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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
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Detail Pages
The Sun & 13 Cantons, Soho, W1
W1
W1F 9NG
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 3½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Sun & 13 Cantons
Opened in 1805 but rebuilt in 1882, now run by Fuller’s but you’d barely know it.
I can’t be arsed to describe the interior, as there’s a 360° tour on the website; suffice to say it’s a modern recreation of something vaguely Victorian. The crowds here didn’t make my brief experience pleasant; I couldn’t get to the bar. Oddly for a Fuller’s outlet, there’s no real ale, their only offering being something looking vaguely crafty, the only thing I would have gone for, given the chance, was something on keg from Siren.
As getting served was nigh-on impossible, the noise was deafening and I couldn’t see anything I’d want to drink, I left. This place is sandwiched between the Queen’s Head and Old Coffee House, so there’s no incentive to return.
On 21st October 2021
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2208 recommendations about 2165 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Sun & 13 Cantons
Barely branded Fuller, Smith & Turner house (with the full shown along the bottom of the main windows, if you look carefully, but that's about it). Little seems to have changed since my last visit in 2010, and there is nothing very special about the sparsely furnished main bar, but the mirrored side room (somewhat reminiscent of an upmarket French brasserie) is worth a brief look. There is a small downstairs bar for private hire. Still no real ale, and many of the keg taps on three banks of five on the counter (plus six more on the bar-back) are duplicated. I counted 11 different beers and ciders in total, of which the Bandit from Gypsy Hill - the 'brewery of the month' - looked the most interesting (albeit at £3.20 for a half).
On 2nd January 2020
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8679 recommendations about 8678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Sun & 13 Cantons
An odd name for a pub, but clearly not a "made-up" modern name as the name is set in stone on the side of the building. Possibly a combination of two very old licences - a Swiss connection perhaps.
The main bar area is pretty ghastly - the walls and ceilings are painted a fashionable black, with only tall benches/stools/tables and nowhere comfortable to sit. A separate room at the back is more comfortable with normal tables and chairs, and looks to be a dining area as there was a young bloke hanging around the entrance looking like a waiter. There is a nice old capitalled pillar in the bar area; the bar counter looks inter-war, but the bar back, though in victorian style, is clearly a more modern piece. There were water dispensers, with yellow things (lemons possibly) in them on the counter.
Even though this is apparently a Fuller's pub, there's no real ale. A half of Beavertown Neck Oil set me back £3. There were menus on the tables labelled "Donnelly's" which must be the name of the current gastro "residency". It included snacks such as "Rosie's pork pie with piccalilli" at £6.50. Main courses were from 12 (£s presumably) upwards, for some kale salad, and more for things I wouldn't want to eat. One sees these attractive looking old pubs and is tempted into them, but this is not a "pub" to where I'm likely to return.
On 10th November 2018
- rating: 2
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Sun & 13 Cantons
A foody pub with no real ale.
On 31st December 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
BobOs . left this review about The Sun & 13 Cantons
Grubby, unwelcoming, no real ale - why come here when there are so many decent pubs in the area. Below average.
On 13th July 2011
- rating: 3
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]