The Fitzroy Tavern, Fitzrovia, W1

A rather wonderful recreation of a Victorian boozer. Multi-roomed and you can't move between most of them. Instead you need to go outside and use another entrance or, as I later discovered, go down to the traps which traverse both ends of the building like an underpass. The layout upstairs; to the centre and right is the etched glass and wood bit, and to the left is a darker and quieter area which houses the locals who are less fussed by the ornateness elsewhere. Cask OBB available here and so, the following week, would be the Stingo. Went for a Strawberry beer in attempt to complete the whole Sam’s set. I liked it here but it is a place where you need to time your visit well as there aren’t really that many seats and service at the single bar, encompassing many areas with no visible sight line, can be variable.

This pub has just one an award for best refurb but this style of pub leaves me cold.Tastless half of old brewery bitter.Cheap but not cheerful.

This used to be an office regular 30 years ago, so I can’t recall it at all well. We usually went here in the summer as it was one of the few pubs with substantial outdoor seating. You had to be wary though, as an elderly local man had an eye on your pint and if you put it down for a second, he’d grab it and start gulping. After that, you wouldn’t want it back. The pub has a rich history of being patronised by the likes of Dylan Thomas, Tommy Cooper and Kenneth Williams. And Albert Pierrepoint. Recently refurbished to great acclaim, with the wrought iron pub names reinstated which are visible on Google from 2008. Apart from the fantastic etched glass to the picture windows and the superb ceiling, the whole interior looks brand new, I suspect because it may well be brand new, judging by the construction photos on the pub’s Facebook page. There are some partitions with glass infill, a lino floor, the name in mosaic tiling to the entrance floor with the walls and part of the ceiling clad in t ‘n’ g, all stained a shade of Ronseal brown; even the chiller cabinets appear to be integrated into the pub’s 'Victorian' fabric. Lighting comes from some Victorian-style brass lamps. There are a few glass-fronted cabinets full of 'period' household items such as a box of Elastoplast, circa 1950. Friendly staff and Old Brewery on handpump at a cheap £1.60 a half though too cold. I may be missing something here and require a return visit: I love my historic interiors and I applaud their restoration, but it just seems to lack character, unlike the recently restored Princess Louise, another member of the Sam Smith's stable.

Standard tidy Sams pub with the usual stuff on the bar.