Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Swan, Bloomsbury, WC1
WC1
WC1N 3AP
Pub Type
Taylor Walker (Spirit Pubs)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Swan
Standard taylor walker pub. 5 real ales and food served.
On 5th June 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2933 recommendations about 2866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nick Davies left this review about The Swan
Routine Taylor Walker affair complete with ten quid Big Ben Burger. Only the presence of Theakston's OP distinguishes it from the dozens of identical TW outlets around the capital. It does what it sets out to do perfectly adequately, but the Queen's Larder a couple of doors down is a far better option.
On 4th December 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 578 recommendations about 570 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Swan
Long, thin room with a narrow frontage and dark wallpaper meaning that it is pretty dark inside. Also somewhat plainly decorated, giving a somewhat soul-less impression. Five handpumps, offering guest ales such as Pedigree, GK Swift and Broadside (top condition, but curiously priced at £3.18) in addition to the regular Doom Bar and Old Peculier. Efficient bar staff and kitchen.
On 8th May 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Swan
Small pub that is popular with tourists so at times doesn't pay a great deal of attention to customer service. You can usually guarantee that they'll have Theakston's Old Peculiar which is reason enough to go there.
On 21st January 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 780 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Swan
An unscheduled stop due to The Rugby Tavern nearby being shut on Saturday afternoon. A single long narrow room with the bar on a side wall. Wood floor with a tiled splash area by the bar. the tables were a bit crammed together I felt, and it was a bit too warm inside on a mild November day. I found the place to be a bit "plastic" in so far as no original features were discernible, and nothing felt even vaguely old and worn in. There are the usual old photos and pictures on the wall, a plasma TV showing Sky Sports News is oddly set in a gilded picture frame on a central chimney breast. My notes say it looks like a chain, but I couldn't work out which, but it looks like Rex below has answered that one.
Cheerful Eastern European staff, and in fairness a well kept pint but I had to ask for a top up. Brains Top Notch (£3.08), Doom Bar, Theakston Old Peculiar....not seen that around here for a bit, Pride and Old Speck Hen.
It was ok but fairly underwhelming to be honest.
On 21st November 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1710 recommendations about 1683 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Swan
They had four ales on – London Pride; Doom Bar; Old Speckled Hen; Wooden Hand Brewery Cornish Buccaneer, plus a fifth pump advertised a forthcoming ale – Robinson's Wags to Witches. The latter is presumably a seasonal ale – shame it wasn't on when I visited, as I would certainly have wanted to sample an ale with such a good name. This is a typical Spirit Group pub; plain, functional and fairly characterless. It has Cask Marque accreditation, and my pint of Cornish Buccaneer was top notch. This is OK as far as pubs go, but it's like every other Spirit Group pub you've been in, though the ale selection is a lot a lot better than many.
I remember when this was a fairly down-at-heel pub, with separate public and saloon bars, and recall fondly the impecunious and shiftless types that inhabited the public bar. I felt quite at home there. It's very different now, with only one bar of course, and the various makeovers over the years have removed all of its original character. But there are worse places to have a pint or two.
On 29th October 2009
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]