Crown & Anchor, NW1

This place, unsurprisingly, hasn't changed a bit since the previous reviewer's visit. The pub is better than expected and is a perfectly reasonable stop. It does though get very busy and on balance I prefer the Exmouth Arms around the corner.

This place is unchanged since the previous reviewer's visit. I too was a bit mystified by the "large metal sculpture" at the back, which looked a bit like a load of tubular bells hanging from the ceiling. The fairy lights in the dark blue backlit recesses at the back add to the sort of daytime "nightclub" feel to the place. There was a vase of lilies and immature eucalyptus stems behind the bar, as well as a most useful beer list chalkboard. Anyway, they did have a decent selection of ales on - London Pride; Doom Bar; West Berkshire Brewery Blindside Flanker; Madness Brewery Lovestruck; and Ilkley Brewery Rosa Ostana (£2.15 a half). The latter is described as a rose petal ale - a new one on me - which I felt obliged to try, and which was actually quite good and didn't seem to be overly rose petal flavoured. Not that I'm an expert on the taste of rose petals as they very rarely pass my lips! I was in on a Wednesday lunchtime when it was "burger day", where you get a choice of burgers, plus a drink, for a tenner. The drinks include Doom Bar, but the menu didn't specify whether you got a pint or a half. The main menu featured main courses from £10 (bangers n mash) upwards. It was starting to get busy by 12.30, with most of the tables taken, so they must be doing something right. Being a short walk from Euston Station must help of course. It's not a destination pub by any means, but it was better than I had expected, and is another nearby alternative if the Bree Louise is overly busy.

This is a decent sized, single room backstreet pub, close to Euston station. An L shaped wood panelled servery on the back wall boasts a decorative bar back and at one end of the counter there was a large, full water dispenser with cucumber slices in it, which customers were invited to help themselves to. To the left of the bar is a part tile, part bare boarded space with a skylight, bare brick walls and a mix of button back banquettes and standard seating. A baffling, large metal tube sculpture was suspended from the ceiling here and the windows had been blacked out by venetian blinds, allowing muted lighting to create a decent ambiance. The porch area at this side of the room has lattice windows, with each pane displaying a painted image. High tables and stools run under the front windows, where more of these painted windows can be viewed, before the room opens out again into another seating area, once you’ve passed the right hand end of the bar. Music played pretty quietly throughout my visit, although this was quickly drowned out by the general noise created by a decent post-work crowd. I didn’t expect much in the way of good beer here, but the success of some of the local ale houses seems to have encouraged places like this to put a reasonable selection on. Five handpulls were dispensing Sharps Doom Bar, Fullers London Pride, Purity Mad Goose, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Harviestoun Broken Dial, from which I enjoyed a respectable pint of the latter. This set me back £4.20, but signs noted that all pints are discounted by a pound on Mondays, which was no consolation on my Thursday evening visit. Food is available, with blackboards detailing tapas style cuisine. This was quite a good spot for a quick pint and the early evening crowd generated a pretty good atmosphere. There are lots of very good pubs around Euston and I’m not sure that this place has enough going for it to compete with them, but as part of a crawl or just for a change of scene, it’s worth remembering.

Interior as described below. 5 real ales and food served. Handy for Euston station.

This place seems to have had a refurb since previous reviews as it now has a more bright and airy feel, a long room with the bar on the back wall, returning slightly to one end. Lots of exposed brickwork, boarded floors with one section quarry tiled, mixed seating with high tables predominant in the Georgian style front windows. Rather foody with a "posh" menu listed on chalkboards and individual single sheets on the tables. Ox cheek and red wine pie with kale and mash £11.50, haddock, skin-on chips and pea puree £10.00, sandwiches £6.75 to £10.50 (steak), cheeseboard £7. The long list of bar snacks included something called BBQ pork slider (?). I was in early lunchtime and a few groups were settling in and ordering. There's a reasonable beer selection, Redemption Urban Dusk, Woodforde Norfolk Gold (£3.80), Bristol Beer Factory Bitter Californian, Doom Bar and Yorkshire Brewery Co Monsoon were both "conditioning". A nice civilised spot not far from Euston station in the back streets beyond the Bree Louise and fine for a quick pre train pint as a change from some of the established beer oriented bars in the vicinity.

Official site of the Crown and Anchor - www.thecrownandanchornw1.co.uk

Official site of the Crown and Anchor - www.thecrownandanchornw1.co.uk

Randomness Guide to London - Crown And Anchor entry

Randomness Guide to London - Crown And Anchor entry