Two Chairmen, SW1

I remember this as a fairly unremarkable Courage pub from the 70s. The Courage heritage is still evident from what looks like an old bar back. The light coloured wood panelling on the walls looks very modern, and in stark contrast to the dark, smoke stained interior that I remember. The normal seating at the far end has, perhaps inevitably, given way to that modern pub blight of tall tables and tall stools. They had London Pride and Timothy Taylor Landlord on. It’s still one of the smallest pubs around. You are OK if you can bag one of the tables, but if not there’s really nowhere to stand, and it’s a nightmare getting to the tiny bar counter when it’s busy. But I still like it as a pub.

This small pub tucked away off the South Eastern fringes of Trafalgar Square has eluded me for years and not really being on the general footflow, is one of the areas more secretive pubs. The single room interior is plain and simple with bare floors, paneled windows with coloured glass and oak paneled walls, some of the panels having been replaced with chalk boards offering a selection of humerous quotations. Furnishings are a mix of high and low tables. The piped music is pretty painful as a result of being played through a very inadequate sound system. There did not appear to be any TV. The first floor contains a function area which also has occasional live music (no charge for hiring) and there is a Conference Suite housed on the second floor. There were Just 2 ales available, Timothy Taylor Landlord and London Pride, the former being quite decent but at £3.60 a bit pricey. A small and basic pub grub menu had main courses at £7-£10 and a range of snacks from £3-£7. It’s a no nonsense, no thrills sort of place that is hard to see who it is aimed at but will probably still remain at the periphery of my pub visits in the future, at least until they do something about the tinny music!

Utilised this the other week day evening when it was raining and other nearby pubs were heaving and this one wasn’t, which is surprising for a place so close to Trafalgar Square, but then it is fairly easy to walk right past it and not spot it. Inoffensive enough with light wood panel décor with limited seating to the front and then additional by the bar at the back of the smallish room. Two handpumps on the bar with the usual run of the mill London Pride and TT Landlord and the Landlord was perfectly fine. Not sure I’d bother to search it out again but it was perfectly fit for purpose for a quick pint whilst waiting for the rain to stop.

I’m always weary of a pub that has some silly comment on it’s a-board outside and this place has chosen ‘gorgeous people this way’ which I can imagine putting more people off than pulling in. it’s not the biggest place and it looks like it has been going through the refurbishment treatment for a while now. Pride and Landlord were the ale offerings alongside four draught products so there isn’t the widest selection, although my Guinness was up to scratch. I didn’t spot any TV screens and the back music was very tinny as if played through cheap low quality speakers. I think a little more money needs to be spent on this place and it needs breaking in a little, but the potential is definitely there.