Mr Fogg's Botanical Tavern, Fitzrovia, W1

Enticed in by the sight of a pump clip I didn’t recognise, I had a swift half of Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde, which turned out to be a very nice mild. I see that HRH Prince Charles also enjoyed a drop of this ale when he visited The Purleigh Bell recently, but I bet that they didn’t charge him £2.60 (!!) for a half, which is what I got stung for in here. This is really a restaurant (or perhaps an extreme example of a gastropub) with almost all tables laid for diners, except for a rectangular table (with some newspapers on it) in the centre of the room and a couple of tables near the staircase. This is one of those places where someone greets you as you enter – in this case a young lady, prowling around presumably ready to pounce on prospective diners to show them to a table. She got no joy in my case obviously, as of course I marched straight up to the bar to order my drink. I didn’t see a menu – I guess one is given to you after you’ve been shown to your table – but if the price of my half is anything to go by it won’t include any cheap pub grub. There is an upstairs room, but I didn’t venture up there. There are loads of framed prints on the wall by the staircase, mainly featuring fish as far as I could tell. The disabled toilet is on the ground floor. My half of Oscar Wilde was pretty good (it was a new barrel as it was changed when I was there), but I’m very unlikely to re-visit a “pub” that charges £2.60 for a half.

CLOSED.NOW A RESTAURANT