The Globe, Marylebone, NW1

This is a simple, single room, street corner pub, just a couple of minutes walk from Marylebone Station. The pub has a very basic interior with dark wooden floorboards, exposed brick and plain painted walls and some very large windows down two sides. Seating comprises long banquettes with lots of scatter cushions along two sides of the room, with chairs and low stools in support. The bar is to the left and has a boxy, tongue and groove fronted counter under a basic gantry with a well stocked, bare brick bar back. The walls are fairly plain, with TV screens at either end of the room, one showing rugby with the sound on and the other showing live football, but other than that and a few hanging plants in the windows, there's not much to catch the eye. This had the effect of making the pub feel empty and incomplete - a feeling that wasnt helped by the very bright lighting that greeted my arrival on a Saturday evening, so it didn't exactly feel like the cosiest of pubs. One source of distraction was the big box of board games in the rear right corner, but I was clutching at straws a bit by this point. There were two cask ales to choose from on this visit - Gravity Well Galaxies Apart and Verdant Penpol Pale Ale (£5.50 a pint), with the latter in reasonable condition. The barman was friendly enough and made light of an awkward situation when the card machine started to play up. This was a decent enough pub visit, but one not exactly made memorable by the pub's lack of decor or interesting features. They had a couple of decent ales on, which was definitely the main selling point, but I can think of a few other pubs within a short walk of the station that I would favour over this one in the future. Date of visit - 16th March 2024

As highlighted in the previous review, I too thought I had already been to this pub when noticing its appearance in the current Good Beer Guide. It was only on further investigation, that I realised that the Globe I had been in was the one on the Marylebone Road. Tucked away on Lisson Grove, a few minutes walk from Marylebone station, this corner pub stocks a cask ale (two when big sports event are on) and a number of craft beers. The cask beer was Iron Pier Joined At The Hop Chinook & Centennial. Craft beers were Camden Pale, Blue Coast Session IPA, Cloudwater Golden Hour & And Relax, Deya Invoice Me For The Microphone, Track Brave Noise & Brew By Numbers 11 IPA. We arrived to find a rather annoying bloke asking the barman a million and one questions about a planned forthcoming visit to watch some sporting event (either rugby or cricket). I think the guy was trying to book out the pub for the game. Luckily the barman interrupted him to serve us. Otherwise we'd have been waiting for ages. During our visit, only one other strange guy walked. He stood around playing with his mobile phone with no apparent desire to be served. As such, the barman went and sat down to read a newspaper. I don't think I'd go out of my way to return here, but at least I can say I've visited both of the Marylebone Globes now, with this one being the better of the two.

Now in the GBG (2023) and causing confusion to pub tickers. Even the best of them, Retired Martin, went to the barn Globe opposite Baker Street Tube. Which is what I had saved incorrectly in my Google maps. However, the GBG app showed me the way - and just a street from Marylebone Station and a damn sight better than the expensive bars contained within there. A very pleasant barman/(must be the owner) engaged me in plenty of beery chat, as we tried to work out which of the mainly keg would most appeal. Alas, I missed the Kernel and went for a decent Brew by Numbers. What was funny was watching the other clientele. Not too many, but everyone who came in after me was on untappd, going back for a 2nd look at the offerings or talking very loudly about how the single cask wasnt up to much and marking it down accordingly. Who'd run a pub, these days! Interior is knocked through - with a (fake?) brick effect wall proclaiming Craft Beer. Nothing memorable. Higher score for the pleasant experience of engaging with the barman/owner. Will go back, when I have time before a train.

Corner pub with an open rectangular bar and large windows on both sides so it has a light, airy feel even on a damp August evening. Basic furniture, thankfully with cushions on the peripheral wooden benches at the far end, and limited decoration, so the main focus is the gantried servery along the back wall. Just Greene King Yardbird from one of the pair of slightly hidden handpumps, but for a change I went for the rarely seen Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier (£5.60).