St James Tavern, Soho, W1

Official site of St James Tavern - www.bestcitypubs.co.uk

Official site of St James Tavern - www.bestcitypubs.co.uk

Dating from the late 18th century as the Catherine Wheel, this replacement dates from 1896. Much of the interior here seems new, the occasional oddment about the place. The real reason for visiting though, are the fantastic tiled tableaux, depicting scenes from Shakespeare’s plays and courtesy of Royal Doulton. It’s mainly tourists in here, domestic and foreign, making for a rather glum experience, not improved by vague staff. Ales: Doom, Pride and Adnam's Southwold at £2.50 a half, cheap for the area but then you didn’t have to drink it – yuck. Along with the ugly illuminated advertising board to the left wall, this is a bit of a dispiriting experience, so I’ll not be returning.

Official site of St James Tavern - www.craft-pubs.co.uk

Official site of St James Tavern - www.craft-pubs.co.uk

This rather grand looking Soho pub is just round the corner from Piccadilly tube station and seems to always be doing a roaring trade whenever I've passed. Finding myself in the area, I decided to pop in for a quick pint so I could have a look at the pub's famous tile paintings. The pub is much as you would expect for a tourist-trap type venue, doing its best to convince customers of its history whilst simultaneously succumbing to the pubco's corporate identity (Stonegate in this instance). There is a straightforward single room set-up, with dark wood floorboards and window frames, walls painted in various dark shades or else adorned with decorative wallpaper. High banquette and stool seating options can be found down the right hand side of the room, with three rows of basic tables and chairs through the centre and to the left. An L-shaped servery can be found to the rear of the room with its dark wood counter and mirrored bar back which was somewhat marred by vast amounts of England rugby bunting and placards. Two mirrored pillars through the centre of the room, including one embedded into the bar counter, help break up the sightlines a little in what is otherwise quite an open plan space. Large arched windows with some embellished floral patterns run down two sides of the pub, letting in plenty of light during the day and there are also some nice, seemingly original, curved etched glass panes flanking a side entrance. Various old pictures have been hung from the walls but the main attraction has to be the aforementioned tile paintings of various sizes along the left and rear walls. These depict scenes from Shakespearean plays including a great depiction of Falstaff wearing a set of deer antlers from The Merry Wives of Windsor. There is also a painting of some grape vines and another of some hops with the inscription "And let me the canakin clink A soldier's a man; A life's but a span Why then let a soldier drink" which I believe is a quote from Othello. Music played quietly in the background throughout my stay and there was a muted TV screen showing some rolling news. There were just two beers on the bar - Sharps Doom Bar and Brains Rev James, with a Purity Mad Goose clip turned round. The Rev James was priced as you might expect for Central London at a wallet busting £4.45 and was in reasonable condition, although I can't say I saw anyone else drinking it. Unusually for this part of town, the barmaid who served me was very friendly and welcoming. This is very much a typical Central London pub well set up to take money off the ample passing trade but not really somewhere you're likely to settle down for a long session. The rare sight of some old tile paintings made the visit worthwhile and the friendly service was an unexpected bonus, but it's all rather run of the mill and better boozers are a short walk away.

Uninspiring ,foody ,touristy pub.Ales on were Hobgoblin, Doom Bar and Tongham TEA, if your into beer walk past and go to the Lyric up the road.