Marquis of Granby, Fitzrovia, W1

A medium-sized Nicholson's house in Fitzrovia and in their typoicals fashion has a fairly traditional interior with a polished wood floor and a mixture of low and high tables. One of the few in the immediate area opening at 11.00, but otherwise averagely adequate. Draught ales were Ghost Ship, Exmoor Ale, London Pride, Doom Bar, the St Austell house ale and a charity brew.

This is a compact, street corner Nicholson’s pub hidden away down the sort of back street you’d do well to just stumble across, yet doing a roaring trade on my mid-week, post-work visit. The simple ground floor bar area is laid out in a broad bottomed U-shape and has bare floorboards, half panelled walls with dark painted uppers and an anglypta patterned ceiling. The L-shaped servery is located at the rear of the room and has a traditional dark wood counter and nice mirrored bar back, which includes some vintage-styled Nicholson’s mirrors. High chunky tables and stools snake down the left hand side of the room and out into the centre, giving way eventually to some button backed banquettes to the right and a few regular tables and chairs elsewhere. Some rather austere looking watercolours fail to liven up the walls, but a string of fairy lights winds its way around the room, perking things up nicely. A display case on the left hand wall has been filled with various interesting trinkets and next to this there is a shelving unit piled high with board games. A TV screen was showing a subtitled news channel whilst a selection of cool old-school tunes played in a rather futile attempt to distract everyone from the almost deafening chatter of the packed room. The pavement outside was also packed like sardines, making it almost impossible to so much as locate, never mind reach, the front door. Plenty of Nicholson’s favourites were available on the hand pumps plus a few interesting guests, with the full range comprising Fullers London Pride, Sharps Doom Bar, Nicholson’s Pale Ale, Harvey’s Sussex Best, LBC Beer Street and one turned clip. The Beer Street was a decent pint and the staff were relentlessly cheery, despite the somewhat overwhelming crowds they were trying to cope with. I quite liked this place and thought the more compact nature of the pub meant it was a lot cosier and characterful than some of their bigger venues. The beer was in decent shape, the service was friendly and the place was absolutely rocking, although I imagine more peaceful visits are possible if timed right, should you prefer. A good option to be aware of if you’re looking to escape the Oxford Street masses.

This was an almost daily [crawl] haunt when I worked around the corner from here from '88 to '91. Indeed this was the very first pub we visited to celebrate the introduction of all-day drinking! It's so long since I last visited that I can't really remember it, suffice to say it's a slightly more modern than average Nicholson's outlet with fairly standard furniture and some high tables and chairs and mute music, though I can't quite see how it's close to a JDW - God forbid, unless it's had a makeover in the last 7 days! :) The barman was friendly enough. Beers: Adnam's Broadside, Truman's Runner, St. Austell's Doom Bar and Nicholson's Pale Ale, Steam Brewery's Half Sovereign and Dark Star's Partridge which was on form and at £4.15 a pint is good value for the area. This is a decent undemanding pub with a fairly good selection of ales so is certainly worth a visit, especially when combined with a crawl of the Bricklayers, Wheatsheaf and Newman Arms which are all virtually next door.

Small Nicholson outlet, overshadowed by a large tree. U shaped interior, dark blue walls. Not a huge amount to note bar part of one side having striking oil-effect glaze tiling and some tidy inbuilt cabinets. Six pumps; Sadlers Thin Ice (decent nick), Doom Bar, Purity UBU, Brains ‘Phonics (decent), Truman's Runner and St Austell Nicholsons APA. One of those sorts of places where most of the customers stand outside, so not one to visit between 5-8pm. It’s OK, perhaps one of the closest Nicholsons pubs to a JDW style look and feel, but not a place I’d make an effort to re-do.

A plain/bland interior compared to most Nicholson's pubs. 6 real ales and food served.