Nellie Dean of Soho, Soho, W1

There were five ales on in here – Timothy Taylor Haversake Ale, Cottage Brewery Carnival Ale, Adnam’s Ghost Ship and our old chums Doom Bar and London Pride. Food menus are on rolled up sheets stuck in a glass on the tables – and the prices are jolly reasonable for the area. Sarnies are £2.90 a throw, with main meals between £5.50 and £7. The pub standard of sausages and mash is £5.50. The pub looks good from the outside with masses of foliage flowing from the hanging baskets. There are more plants inside on the shelf under the windows. Inside it’s a tiny one-room affair downstairs, and although I saw a sign pointing to further seating upstairs I didn’t venture up there. The toilets are downstairs, down a narrow and dangerous flight of stairs which would give those in the Nell Gwynne a run for their money. Furnishings in the main bar are grubby looking banquattes and small stools, combined with round metal framed tables. There was a mix of punters in on Wednesday afternoon – two or three regulars at the bar, and some tourists that had advisedly, and probably only temporarily, escaped the hell of Oxford St. I liked this pub a lot. It seemed a small oasis among the many bogstandard pubs that this area has. A couple of Victorian cast iron pillars and a Lincrusta style ceiling added to the attraction for me. With five ales on, including a couple that I had not seen before, this pub is definitely worth a visit.

This is a small and, in many ways, typical Soho back street boozer. The simple rectangular room has wooden flooring, red and cream walls and pew and low stool seating arranged around its perimeter. A long row of bar stools along the bar counter were fully occupied, making it very difficult to get served. The room is brightened up somewhat by the large number of potted plants that stand on the window sills and these are complimented by a nice floral display in the hanging baskets outside. Music played quietly throughout my stay whilst TV screens were showing muted Super Bikes coverage. A sign pointed to an upstairs seating area which also has a pool table, although I didn’t get to explore the room myself. Menus on the tables list some simple pub grub at sensible prices, although I didn’t notice anyone eating, despite my lunchtime visit. The beer choice was Wells Eagle IPA, Sambrooks Wandle (£3.60), Taylor Landlord, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Fuller’s London Pride. I gave the Wandle a try and was pleased to find that it was in good condition and it slipped down very easily. The staff were very friendly and dealt with the problem of lots of people blocking the bar very well. This is a nice enough place to stop off for a quick pint, although I’m not sure that there was enough of interest here to make me want to stay for a session. The place has a good deal of character and should be included on any crawl of Soho.

A two storey pub on a corner in the back streets of Soho, Nellie Dean's is a basic, bare-boarded pub with tv, gaming machines and basic pub grub. It folows the local pattern of having a bar dowstairs and restaurant (well, the room where the food is served) upstairs. It's a bit shabby, but the greeting is friendly and the food is a fair price. There were 4 ales on - I had Harvey's Sussex which was in decent condition. Worth dropping in for a pint or a snack, or including in a crawl.

From 1988 to 1991 this was our office local and we'd go here virtually every night. The barmen were Irish and the Guinness was excellent. There was also this ghastly resident terrier which would attack all and sundry - it would venture out into the street and all would pray that it'd get hit by a car. We'd get plates of complimentary Cheddar cheese and order a Cornish pasty before playing pool upstairs. Ian Hislop was a regular pre-HIGNFY, and I once sat next to Peter Cook at the bar who seemed a bit Brahms. That said, this pub was a bit downmarket; I visited it many years later and little had changed minus the awful hound. I doubt I'll go again as there are far better pubs in the area.