The Marlborough, Mayfair, W1

This pub was very busy with shopping bag laden refugees seeking escape, however briefly, from the hell of pre-Christmas Oxford Street when I was in there at 12.10 PM on Monday. It's another typical Taylor Walker pub catering for transient shoopers. It had the usual TW furnishings - a mix of tall tables/tall stools and normal dark varnished tables and chairs. The room stretches back a fair way, with the servery on the left, and leading to a raised area at the back. Young children aren’t permitted in the ground floor bar, but they are permitted in the downstairs room. The toilets are also located down here. The ales on were Jennings Cumberland (£1.95 a half), Black Sheep Bitter, Tribute and Adnam’s Christmas Cheer. That selection’s not too shabby. The food’s the usual Taylor Walker pub grub. This place is characterless, but functional. It does what it says on the tin – provide reasonably priced food and drink for those lucky enough to win a respite from the shopping madness round the corner. I feel sorry for any foreign tourists who stumble upon this pub and think they’ve found a traditional London pub. But it’s a product of its surroundings, like most pubs in this area, and does provide a useful service for tourists.