The Queen Charlotte, Fitzrovia, W1

Small back street pub, good beer choice and nice L-shaped bar

This is more my type of pub .An oasis in a sea of bland regional beers.Cask beers from Siren,Hammertons,and 3 Sods but I went for the three thirds of keg and they were lovely.

Part of the small Draft House chain, this is a small, single room venue set in a former pub premises, previously known as the Northumberland Arms and The Charlotte, hence the current name. The pub is much smaller than other Draft House venues I've visited, but benefits from the intimacy this creates and it felt a little bit like a micropub in terms of atmosphere, if not in other aspects. The servery is on the rear wall, with seating available around the three remaining sides of the room, mainly in the form of hard benches, low stools and chairs. The bar has a nice traditional counter contrasted against a modern bar back and canopy and decor comprised images painted on the walls to promote various food offerings, with burgers seemingly the house speciality. A TV on the right hand wall was showing the Ladies Wimbledon tennis final and the barman was playing tunes through the pub via his phone - thankfully he had a pretty good taste in music and I ended up tuning in to the soundtrack to hear what would get played next. There were three ales available on handpull, including a Sambrooks beer that had been reduced to £3.00 a pint, as part of the chain's 'Manager's Special' deal. I had something from Roosters, which was in really good shape and went down nicely after a walk here from Leicester Square in the blazing sun. There was a wide range of keg beers and a decent bottled selection too, which made the barman's job tough when a bloke walked in and asked for 'a beer, any beer'. I've had mixed experiences in these Draft House bars in the past, but I thought this was a pretty good example of how a craft beer bar can retain the sense of a proper pub. Whilst the seating was perhaps a little uncomfortable to settle down for an extended session, there was enough here to encourage me to consider repeat visits and it struck me as one of the better pubs in this part of the city.

One of a chain of pubs run by people who presumably can't spell as in the world of UK beer, it comes on DRAUGHT! Illiteracy aside, this is a surprisingly small pub with basic pew furniture and emerald green stools which are weathering well; the floors are bare boarded. There's an array of craft keg offerings as well as a large selection of bottles on display on the modern square tubular section gantry. There's no sport TV and music played at a muted level. The barman was friendly and prompt enough, though only three cask ales are available: Cloudwater Pale Ale (£3.85), New Bristol Brewery's Oolala (£4.05) and Wild Beer Co's Millionaire (£4.05) which the company's website describes thus '...this beer wraps you in a velvety cocoon, dresses you in a smart suit and takes you out for a special night on the tiles. Sweet and salty collide in this rich, balanced and smooth dessert stout. Lactose, caramel and high quality Valrhona cocoa nibs provide a chocolate and caramel backbone alongside the roasty malts whilst the Cornish Sea Salts gives a savoury salty kick, raising this beautiful beer above the norm'. Enough said really - I wish I'd known as it was quite the most disgusting - freezing cold - beverage I've ever drunk. Beers are also available in 1/3 and 2/3 pint measures. I suppose that this pub is very cheap for the area, but this style of weird beer is too much for me so It's unlikely I'll return.

Used to be called the Northumberland Arms and wasn’t very good by all accounts. Re-opened as the Draft House Charlotte three years back and the continued adverts in London Drinker made me think it was worth a go. Timed my visit badly as it was absolutely rammed with the after-work crowd. A number of pumps at the bar all clipped with Camden. Turned out our luck was in as it was a Camden promo evening and the first X amounts of pints were free. By happy coincidence there were four left…a pint each for our party of four. Ended up outside as there was no seating to be had within. No complaints about the state our ales. Won’t leave a mark due to the unusual circumstances but saw enough to tempt me back. On a non-pub related note, I can highly recommend the family-run Italian restaurant over the road (Trattoria Mondello).

Was looking forward to trying this place but unfortunately was closed on my attempt between Christmas and New Year,will keep it in mind for the future.

They had on Brighton Blonde plus a couple of King Brewery ales when I dropped in here last week. They were advertising a “daily cask” at £2.75 a pint (it was the Brighton Blonde when I visited), which came down to £2.25 when the 50p off a pint CAMRA discount was applied. These are competitive prices by a long way – they probably undercut ‘spoons prices in this part of the world. I didn’t see a menu or food. Furnishings are mainly recycled church pews, normal tables, and ghastly emerald green hard wooden stools. The bar counter looks to be an old piece of kit, but I didn’t spot any other original pub features. There was a framed picture of a hamburger on one of the walls, which I guess is intended to be a decorative feature rather than an advert for food on offer. I didn’t see a TV, but while I was there they played a mixture of reggae, blues, and the Stones, which is an eclectic mix if ever I heard one. I’ve been a bit underwhelmed by other Draft House pubs, but for some reason I quite liked this one. Maybe it’s because this one is a single small room that had a nice pubby atmosphere when I was in – and a decent pint at £2.25 might have helped as well.