Smugglers Tavern, Fitzrovia, W1

Official site of Smugglers Tavern - thesmugglerstavern.co.uk

Official site of Smugglers Tavern - thesmugglerstavern.co.uk

Hogsback TEA and Purity Mad Goose were available here – a pint of the Mad Goose and a coffee came to £7.10, which seems a tad expensive to me, but the MG was in good shape. There were no menus on tables at the tail end of lunchtime on Thursday, but the aroma of food was in the air so I guess it must be available. Table service is available, but obviously I eschewed this in favour of a personal trip to the bar. This is a basic single-room pub. The walls and pillars are painted a sort of nautical light blue aquamarine colour. As you might expect with a pub called the Smugglers Tavern there’s a bit of a nautical theme here with a ship’s wheel and masses of framed maps and charts on the walls. Furnishings are fairly basic, with mainly normal tables and chairs and some small round stools, plus tall stools at ledges around the sides. There was the inevitable World Cup flag bunting, and of course some music playing, but admittedly not too loudly. This is a fairly straifghtforward bar – nothing exceptional but OK. The staff were friendly, and the beer was in good shape, so a couple of pluses there, but it’s not really somewhere to which I would choose to make regular visits.

Randomness Guide to London - Smugglers Tavern entry

Randomness Guide to London - Smugglers Tavern entry

I thought that this place had more of a bar feel than pub and although barmaid was nice enough my pint of Pride had seen better days. Along with the two Pride, there are two Greene King IPA hand pumps, which were both off during my visit, and a limited selection of standard and premium lagers. There is a large plasma screen on the front window and the pub shows both Sky Sports and Setanta. There was no sport on during my visit, but there was some nice chilled out music playing at an unimposing volume. The pub is very small, as is the bar on the back wall, but it is laid out nicely and the three picnic tables on the path outside add some much welcomed drinking space. It is a shame that my pint wasn't great as I would have probably stayed for another. I'll have to try this place again to see if I have more luck next time.