Queens Larder, Bloomsbury, WC1

Very small corner pub which actually has considerably more seating provided by the bench seating outside under the canopys than is available inside the pub. Lively mixed crowd both inside and outside on this last Friday evening before Christmas and there were actually twice as many bar keeps working the small serving space than there was along the entire long bar of the Swan next door , so there was absolutely no queuing at the bar. There are four ales usually available, but for our visit on entering one was reverse clipped, but fortunately it was the dreaded GK IPA (how we cheered ). This left Abbott Reserve from the GK stable, a bit too loopy at 6.5% for an extended session, and Redemption Hopspur and Woodforde's Wherry, the latter two being in excellent condition. Small but lively pub with well-kept choice of ales and good service levels. You have to go a long way to find a better pub than this in Bloomsbury.

This tiny GK pub is warm and cosy.Theatre posters on the wall and large puppets above the bar.Shame about the beer choice.Ipa,speckled hen,abbot ale and the second time for me tonight was London Glory.Better pint than previous but its no award winner.Outside seating at the front is a plus.

This GK pub was busy with diners on our lunch time visit. The service at the bar was fast and friendly, in spite of it being busy. We went for the London Glory and had a bit of vertical drinking. Overall a small and cosy historical pub.

The Queen in this case is the unfortunate Queen Charlotte, the consort of King George III, and this pub is named after the food store she maintained when he was “accommodated” nearby during the less lucid period of his life. Anyway, this is a tiny little pub tucked away down an alleyway just off Southampton Row. The bar counter is immediately in front of you as you enter from Cosmo Place, with a bit of banquette seating by the windows with a handful of small round metal framed tables and small stools completing the furnishings. The walls are mainly dark wood panelled, with the upper parts and the latticed ceiling painted a dark red. The upper parts of the walls are decorated with numerous theatre posters, and on the top of the bar gantry are a handful of colourfully garbed model clowns. Outside there are a few picnic benches; in fact there is more seating outside than inside. This is now a Greene King pub, which had no guest ale available during my visit. The half of IPA that I ordered cost £1.90, which is overly expensive even by London standards for what is really a very ordinary beer. There was a faux chalkboard food menu on one of the wall, but without showing prices. The pub itself is a bit twee with flowers on all of the tables, but even so it retains its essential pub character, and I reckon is worth poking your nose into if you’re in the area. However, a better, and more reasonably priced, ale selection would improve the pub immeasurably.