The Theodore Bullfrog, WC2

Quite quiet at half past six on Tuesday night. Only weak real ale on offer. Nothing special at all.

A noisy dive bar in a smelly back street near Charing Cross. The clientele are primarily the young hooded variety who speak fluent Eminem but struggle with English. The barman was also of this ilk and was, in addition, rude and belligerent. Food consisted of over-priced parcels of mechanically recovered bovine waste, stuck inside stale rolls and smothered in a mixture of fat, MSG and various artificial flavourings – like burgers only worse. There were 4 handpumps, one dry, the others dispensing badly-kept GK beers: IPA, EPA and Gold XPA. All the beers were over-gassed and somewhat disappointing. The WiFI didn't work, also a disappointment as it was the one potentially useful thing about this place. I don't imagine I'll be hopping back.

Official site of Theodore Bullfrog, contains event details - www.theodore-bullfrog.co.uk

Official site of Theodore Bullfrog, contains event details - www.theodore-bullfrog.co.uk

I knew this pub very well in the early 70’s when it was a Whitbread pub called The Gilbert and Sullivan, and had masses of G&S memorabilia all over the place. Then they changed the name to St Martin’s Tavern; and a few years ago someone had a rush of blood to the head and decided that the name Theodore Bullfrog was an improvement. The name gives a good clue as to the sort of place this has become; it’s hard to imagine a decent pub having such a ridiculous name. It looks depressing from the outside, being painted battleship grey, and just as depressing inside with the walls painted that muddy gray colour. The flooring is light coloured boards; there was a TV showing a sports channel, but muted so that the couple of punters in there could enjoy the banal pop music; there were some high stools/tables plus some normal tables and chairs; and the six nations’ flags draped from above the bar. The most interesting feature was an advertising board with scrolling lights (a bit like you see on trains telling you the destinations) above one of the doors, advertising such things as the quiz night and take-away food. This is the first one of these that I’ve seen, and does little to enhance the atmosphere of the pub. There was nothing about the decor worth mentioning. There were four handpumps on the bar – two had GKIPA and Bombardier clips reversed, and the other two were dispensing Sharp’s Doom Bar and Adnam’s Bitter; the latter at £3 a pint. This pub has nothing going for it that would convince me to pay a return visit.