Glasshouse Stores, Soho, W1

Typical Sam Smiths pub as described by Rex below, still no real ale but the keg Extra Stout was more than passable at £1.80 a half.

There was no real ale on in here, just the usual Sam Smith's keg offerings. The beer's not good, but it is cheap - my half of Old Brewery Bitter was £1.45. The food's reasonable as well. A burger was around £8, and my cheese and pickle sandwich (including chips, in a little metal bucket of course) was £4.50. For a Soho pub that's not bad at all. This pub is much bigger than it looks from the outside. As you enter the bar counter's on the left, with a couple of round metal framed tables with a bit of banquette seating and small round stools by the window. Past the bar counter is a room with some armchairs and normal tables and chairs. A doorway to the left of this room takes you into what might best be described as a sports room, as it contains a dartboard, and the rarely seen bar billiards. There's also a downstairs cavernous cellar bar. Quite approriately there's a lot of glass around the place, mainly in the form of cut glass mirrors on the walls in the ground floor room. They look like modern replicas to me, which is in keeping with Sam Smith's policy of restoring their estate (in London anyway) to a semblence of its former glory. They usually do a pretty good job in that respect. This pub is typical Sam Smith's - great pub, not so great beer. With a decent ale or two on this could be a real backstreet gem (OK, Brewer St is not really a backstreet, but it is in comparison to Shaftesbury Avenue around the corner). This seems to be somewhere for a quite drink - there were only three other customers in the main bar when I dropped in on Friday, but there were a few more downstairs in the cellar bar - as long as you're not fussed about ale choice or quality.