The Running Horse, Mayfair, W1

Just around the corner from Bond Street station, the Running Horse is a simple, if somewhat upmarket, single room pub given a fancy make-over. The pub is bare boarded throughout and has some nice dark wood panelled walls plus a compact servery down the left hand wall. The bar has a wood panelled counter that is in keeping with the panelling around the rest of the room, plus a glazed tile bar back decorated with various bits of Six nations tat, with a board from the game of Totopoly displayed above, in reference to the pub’s name I presume. A smaller, front part of the bar, separated from the main counter by a section of dividing wall, has a bar back unit topped with plants, bottles, lamps, jugs and the like. The room sees fixed bench seating under the windows that run down two sides of the building, plus high tables and stools through the centre and some more seating at the rear, although the pub was so busy, I could neither make my way through or get a glimpse from the bar to figure out exactly what was there. I could see a nice fireplace on the back wall though, with an attractive tile surround and a plain mirror above. Decor is limited to some small paintings, stupid modern slogan posters and the inevitable slide images of a running horse. There were three ales on at the bar – Purity Gold plus Rebellion IPA and Smuggler. The Purity Gold set me back 5.50 a pint and was absolutely rancid. I waited an eternity to get served thanks to the ineptitude of the bar staff who didn’t seem to understand how to operate the till, never mind keep good beer. The place was so packed with dreadful post-work posho punters that I simply couldn’t face the rigmarole of trying to get my pint changed, so I ditched it and left vowing never to return. This seemed like quite a nice pub based on my initial impressions, but the rot quickly set in on this visit, from the obnoxious poseurs at the bar, to the dreadful music playing throughout, the clueless staff and the vile beer. Get a new team in here that knows what it’s doing, and this could be worth a look, but as things stand, I’ll be keeping well clear.

The fact that this place is owned by the First Restaurant Group will give you a bit of a clue to what it majors on. There is a restaurant section upstairs and most of the tables downstairs seem laid out for eating It’s meant to be one of the oldest pubs in Mayfair, although you wouldn’t know it, either from the outside or inside. The original building was turned into a tavern in 1738 and the name comes from the Galloping Horse of Hanover and was a way of seeking royal protection back in those days. Internally the ground floor bar is a modern plain wood makeover with dark wood panelling on all four walls and plain wooden tables and chairs. The only thing of any historical note is what looks like a Victorian fireplace at the non bar end of the room. There were quite a few in just drinking on the early evening I visited so I ventured in but only could see one hand pump dispensing the ubiquitous Pride, but then spotted a second which had Skinners Cornish Knocker as a guest. Decided to have a small one which was perfectly fine, but as this is not my type of place and I didn’t get much change out of £2 for a half I don’t think i can see myself coming back.

Randomness Guide to London - Running Horse entry

Randomness Guide to London - Running Horse entry

Official site of the Running Horse, contains menu and wine list - www.therunninghorselondon.co.uk

Official site of the Running Horse, contains menu and wine list - www.therunninghorselondon.co.uk