Lyceum Tavern, WC2

Classic Sam's with a downstairs bar and an upstairs diner. Downstairs bar is in two sections, the first part is fairly straightforward with varnish panelling and some booths, also wood panelled inside and out. The section through the wood and glass divider is a bit more personable with the bar also situated here. This is an outlet which stocks cask OBB. I was served up a Double Four lager by a friendly foreign barmaid. There’s an upstairs room too, kitted-out like a gentleman's club. An enjoyable stop.

I came here once before, several years ago and seemed to recall that this was a historic pub with an old and beautiful interior; I must have been a little drunk at the time as it isn't, the pub having originally been rebuilt in 1840 as the White Horse, with the current incarnation being build in 1906. Inside, and there's a modern(ish) bare boarded floor and several small booths. Much wooden panelling throughout, with some red paintwork above and a dining room and bar upstairs. 'twas a fine sunny evening and all Covent Garden's pubs were doing a roaring trade, many with customers crowded outside on the pavement, but at 8.45 in the evening there were just two diners upstairs and two drinkers apart from myself on my brief visit, which is all a bit lame. Ale: do you have to ask? OB at £1.75 a half and not that bad, as for once it wasn't served at absolute zero. Not a bad pub by the usual SS standards, but there's much better to be had elsewhere and the noise of traffic on the Strand - not to mention the noise from the seagulls - is something of a deterrent.

Typical Sams pub with their usual offerings. Nothing spectacular with dining upstairs.

A Sam Smith's pub on The Strand which has, despite its location, managed to keep its pub ambiance and character. The main bar is quite cramped, but the small snugs help and create an intimate atmosphere, although the one we sat in smelled strongly of disinfectant. Hot food was available in the upstairs bar, although soup was on offer downstairs. Four handpumps but only 3 of them working, all with OBB on draft. There were also the usual range of Smith's keg beers and a few in bottles. The staff were unusually pleasant and helpful, and the beer was both well-kept and cheap for the area. A decent bolthole, well worth a return visit.

Sam smiths pub with quite a plain interior by their standards. Cask ale served. Didn't visit the dining area upstairs.

An attractive looking pub on two levels just around the corner of the theatre of the same name, lacking the "Tavern" obviously. The ground floor has the bar running along the middle of one side and with a series of very small booths opposite, not unlike those in The Chandos. Wood panelled walls, leaded glass to the booth screens, décor includes the routine black and white photos of the area. The room opens out towards the rear where there is a fairly rare, for Central London, dartboard. The upstairs room has another bar which was not open at the time on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Samuel Smiths with the cask version of OBB on, still at £2.90, well below the local average. Meals are served, I imagine aimed at the pre-theatre crowd, but not much was happening on this score on Monday. It's quite a nice pub but clearly the available beer prevents it from stepping up to the higher levels, however I enjoyed my pint here, after walking from near St Paul's Cathedral and finding many pubs shut on a Bank Holiday.