Allsop Arms, Marylebone, NW1

completely sterile open plan pub, which as noted feels more suburban or small town rather than a central London pub. Totally anonymous interior with all the basic facets expected from a corporate GK place. Initially got excited at seeing five clipped handpulls but one was Abbot and the rest for Lilley’s cider. A forgettable experience that I won’t be repeating.

A detached Greene King tied house,which looks good externally.Inside it's been modernised with an L shaped layout and some Sky flatscreens.The calmer area is to the right with a long bench seat at the end subdivided into two person booths by Covid screens,are these really necessary ?The other side was less discrete with some high tables and space for vertical drinking,it felt corporate. The bar has some mainstream keg and 6 handpumps with GK Abbot and IPA doubled up.There were what looked like two guests,namely Twickenham Spring Ale (NBSS 3) and something clipped as Spring Break from "Future Brewers" which on research turned out to be another GK brew but with provenance disguised.I really hate those tactics so minus a point. One guest ale is not enough to tempt me back,it's a pretty ordinary pub once inside.

Also a first for me the other night and initially I wasn’t too impressed when a colleague put forward this GK food orientated pub as the venue for our monthly meet up, but I have to say reality was better than my expectations. Yes the interior is the modern characterless pubco type makeover but I’ve seen a lot worse and the ridiculous high tables and chairs are still in situ, but there is enough normal ones as well. But a key point is that it’s quite a big place internally and wasn’t massively overcrowded for our early evening after work visit and could accommodate a large group comfortably for a spot of vertical drinking, and we even managed to utilise one of the normal tables later on. But the biggest pleasant surprise was that all six ale pumps were in use and three of them were not from GK. Alongside the normal IPA, the seasonal Six nations aligned Scrum Down and what I guess is also a GK brew in the shape of the Allsop Arms Bitter there was also Wadsworth 6X, Southwark Brewery Citra and New River Five Inch Drop. We stayed on the last two and they were both well kept. I still wouldn’t go out of my way to visit here but would certainly utilise again when next in the Marylebone area.

Official site of Allsop Arms - www.allsoparms-marylebone.co.uk

Official site of Allsop Arms - www.allsoparms-marylebone.co.uk

This is an unusual looking building for the area and may be an inter-war pub. Internally it is rather bland it must be said, a L-shaped space with what looks like laminate wooden flooring to the middle with carpet to each end, mixed seating of all types, a few framed bits of this and that but little worthy of note. I ended up visiting as many pubs in the Baker Street area were closed on Bank Holiday Monday, presumably due to the influx of football fans to the area for a Wembley Play-Off final. Indeed a sign on the bar advised this place was closing too on the dot of the final whistle. Food is served, deals were advertised all over the walls, I expect given the location near Madame Tussauds, the Planetarium and Baker Street with the Sherlock Holmes museum that it gets a decent passing tourist trade and hence will shift a fair few dinners. It therefore serves a purpose and probably does well but seeing that the beer choice is limited to Greene King, it is unlikely to drag me back for another go. IPA, London Glory, Old Golden Hen, Abbot and Allsop Arms Best Bitter (probably a rebadged Hardy and Hanson's 3.9%).