Lord Raglan, St. Pauls, EC1

Unchanged from previous reviews internally and is still a bit of a mock London pub on St Martins Le Grand aligned towards tourists and local office workers. Still over two levels I found it all a bit dark and formulaic. One thing that is different from previous reviews is that it is now under the Green King umbrella and for our visit the four available ales were all from that stable, namely OSH, Abbot, IPA and London Glory. I went for the GK IPA and it was just about OK but far from what this beer is like at its best. It serves a purpose but I’ll likely be leaving this one to the tourists in future.

Official site of Lord Raglan - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Lord Raglan - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

I remember about 15 years ago this being quite a decent place and had we known that it is now an identikit Taylor Walker pub, we'd probably not have bothered, save for the fact that it's on the way to The Viaduct Tavern. A large place as mentioned with expansive upper floor with second bar and two pool tables. It's part carpeted and part covered with flagstones. Furniture is conventional and music was quite loud. There are lots of games machines and multiple TVs showing sport, thankfully with the sound down. Naturally, being a TW pub, menus are pictorial. This seems to be a bit of a locals pub, but from where I know not. It's clearly geared towards the tourist market supplied by St. Paul's Cathedral, in search of Ye Merry Olde Englishe Pub. Ales: Greene King's IPA, Taylor Walker's 1730, Sharp's Doom Bar and Truman's Gypsy Queen at a very stiff £2.40 a half. I really don't like TW pubs and with all the sport and games machines I won't ever be returning. What a profound change from the superior incarnation of yesteryear.

A traditional looking pub just a short stroll away from St Pauls, it is surprisingly large inside extending back some way from the entrance and is split over two floors. Décor wise it’s tidy and up together, but it has a somewhat generic identikit pub feel to it, with little of any note. The flooring is predominantly carpet with some slate style tiles nearer the bar whilst the walls are a mixture of dark wood panelling on the lower part and bookcase style wallpaper or various paint shades including maroon and brown elsewhere. A number of plasma screens were dotted around showing the football, some encased in ornate gold frames. A snug area at the rear of the pub was probably the cosiest part, and with it’s full height wood panelling on the walls it was somewhat reminiscent of a hotel drawing room, although the plasma screen mounted above the tiled in fireplace spoilt this somewhat, as did the wood panelling effect wallpaper used in places. Upstairs was a similar size but had more of a sports bar feel with two projector screens, a couple of pool table and a smaller bar counter, although there was no service here on our Sunday afternoon visit. The menu looked to be a mass-produced affair and offered an extensive selection of dishes. Burgers appeared to be something of a speciality and there were also sections for sharing platters, pub classics, fish, pie shop and jackets. Most of the main courses appeared to be somewhere around the £8/£9 mark although we didn’t eat on this occasion so cannot comment on the quality. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Abbott Ale and Doom Bar. The solitary cider was a rather disappointing Aspall’s Suffolk.