The Racketeer, Kings Cross, WC1

One of the worst pubs I have ever had the misfortune to visit Think the BBC comedy series 'The league of gentlemen' and the 'this is a local shop for local people' and you aren't far off A seriously rude barmaid, who had no interest at all in the customers, and had absolutely no customer service skills unless she personally knew the people who wanted a drink. A place devoid of atmosphere and heaven help you if you want to use a card to pay for drinks - I watched her humiliate two perfectly polite customers who wanted to pay for drinks with a card for less than a tenner, when they said they didn't have any cash on them she suggested they go to a charging cash point round the corner making the cost of two pints over £5 each, when they declined she made a big drama of pouring the drinks down the sink in front of them. After they left she made some seriously derogatory comments about them to her cronies at the bar. A couple of minutes later she happily accepted a card for a £3.80 pint from one of her friends and even gave them cash back. There are much nicer venues, unless you like pubs that are stuck in a time warp in the 1970's - try the Northumberland, The Calthorpe, The Queens Head, or The Luca

Pub sign still has Taylor Walker branding but nothing internally backs this up as currently being a TW pub. 2 real ale taps both off.

Refurbished pub with bare-brick walls and big windows. Retains a few features of note, including the tiling around the line of large mirrors and some traces of the former old-era Taylor Walker ownership. Also has a few benches out front. O'Hanlons Firefly available from one of two handpumps. Appears to operate as an old-fashioned local, with the dart board in use when I stopped by.

A downmarket corner bar near King's Cross, there is no real ale here. The welcome wasn't particularly friendly, the customers were a bit aggressive and there isn't really anything that makes me want to come back. Best left to the chippy locals.