The Round House, Covent Garden, WC2

It’s a good few years since I’ve been in here, and it doesn’t seem to have changed very much, except that it’s a Fuller’s pub now of course. They had the usual range of Fuller’s beers on (excepting Discovery) when I was in there. I reckon this is a typical West End pub – nothing special about it. Bare-boarded throughout, with the usual mix of high stools/high tables normal tables and chairs; small stools – plus faux chalkboards and the staff wearing regulation black shirts. And it is round, so meets that part of its description. There were mainly tourists in when I was in there on Wednesday lunchtime, with several groups perched round tables that were not really large enough for their groups. A couple of them got up and left when nothing happened after about 10 minutes (I supposed that they might have been expecting table service!). It must have seemed quite unwelcoming to them – a bit depressing on a wet day in London in June. It’s a fair enough place if you’re a fan of Fuller’s ales; otherwise there’s nothing about it to warrant a recommendation.

As the Roundhouse is very close to Leicester Square/Covent Garden, but just far enough away as to not be surrounded with tourists it is a good place to meet up with friends before going somewhere else. It is a small pub with a large bar and can get extremely busy, especially during the summer months when the big sets of double doors are opened up and everyone spills out onto the pavement. It can be a pain fighting your way through the mass of people to the downstairs toilets. I've found the bar staff to be fairly miserable, but the lager is good and there didn't seem to be any complaints from my ale drinking mates and you don't have to wait very long when it is busy.