The Duck & Rice, Soho, W1

Originally called the King of Corsica who died in Soho in 1756 and is buried in a disused churchyard in Wardour Street taking his secrets of buried treasure with him (rumours that it is buried under the pitch at Upton Park are possible but fanciful!). Discovering the pub is sadly a lot less rewarding than discovering the good King’s loot. There are few redeeming features, the front tiling looks strangely out of place in such a modern architectural monstrosity that resembles an overhanging shoebox and the interior comes across as depressingly dark, dingy and decidedly dull. The layout is quite simple with a central horseshoe bar (effectively an island snce there is a small walkway at the rear between the 2 sides), bare floors, flocked wallpaper and traditional pub furnishings around the edges. There is a TV above the door porch and and one to the rear. The current Christmas décor doesn’t add any degree of cheer to the place and even the collection of stuffed animals and deer heads would rather be out roaming the. The 3 ales aren’t exactly geared to lure in the discerning drinker (Deuchers, London Pride and Youngs Special) and the prices are rather hefty with the Deuchars relieveing me of £3.80. The place has nnever appealed to me in the 30+ years I have been walking past and I whilst it seems a perfectly respectable place, I didn’t encounter anything that would entice me in again in a hurry and you have to ask what makes it appeal to anyone over and above the numerous alternatives in the area.

A bit grimy and certainly not an inspiring pub - there are much better pubs in the area. I recently spent an hour in here to get out of the rain and the only saving grace was the Deuchars. Below average.