O'Neill's, NW1

Not a massive fan of this chain but at least there was a choice of ales on. I can't for the life of me remember what they were but they were in decent shape! Happy to pop in again.

Ordinarily I would avoid one of these places like the plaque but as this was the Christmas period there was virtually nothing open around here and also for the fact that as Alan said, this was indeed once a real pub called The Euston Tavern, present here in some form since at least the mid-19th century when it was an all together more attractive Marston's-tied structure, the current incarnation probably being early Edwardian. This is probably the best of the breed, perhaps explained by the fact that M & B have their headquarters upstairs. The interior is quite an opened out arena with a slightly raised area to the rear. Bare boarded of course, with some Minton-style encaustic tiles, conventional furniture with some taupe leatherette banquettes. Games machines flash in the corner, sport played on TV with the sound down and music played at a medium level. There are pictorial menus for the illiterate on the tables as well as cradles containing sauce bottles. Clients are touristy types, lost souls making a beeline for the first drinkery they see on exiting the railway stations and drunken oddballs. On the plus side, the lavatories are quite nice. The barman was efficient with ales on offer: Fuller's London Pride, Great Heck's Mercy, Shepherd Neame's Rudolph's Reward and Black Sheep Bitter at a very reasonable £4.20 a pint and good with it. This place is typical Euston Road crap and makes for a decent emergency stop over the holiday, but the best advice is to avoid this area whenever possible.