Nellie Dean of Soho, Soho, W1

A two storey pub on a corner in the back streets of Soho, Nellie Dean's is a basic, bare-boarded pub with tv, gaming machines and basic pub grub. It folows the local pattern of having a bar dowstairs and restaurant (well, the room where the food is served) upstairs. It's a bit shabby, but the greeting is friendly and the food is a fair price. There were 4 ales on - I had Harvey's Sussex which was in decent condition. Worth dropping in for a pint or a snack, or including in a crawl.

From 1988 to 1991 this was our office local and we'd go here virtually every night. The barmen were Irish and the Guinness was excellent. There was also this ghastly resident terrier which would attack all and sundry - it would venture out into the street and all would pray that it'd get hit by a car. We'd get plates of complimentary Cheddar cheese and order a Cornish pasty before playing pool upstairs. Ian Hislop was a regular pre-HIGNFY, and I once sat next to Peter Cook at the bar who seemed a bit Brahms. That said, this pub was a bit downmarket; I visited it many years later and little had changed minus the awful hound. I doubt I'll go again as there are far better pubs in the area.

Randomness Guide to London - Nellie Dean entry

Randomness Guide to London - Nellie Dean entry

I had a very enjoyable night playing pool in the upstairs bar last week with a few friends. The pool table is in the middle of the room and you have to constantly ask people to shuffle out of the way for some shots, but we got too meet some colourful characters. The staff were generally pleasant and the offerings of IPA, 6X, Courage Best, Deuchars, Hoegarden, Staropramen and standard lagers seemed to be flowing well. No real ale is served upstairs, as is the case in most pubs, but the staff were pretty fast at knocking the drinks out in the main bar which has a plasma screen and an old TV, although these were both off during my visit. The walk down to the toilet is treacherous as the ceiling does not clear the steps by more than 5.5 feet, so mind your head after a few beers. I liked it in here and would gladly return.