The Kings Arms, Soho, W1

As with the previous review, a group of four of us unknowingly wandered into the Kings Arms in search of a decent pint on New years Day, after declaring that we should try a pub that we had never been in before. It wasn't until we were half way down our pints of Sharps Atlantic that my wife declared that she was the only woman in the pub. Sure enough, the place was heavily populated by larger gents with beards, who seemed to be settled in pairs around the place. On researching the pub after we had left, we were not surprised to find that the place specializes in entertaining "Bears" hence the clientele. Gay pubs don't bother me and neither did this one. Decent beer, reasonable décor and friendly staff did nothing to put me off finishing my pint, neither did the abundance of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Probably won't call again, not really my scene.

I unwittingly walked in with a friend to discover it was a gay pub and whilst this would not generally concern me, I did find the Kings Arms quite uncomfortable, probably as it had an all male customer base and there were some decidedly shady looking characters among them. The pub itself is fine, a bit dark but not in any way tacky. Sevice was prompt, beer was decent enough (just London Pride if I recall) and there was a good mix of music. If gay pubs are your thing then I guess you could do a lot worse.