The Guinea, Mayfair, W1

This is a smart, traditional Young’s house down a rather attractive Mayfair back street with a fairly well preserved interior. Two entrances, each with their own ‘Private Bar’ and ‘Lounge Bar’ etched glass panes, both lead into the same partially opened out bar area, albeit at opposite ends of the room. The left side is ostensibly a separate restaurant area with a small partitioned carpeted seating area to the front giving way to a full dining room up a few steps and through a doorway manned by a formally dressed doorman. A gap in the partitioning allows you through to the bar proper – a bare boarded room with a lovely curved dark wood counter along the rear wall and a somewhat underwhelming mirrored back which displayed a very small Young’s sign but was otherwise fairly unmemorable. Low stools and hard benches run along the front wall under sizable windows with nice panes denoting ‘Wines’, ‘Spirits’ and the pub’s name. Two windows has a rather nice brass rail across them with low level lamps fitted to them, which help generate muted, moody lighting once darkness descends outside. The bar and room both turn 90 degrees and run to the ear down the right hand side of the room where a drinking ledge and high stools compete for space in the narrow gap between wall and bar, before things open out again at the back, allowing space for a few more tables in what must arguably be the cosiest spot in the pub. Decor throughout consists of a few quirky adverts, some Hogarth style pictures and the obligatory shot of Prince Charles pulling a pint. The clientele in here was very upmarket on my visit, but I didn’t feel bad or frowned upon propping up the end of the bar in my jeans and hoodie. On the bar, the two unsurprising Young’s beers – Ordinary and Special – were complimented by a couple of guest ales in the shape of Truman’s Runner and Sambrook’s Pumphouse Pale (£5.15). The latter poured quite temperamentally but settled soon enough and turned out to be a very nice pint. The barman was very polite and formal in his dealings with customers and despite the place having a strong food emphasis, the location of the diners in the rear room meant that the bar area was solely in use for drinkers, making for a better overall atmosphere. Young’s certainly know how to mess up a perfectly good pub, but with this one they have for the most part, acted as sympathetic, tasteful custodians of what is clearly a fine historic pub. I liked the cramped but evocative bar area and thought they had plenty of interesting features to reward repeat visits. If you’re keen to splash out on a pint in this pricey part of the city, you could do a lot worse than this fine venue.