Cafe Rouge, WC2

This pub will be well known to commuters using the adjacent Charing Cross station. It was previously known as the Griffin and was in those days a fairly basic and not particularly interesting place. A major refurb and name change about 5 years ago didn’t really make much of an improvement with my initial post-refurb visit finding just one ale (Marstons Pedigree) unavailable despite being badged across 4 pump clips, poor service and I vowed never to return but recent reports of some half decent beers has led me make a fresh visit after a lengthy absence The odd shaped hotchpotch of an interior is still as faceless as ever and lacking any charm or warmth with high brass top tables, ambient background music, modern artwork and arty spotlights. The beers however were indeed a pleasant surprise. 3 ales available (Hobson’s Mild, Brakspear Oxford Gold and Shepherd Neame Top Hat) with 1 pump off. The quality was very good and even the prices seemed slightly better than I was expecting for the area. Food was also reasonably priced with a selection of snacks at £4.95 and main courses around £8/9. My visit coincided with the World Cup but despite the “Watch the World Cup Here” posters, the badly placed screen in a blind side of the bar wouldn’t have made it quite awkward. On the subject of football, it should be noted that football colours are not allowed although international shirts are OK. I can’t say that there is a great deal about the place that would make me want to spend a night here but it is certainly a vast improvemenmt on the beer front from my previous experiences and I may make the odd sporadic visit when time is to hand out of curiosity for the beers than anything else.

I found this pub lacked character with tables crammed everywhere so that no matter where you sit you feel like you are encroaching on another group of people. I found the staff to be nonchalant and I'll let the barman off that served me as he was new, but his colleagues just stood around watching him struggle. The first pint of Pedigree was OK, but my half for the road was served up in an orange juice glass. Huffkin, Jennings Swan Lake and Marstons were the other 3 ales and there is a variety off premium and standard lagers.

Several real ales on when I was in on – Brakspear’s Bitter; Jennings Redbreast; Marston’s Pedigree; and Marston’s Ugly Sisters. I went for the Ugly Sisters. It was OK, but hard work for the barmaid to pour a pint as all the ales were dispensed through sparklers. She was unwilling to remove the sparkler, because “without it the beer would be flat” – but admitted that she didn’t know anything about such things. The trouble is, unless you are really on the ball, by the time you realise that a sparkler is being used it’s usually too late to do anything about it. Anyway, I found the pub itself to have less character than the average Wetherspoons. Furnishings are mainly high stools and tables, many of the tables having metallic, faux copper, tops. I sat on something that I would guess is supposed to be banquette seat, but again was so high that you had to lean forward and put your feet on the bar at the bottom to stop yourself from sliding off. This is probably the pub with the most uncomfortable furnishings I have been in. I would normally turn round and walk out of such a place, but decided to give it a go having seen the couple of Christmas ales on offer. It has the Spirit Group style faux chalkboards on display all over the place. This is a classic pubco wasteland of a pub that has been made over to death, with no endearing features that I could discern. It’s nothing like the old Griffin that I recall going back to the 60s – even though that wasn’t a brilliant pub, it’s a darn sight better than its successor. I doubt whether I shall be back.