Three Crowns, St James's, SW1

I shuddered when I clocked the Greene King signage ,but this small pub set in a 30's office block was bearable.It's quite small with a rank of high tables by the entrance,some more to the right side then some more traditional dining tables.No real features but a friendly welcome and efficient bar service always helps with an ale range of GK Abbot,IPA and St Austell Tribute (reasonable nick ,NBSS 3.5) with a further pump reversed.Standard food menu but not rip off prices given it's tourist location,maybe the fact it's tucked away keeps the hords away.Functional,not worth a special visit but could have been worse.

This is a relatively modern pub, being built in 1932 into part of the ground floor of an office development. This is a small, part carpeted affair, with wallpaper resembling patterned bathroom tiles, though the typical Greene King nods are all here; framed prints anyone? What did mark this pub out though, despite the few customers, was the vast army of used glasses taking up most of the bar space, despite the staff having little to do; I took my seat at a table which too, you guessed it, was littered with empty glasses. Customers seemed local, but I can’t image where they’d come from. The inevitably predictable ales were offered, just Abbot and GK IPA, so £3.30 was spent on a half of Neck Oil. This is a poor pub, so I can’t recommend it; the Red Lion over the road is vastly superior.

Official site of Three Crowns - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Three Crowns - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Small Taylor Walker pub tucked down a side street. Quite a dark interior 5 real ales and food served.

This fairly typical but little known West End pub is a bit tucked away in the back streets and easy to miss (I only found it by accident while looking another pub). The interior is quite formulaic but with some nice touches like the coloured glazing in the interior screens and bar frame. The latticed windows, gas lamp and bookcases give it a cosy, homely feel whilst the Thetare posters and old black and white photos of local landmarks remind you that you are still yards away from the bustling West End. The false Tongue & Groove ceiling makes the place a bit more intimate and there is a small snug beside the bar. 4 Ales on offer, all rather standard - Adnams, Green King IPA, Pride and Speckled Hen but reasonably priced for the area. The usual fruit & quiz machines, TV and cash machine are all present. The Three Crowns basically does everything to satisfy the generic punter without being exceptionally special but if you are looking for a place in the area but off the beaten track and not generally packed to the rafters with tourists, you could do a lot worse than here.

Even though other pubs in the area were quite busy this place was very quiet during my recent visit. This may be due to its location tucked down a side street or maybe because it is pretty unremarkable. Doom Bar, Adnams, Directors and Pride were the ale options alongside a standard draught range and Amstel. There was a strong smell of fish and chips, but I didn’t spot anyone eating so the smell must have been lingering since lunchtime that had passed a couple of hours before my visit. There was a bit of very slow background music playing and the plasma screen was showing muted BBC News 24 as I believe there is no Sky in here. I found the barman to be friendly and my Guinness was well served, but I think that there are better pubs in this area.