The Green Man, Soho, W1

As usual PSM has nailed the description but "large and highly chaotic" hits the nail squarely on the head. Despite the large count of handpumps not a single one was in operation which made my visit extremely brief. It may be some time before I decide to try again.

This is a deceptively large and highly chaotic pub, located just off Oxford Street. You enter to a scruffy, bare boarded main bar area with dark panelled walls and the servery down the right-hand side. The bar has a dark wood counter and matching bar back with a nice mirrored integral arch and a diamond pattern design. High tables and stools fill the space opposite, making it a bit cramped at the bar during peak hours, whilst the rear part of the room has a lot of strange swivel tub chairs, as a comfier alternative. A couple of TV screens were showing muted Sky Sports News and the room was full of eccentric characters, to the point that I had to move through to the left-hand room for my own sanity. This seemed like a rather more sedate space with comfier chairs and padded banquettes, leaf motif wallpaper, a few black and white photos here and there, large mirrors and more TV screens showing the same channel. A loud indie-pop soundtrack rounded off the general sensory overload. There are a remarkable ten handpulls on the bar, but perhaps rather prudently, only two of these were on when I arrived, offering a choice of Black Sheep Blitzen and Hog’s Back Tea. Most of the other pumps were clipped as well, but with ‘Coming Soon’ labels attached, suggesting that the likes of Landlord, London Pride and Ghost Ship would all be on the bar in coming weeks. The Blitzen was a bit mediocre, both in terms of the quality of the brew and the condition of the beer. If you’re looking for a pub that’s full of life and an assault on the senses, then you could do a lot worse than this place, which I found to be a bit too full-on during a post-work midweek visit. It was encouraging to find a couple of ales on the go, albeit they might be better dropping to just the one to maintain quality, and I quite liked the quieter left-hand room, but I would say this is a fairly run of the mill Central London pub otherwise and doubt I’ll be back too soon.

Two buildings pushed together to create a pubco. establishment,the interior also splits into two,the left side a crammed dining area with mainly worn pine furniture,the room finishing off with a sports flatscreen.The right side is up a step,has a lower ceiling and contains the long bar and many high tables and ,yes,another sports flatscreen. There are two ranks of handpumps and you must survey both to find out whats on offer.On my trip that meant Adnams Ghostship,Hogs Back TEA,St Austell Tribute and Proper Job (NBSS 2,on the turn ) with available soon signs on the TT Landlord ,London Pride and Doom Bar clips.The pub grub menus were plastic and sticky . A large selection of nationally available real ale is the deal here,it's just off Oxford Street so will catch tourists and I can't say that I'm inspired to revisit despite the fact that a wide choice of real ale is now a rarity in central London.However is enough care take here with the real ale,that's the question.

I've not a great deal to add to Trish's review below. This is a typical pubco pub, but as well as the usual suspects of Doom Bar and London Pride, it also had on Hogsback TEA and St Austell Tribute. The latter was in good nick, and at £2.15 a half pretty good going for Soho. As Trish says, this pub has been expanded into the bulding on the left, and the extra room this created was where any sensible person eating here would use as a dining area as it was furnished with normal tables and chairs. The food seemed to be the usual sort of pubco fare - the so-called "cheese and bacon gourmet burger" was £8.45 for a "single" and £10.95 for a "double". The special was scampi and chips at £12 for two, but not much use if you're on your own. This seems nothing like a locals' local, but more like a simple largely typically characterless Soho pub. But the Tribute was in good condition at a reasonable price (for Central London), and I've been in much worse. Not really worth going out of your way to visit, but handy enough if you're in this part of Soho.

A mid-18th century hostelry rebuilt at the end of the 19th, grade II-listed which expanded into the left-hand building in 1998; I suspect that the whole interior dates from this time too, being a half boarded and half carpeted panelled interior, which looks modern, even though much of it was covered with fake cobwebs as an indication that the seven-hour festival that is Halloween, was just 19 days away. There are TVs (pretty much in your face), loud banal music, sauce bottles on tables, bright lighting, flashing games machines, loud transient people (one seen taking his pint downstairs to the loo), eclectic tall furniture, a Tricolour and Guinness bunting, perhaps trying to give the impression that this is an Irish pub, perhaps to attract the tourists. English wasn’t the barmaid’s strong point, but she did serve me up a very decent half of Purity’s Mad Goose at a reasonable £4.30. Also on offer were Pride, Doom, Landlord and Rosie Pig cider. I think this is a very poor pub, but given that it’s just a few yards off Oxford Street, that should have come as no surprise to me.

A larger-than-it-looks pub just off Oxford Street with a modern, bustling sort of feel. Definitely a pub of two halves: the side with the bar is something of a blokes' boozer, complete with several sports TVs, while the left hand side is tabled and more sedate. The fairly unexciting range of handpumped beers included London Pride, Doom Bar, Ghost Ship and Pedigree, but at least there were a couple of ciders also.

Busy rectangular bar with side room but dominated by tv,s showing Sky sports.Nice enough interior but beers did not impress.Hobgoblin,Doombar,speckled hen and gk -ipa. Tourist like it though.

Official site of The Green Man - www.thegreenmansoho.co.uk