The Northumberland Arms, Fitzrovia, W1

Corner pub with a plain interior. 2 real ales and food served. Handy for the Venezuelan Embassy.

There were two real ales on here – Old Speckled Hen and the increasingly ubiquitous Sharp’s Doom Bar. The Doom Bar was in good nick, but at £1.85 a half (£3.60 or £3.70 a pint?) at the top end of the price range even for central London. Main courses were around £10 a throw, and sandwiches in the £5 - £6 range and available between 12 noon and 5.0 PM Monday to Fridays. This is a small one room corner-site pub. It has the tall ceilings typical of a late Victorian pub, and being bare-boarded any noise bounces around the room. The piped music was at a comfortable background level when I went in, but for some reason it got cranked up after a few minutes – and with The Quo being played it seemed too loud to me. There are a couple of tall tables with tall stools in the middle of the room, but otherwise furnishings are banquettes and normal tables and chairs. Looking at the clientele when I was in on Wednesday lunchtime, I would guess that it gets most its custom from passing trade drawn from the hordes walking up and down the frantic Tottenham Court Rd. There isn’t a lot more to say about this place. The windows are modern replacements, and are mainly plain glass, but have a small pane of blue glass in the corners. There’s nothing of note on the walls, except a couple of black and white photographs and a gilt framed mirror. This is a fairly ordinary and unexceptional pub. The beer’s not cheap even for this area of London, and I don’t anticipate making a return visit.

This is a fairly unremarkable pub, although I found the staff to be friendly enough – for London anyway. Pride and Landlord were available and another 3 pumps were off. I doubt that I'll ever go here again as there are better pubs in the area.