The Prince of Wales, Drury Lane, WC2

Official site of The Prince of Wales - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of The Prince of Wales - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

I came here once before and was discussing the then foot and mouth epidemic with an American friend, so this must have been in 2001. I recall that it wasn’t one of the best places then and today little has changed, although the carpet has disappeared. Adjacent to Freemasons’ Hall, The Prince of Wales was built in 1850 but the current Portland stone incarnation dates from the early 20th century. Internally, it’s a bit fake old as mentioned earlier and is what you’d resigned yourself to, given the by-the-numbers Greene King central London pub experience, rendering a detailed description otiose. There are plenty of young people in here which gives the impression of drinking in a student union bar – indeed there’s a branch of the LSE’s campus just down the road which may explain things. Ales: St. Austell’s Tribute, Greene King’s IPA and London Glory, Twickenham Brewery’s Scrum Down (you can tell the rugby’s on) and Purity’s Mad Goose at a crippling £2.55 a half. It was good, but so it should be at this price. I may return in another 17 years, but I doubt it. There are better pubs – just - in Covent Garden but I’d prefer to walk over Kingsway where there’s altogether better.

A decent enough central London Pub but the dull Greene King derived selection on the four handpumps will deter a further visit.

The exterior of this street corner pub close to the masonic HQ is quite grand,but that doesn't extend inside where it's quite small with a single square open plan room with pine flooring ,amplifying the sound to an unbearable cacophony when busy.It's branded as Greene King after the takeover of Spirit Pubco ,and the chain vibe is never far away.There are a series of high tables facing the bar,while below the front window and to one side there is bench seating running around the wall.Two large flatscreens were showing music vidoes ,and providing the soundtrack further increasing the noise.There is a standard pub grub menu but expect reserved signs to be placed on tables,at least indicating the time from which said table is reserved. A saving grace is the real ale options from the 5 handpumps.Besides the dull house beers,on this occasion GK IPA and London Glory,the guests were Trumans Misseltoe Mild,St Austell Tribute and Twickenham Gothic Dark (decent but a rip off at £2.50 the half).Much too late did I notice a 10% CAMRA discount. Apart from an unused fireplace to the left,this is a modern interior of little note,but at least has guest ales .I cant summons the enthusiasm to rush back.

By the numbers Taylor Walker pub 5 real ales and food.

Marketing itself as a traditional pub in the heart of Covent Garden, this place felt more like a typical city centre drinking barn when I arrived in the post-work crush of a pre-Christmas week day evening. The pub was originally built in the 1850’s, but was reconstructed in the early 1900’s as part of a street widening programme. The interior sees a roughly square, single room layout with the servery along the back wall and various tables and chairs laid out across a bare boarded space. Some attempt to define individual seating areas has been made by fencing spaces off with banister rails and having a split level seating section to one side, but in the crush of the crowd, such details were quickly lost. There is a fair bit of dark wood around the place and I spotted a few pleasant stained glass screens here and there, but having ordered a drink at the bar, I found my chances of properly exploring were severely hampered, so I decided to give up and propped myself against one of the high tables opposite the bar. The servery itself is an awkwardly angular affair, with the counter jutting out at one point and a fairly standard bar back which is done out in dark wood and boasts a vaguely decorative top. The place was so rammed that I was also unable to figure out the entire ale range. Fullers London Pride, Adnams Ghost Ship and Wychwood Bah Humbug were all easily identifiable from afar and I managed to glean that the other two available beers were Christmas brews, one of which was from the Blindmans Brewery. I somehow ended up with a pint of the Blindmans, which wasn’t in the greatest of shape, although a friend had the Ghost Ship and said it was in much better condition. I left this place feeling that I hadn’t really been given the chance to get to know it properly. There is definitely a lesson to be learnt about when to time a visit to this place, but despite the claustrophobic conditions, I still had the feeling that the pub probably has something to offer and I wouldn’t be averse to giving it another try the next time I’m passing.