Museum Tavern, Bloomsbury, WC1

Official site of Museum Tavern - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of Museum Tavern - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

A good traditional Bloomsbury pub with typical nice wood and glasswork. A fairly long thin bar, with leather banquettes along the side and a few tables outside on the pavement. Handy for the British Museum opposite. On handpumps were the usual Abbot and IPA, plus Theakston's Old Peculier, Sambrook's Junction and Wimbledon Copper Leaf, as well as a couple of ciders.

The Museum Tavern is a Traditional London boozer located over the road from the entrance of the British Museum. Hence it wasn’t surprising to find it full of diners during a recent lunchtime visit. My wife was working in this pub when we met circa 2000 so I have spent many an hour sat at the bar waiting for her to finish her shift. Unsurprisingly the décor is pretty much the same, but Greene King is now the landlord. Along the left hand wall is the bar that faces seating down the windowed right hand side in this thin pub. At the rear is is some more seating and the some very smelly toilets are located downstairs. Available from the bar is a premium draught range and I counted seven hand pumps. These were drawing Redemption’s Hopspur, Theakston’s Old Peculiar, GK London Glory, GK IPA, Truman’s Swift and Old Rosie and Cheddar Valley ciders. Traditional pub grub is available all day and the popular fish and chips were priced at £13. This is a decent enough pub that would be worthy of a revisit if in the area.

We thought that this was going to be a tourist trap but were surprised just how un-touristy it was, though we did arrive at about 10.20 and at that time most drinkers seemed to be locals. This pub has a fine interior - a CAMRA Heritage Pub - with a particularly ornate mirrored bar back and some peripheral stained glass panels. Furniture is conventional, the floor is part boarded and part carpeted, muted music played and I didn't spot a singe TV - result! The landlord was friendly enough and went so far as to describe the ales on offer to a couple of tourists and even offer them tasters. Ales on: Truman's Zephyr and 6 others which I couldn't see due to a couple of customers. This is a surprisingly good pub indeed, despite its location. It has an 11.30 licence on weekdays, midnight on Saturdays but closes at 10.00 on Sundays. Well worth seeking out if in the area.