the tourist hell that is Covent Garden. As pubs in these area go this one's OK - at least it's still a real pub with decent (if expensive) beer.

I was actually looking for the Coach and Horses and in biblical rain, peaked too early. Time was getting on, so I took advantage of the fact its a bar and kitched and ordered food. The London Pride was exceptional. The food excellent and reasonable value (for the area) and the service first class.

Virtually deserted on Tuesday afternoon. Five hand pumps all below 4% ABV. Cider @ £2.80 and half! Had an upstairs bar which I did not visit.

Busy pub with decent beers.Removable front windows helps on a warm sunny day.Hammertons -N1.trumans -swift and my ridiculously expensive half of Trumans -gypsy queen -£2.60.

A small but busy pub just off Covent Garden, one of the few that still serves food after the theatres chuck out. The interior is pleasant, traditional, in keeping with the area. The staff were friendly, the food was limited in scope but was well cooked and quite tasty, and the beer was good. Four ales on draft, two from Trumans, I had a swift pint of – well, Swift Pint, which was in good condition and nicely complemented my mushroom risotto. Worth including in a crawl or dropping in after the opera.

Third time lucky - having failed on a busy December Sunday (too early, when everywhere else was open) and Christmas Eve (when everywhere else was still open) - but finally managed a long-overdue revisit... Anyway, little seems to have changed in this compact and brightly lit Covent Garden watering hole. Both the main bar and upstairs dining room (with another small counter) were very busy; mostly with tourists as you would expect. Five real ales on handpump, with the regular Pride supplemented by three from Truman - Swift, Zephyr and the seasonal Jungle Bells (£4.40) - and Merrie City Crystal Gold.

Interior as described below. 5 real ale taps 3 on during my visit.