The Cock, Fitzrovia, W1

Located just off Oxford Street, this is a typically smart and ornate Sam Smiths pub. Clearly once a multiple room venue, the pub has now been opened out into a C-shaped room with a relatively large seating area at one end. The whole pub has a fine patterned tile floor, elegant wood panelled walls, etched glass Sam Smiths windows and an impressive decorative seating, all combining to show off the brewery’s commitment to restoring their pub’s to something approximating their former glory. A corner entrance leads you into the smaller left hand side of the room, where limited seating skirts the perimeter and from which a short section of the servery is accessible. You pass under an arched partitioning screen with a nice integral clock at the top, into the narrow bar area with the servery along the rear wall. The bar has a smart dark wood counter with decorative etched glass end screens topped with small semi-circular carved wood capitals. The counter also boasts a short section of snob screens in the centre and a pot shelf held up by some fun metalwork cherubs. The bar back has three large, dark wood arches and some great etched glass mirrors which give it a grand, imposing feel. The right side of the room is a little less interesting, comprising an open plan central space with banquette and chair seating to the front and rear and a small stone fireplace with the same etched glass mirror above as seen behind the bar. Stairs from here lead up to a first floor dining room which I didn’t get round to looking at. It’s a Sam Smiths pub, so just Old Brewery Bitter on handpull at £3.40 a pint, with the usual keg and bottled range all present and correct. The staff were a bit flustered and disorganised but friendly enough once I eventually got served and the Bitter was in decent enough shape. I liked the numerous interesting features that you can find all around this pub and enjoyed snooping around the place, spotting new interesting things, but it really isn’t the sort of place I can imagine frequenting for more than a quick pint. There are very few places to settle yourself down and the beer range suffers from the usual Sam Smiths complaints. Worth a look in passing though, just to check out the fine restoration work carried out here.

Standard Sam Smiths pub. One room with bar in the middle. Usual drinks selection.