City Of Quebec, W1

An early 19th century, rebuilt in 1936 in a different location, now on the ground floor of a block of flats. Now a noted gay pub – apparently so since 1946 – with a seemingly much older gay clientele, but some later younger arrivals and clearly aware of this pub’s orientation; the interior does in part look like a scaled down version of Madame JoJo’s, with glitterball and a raised area for perhaps a DJ rig, with what seemed like blue curtains and tinsel. Indeed, the music was very loud indeed, with classic gay anthems being played. The place has been seriously done over, being long and thin in relation to its length, with huge industrial exposed ductwork units, suspended from the ceiling. The grey painted bar is very long and runs most of the length of the right wall and features a mirrored bar back. Oh God, I can’t be bothered to write about this place any more. No ales: Neck Oil at £3.25 a half, which had a strong taste of line cleaner to it; I managed about a third before leaving.

Long pub with bar to the left. Four hand pumps - all Greene King. Bit gloomy despite all the lights. Opaque windows on the right did not help either.

This is a fairly ordinary pub. It’s a narrow fronted place, but as is often the case with such places, it goes back a long way. There are tall tables/tall stools at the front; with more on the right facing the bar counter along the left hand wall; with some normal tables and chairs in a carpeted area at the back. There’s also some parquet flooring, plus two parallel and massive white-painted ducts running along the length of the room. No doubt they’re serving some useful purpose. There’s some ouside seating in Old Quebec St, which is actually little more than an alleyway. It must be a Greene King pub, although I saw no obvious branding, as they had on GK IPA; Abbot Ale; London Glory; and some sort of GK Octoberfest beer called Oompah (£2.10 a half). A ghastly name for a miserable beer. But maybe it just wasn’t in good condition, but as I had never had it before I didn’t know what it was supposed to taste like. I saw a very minimalist menu offering sarnies at around £7 - £8 a pop. I didn’t take to this place, and as I’m not a great fan of Greene King beers I’m not likely to pay a return visit.

I had no idea. Blindly followed the Cask Marque App in. Got a tick. Not my sort of place. The beer was terrible.

Busy little pub with karaoke on.Rocking Rudolf and gk -ipa on handpump.

As one of the closest pubs to the Marble Arch entrance to Hyde Park, this well-known gay pub gains an influx of a different clientele before major music events. The long, thin interior was a bit more traditional than I expected although there were some modern features such as the bar back and elements of the decor. Various evening entertainments advertised in the lower bar. Two Greene King ales available from handpump: IPA and London Glory (£3.60, but served in a plastic glass). (NB - Review dates from July 2012.)

Official page of the City of Quebec at the Greene King site - www.traditionalpubslondon.co.uk

Official page of the City of Quebec at the Greene King site - www.traditionalpubslondon.co.uk

This is a gay pub for older men, which I didn't spot until I was sitting on my own by the gents writing my little notes in my phone. As I was leaving I spotted a standard draught selection alongside Peroni and there was a plasma screen showing Sky News, which was muted for the decent background music. The barmaid was friendly enough and there was nothing wrong with my Guinness, but I'll not be returning.