Princess of Wales, WC2

A rather compact Nicholson's pub adjacent to the side entrance to Charing Cross station, inside is a rather narrow boarded room with the bar running along a side wall. Seating opposite the bar is at leather banquettes, small round tables and stools, there are the usual high seated options by the front windows. The interior is a bit more modern feeling than most of the chain, there is a bit of dark wood here and there, notably the bar back with a central clock however the upper walls and ceiling are a 70s style coffee brown. The décor includes various potted histories of persons connected with the area and street, Benjamin Franklin gets a mention as does George Villiers, eponymous to Villiers Street, apparently the Duke of Buckingham 1592-1628, fictionalised in Alexander Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" and allegedly up to all sorts with the Royal King. Upstairs is the Rudyard Kipling room, I didn't look, less interestingly he claims the honour by living up the road for a bit. There is however more scandal involved, there are claims that the pub may have been named due to a secret wife of George IV, who's marriage was later annulled as it would have threatened the ascendency to the throne. It all happens down here then. Anyway, back to a more sedate and liberal 2014, beers were St Austell Proper Job, Pride, Oakham Citra (£3.95), Nicholson's PA, Woodforde's Flagondry and one unclipped. Service was decent if typically central London from Eastern Europe, a nice brim-full pint of well kept beer. The pub was very busy given the location and tourist heavy but I quite liked my 25 mins or so in here, my only gripe being the over loud bass heavy music. Worth a punt if you're in the Charing Cross area and although not in the same shoes as The Ship and Shovel, for me, a better beer range. There is of course The Harp.

Fairly mundane pub for the Nicholsons chain, a few pics and bits of local history on the wall at least pass the minutes. Quite small inside with limited seating; the restaurant room upstairs is very small too. Six ales on with three of interest, though annoyingly the Harviestoun Xmas beer that took mine (and others) fancy was off. Given the foreign barmaids lack of gumption I decided to reverse the clip myself. Fortunately the Portobello White was on and in good form, typical London pricing - £3.80pp. Due to its location on Villiers Street (almost opposite the side entrance to Charing X) it’s an acceptable stop-off should you have a few minutes to kill before catching a train. But the Ship & Shovell trumps if you make the effort of an extra minute’s walk.

This is a small Nicholson’s pub located down Villiers Street – the narrow lane that connects Charing Cross and Embankment stations. A very simple and compact wooden floored room with red wallpaper and a fairly short bar counter on the right hand wall was packed with Welsh rugby fans on our Saturday evening venue, although with a bit of patience and luck, we were able to secure a seat on one of the leather banquettes opposite the bar. Further seating can be found in the front bay window and on a raised platform at the rear of the pub. Music was playing very loudly during our stay, which made conversation very difficult and we decided not to stay beyond the one swift pint. The current Nicholson’s guest ale range was listed on a large, elaborately framed blackboard opposite the bar with ticks next to those that are currently available. My heart sank a little when I noticed just the one guest ale ticked on the board, but thankfully it had not been properly updated as the bar offered a good selection of Cropton Top of the Hops, Brains SA Gold, Peerless Triple Hop, Project Venus Venus Black and Box Steam Tunnel Vision. I gave the Venus Black a try and thought it was in excellent condition and one of the better Black IPA’s I have tried. I couldn’t really warm to this pub due to the cramped conditions and inability to make myself heard over the music, but I suspect it could be a decent enough place for a quick pre-train pint if you catch it at the right time.

Decent enough Nicholson's pub; Busy on a saturday evening and nice to be able to stand outside supping pints of Everard's Tiger, Morrisey Fox Brunette and Daleside Autumn Ale. Bit small and noisy inside, and didn't stay long as I wanted to show my mates The Harp. Worth a look if you're in the area.