The Porcupine, Leicester Square, WC2

Official pages of the Porcupine, contains menu and cask ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

Official pages of the Porcupine, contains menu and cask ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

This is a small corner pub right next to Leicester Square tube station. It’s a Nicholson’s pub, with the trademark Mitchell & Butler pumpclips with tasting notes, prices, etc. The ales on were Pride, TT Landlord, Thwaites Nutty Black, and Craig Vale Bitter. The London Pride was the cheapest ale on offer at the wallet friendly price, for Central London anyway, of £2.50 a pint. There’s still a little of its Victorian heritage intact; some tiling just inside the door on the right; a rather nice etched and cut glass mirror behind the bar; cast iron pillars; and possibly some of the bar back and the tiling above it. But now it’s a typical small West End pub. It’s difficult to say what if anything is wrong with it, but it just doesn’t seem to be the sort of warm and welcoming place in which I would want to spend an evening. It’s better than some other West End pubs, and is in fact a decent enough place to stop for a pint or two. I wouldn’t object to dropping in for another pint, but I doubt whether I would go out of my way to do so.