The Round Table, Leicester Square, WC2

An attractive and traditional looking pub tucked away down a pedestrianised alleyway between Covent Garden and Leicester Square, we had a meal booked at the restaurant next door so this may a handy pit stop for a pre-dinner aperitif. Internally it’s one reasonable sized, open plan room with a central bar counter. This had wood panelling on the front that was made to look like cupboards and drawers, complete with drawer handles. Flooring is some sort of narrow wooden boards that have been warn smooth over the years, and the walls are mostly wood panelling that has been painted dark green. The rear wall was exposed brickwork though, and this had a stencil of a London phone box on it, as well as a couple of anarchistic photos (think Sex Pistol’s God Save The Queen) which was perhaps a little out of place just before the Platinum Jubilee and a glass display case set in to the wall containing a model car, moped and a few bottles, among other things. A few other random portraits and London related pictures were dotted around, and there were some leaded windows running along the front. Despite four hand pumps on the bar, these were both doubled up leaving just Greene King’s IPA and London Glory as the beer offerings. Cider choice was equally unimpressive with Aspall’s Suffolk being the only available option. Overall, not a bad pub, and fine to pop in if you’re passing, but it’s not somewhere I’d go to the trouble of specifically seeking out.

Rebuilt in 1894, this was a regular of mine in the late ‘80s up to the late ‘90s, so a revisit it was, after more than 20 years. It’s still pretty much how I remember it, but some of the aged wood panelling has been pared away to reveal trendy [not] bare brick; there’s some tedious dark grey paint too, with white ceiling, but of course this is a Greene King pub; I can’t remember if the floor had modern bare boards back then; probably not. Furniture is mixed high and low, but the bar back is attractive, with the name etched into a mirror; the curved bar front is unusual too, whilst a yard of ale hangs above it; lighting is low and brassy; there are some knickknacks in a glass fronted cupboard. Ales: three pumps, with GK IPA ‘coming soon’, GK IPA ‘already here’ and one unused, so once again, Bavertown’s shares went up a fraction. This is quite a decent little place, one of the more characterful and less touristy places in the area, so worth a minor detour if in the area, but only if something other than GK beers are on offer; this would get the score up by a point.

Official site of Round Table - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Round Table - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

A reasonably cosy pub in a courtyard off Charing Cross Road, with a mixture of painted wood and bare brick walls and numerous dangling light fittings doing their best to brighten up the dark interior. There is an upstairs bar signed also but not visited. Not a large pub but boasted no fewer than 16 assorted keg and draught fonts, with handpumps including Abbot, IPA, London Glory and a guest of Exeter Brewery Fraid Knot, plus a couple of Lilley's ciders.

Tucked away off Charing Cross Road. Four hand pumps - I had Old Peculiar which was OK. Quiet on Tuesday afternoon. Watch out for the precipitous steps to the downstairs toilet!