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The Round House, Covent Garden, WC2
WC2
WC2E 9AR
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Round House
Good Fullers pub thats always busy on my visits.Touristy but seems to have a mixed crowd always spilling onto the street.Darkstar -sunquake was my choice on recent visit.
On 19th November 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Round House
The Roundhouse’s semi-circular interior and history are best appreciated on the pub’s website.
This used to be a regular haunt of mine from the late ‘80s to late ‘90s, so it was a revisit after a good 20 years. I can’t remember what the interior looked like, but perhaps I just didn’t spot the Wedgwood-style powder blue and white fibrous plasterwork ceiling.
Thankfully, there were two Dark Star ales on, along with the full year-round Fuller’s range: Pale Ale and Hophead at £2.80 a half and ok.
This isn’t a bad pub, but is perhaps just a bit corporate. Worth a visit if in the area, but not a destination in its own right; the easily confused Round Table round the corner is a better bet, providing it’s not just GK IPA on the bar.
On 5th November 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Round House
Originally The Petters Hotel, the pub is Victorian and is a great example of a traditional London boozer, not too badly damaged by the tourist trade. Still owned by Fullers, the ales on during this visit were faux-HSB, Oliver’s Island, Pride and Fruit Loop. Service was very slow due to the stupidity of some of the customers – but you can’t blame the pub for that. The staff were friendly, the atmosphere was lively, the beer was in decent condition. As London pubs go, it’s not a bad bet, and the location and layout make it a good place to watch the world go by.
On 30th August 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3283 recommendations about 3248 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Round House
Decent Fuller's pub which certainly isn't round! No ESB but HSB and Bengal Lancer (I think) on offer. Worth a return visit.
On 9th February 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Roundhouse
Reasonable Fuller's pub, but always very cramped due to the odd polygonal shape of the bar (with the result that many of the customers are usually to be found outside on the pavement). Traditional furniture and decor. Chiswick, Pride, Spring Sprinter and HSB (£4.35) available from the five handpumps on this visit, and always a safe bet for a decent pint.
On 21st February 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Roundhouse
A very busy Fullers establishment this one, with only a disappointing four ales to choose from on our visit. If you're looking for a rowdy sort of pub, then this is it. You may have to shout a little to be heard when ordering a pint.
On 13th January 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Roundhouse
Situated roughly halfway between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, the Roundhouse is an unusual, almost circular single room pub. The windows that run around the room create quite a light feel inside where there are bare floorboards and floral wallpaper but little else of decorative interest. The bar is at the back of the room and there are high tables and stools in the middle whilst bench and low stool seating has been arranged around the perimeter. Two sets of double doors can be opened to help ease the cramped feeling the place can get at busier times, but it also creates a bit of a chilly draught when the weather isn’t so great. Inevitably, customers end up spilling outside where there is actually quite a good deal of standing room, despite the passing tourist masses. Several TV screens, including a number suspended above the bar counter, were showing muted Serie A football to no-one in particular. The staff were very efficient, clearing and cleaning tables as soon as they became free and the mixed clientele included a couple of well behaved stag party groups.
As a Fullers house in Central London, I expected a decent selection of their beers, but was disappointed to find just London Pride, ESB and Discovery available, with the latter going off after our first pint. The beer was kept well enough, but I’d have to agree with the previous poster that the nearby Lamb and Flag is a far better place to explore the Fuller’s range.
This pub serves a purpose as somewhere to enjoy a quick pint in passing and the unusual building at least gives it a point of interest over some other pubs in the area, but there are several much better pubs a short walk away and I doubt I’d make a return.
On 5th May 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Roundhouse
A short hop, skip and a jump away from The Lamb and Flag is The Roundhouse, a street corner pub that, as the name suggests, has a semi-circular curved frontage.
Now a Fullers pub, it's a rather unremarkable interior with bare floorboards, and a mixture of banquette seating and the usual high tables and bar stools.The frontage opens up to give a more welcoming and airy feel to the place, but, even so, it's a rather uninspiring place.
Beers on were Discovery, London Pride, ESB, Seafarers and, notably, Mr Harry. The Seafarers - at a pricey £ 3.35p for a 3.6% beer - was reasonable.
With the Lamb and Flag close by, where there's a better range, more sensible prices and a more traditional atmosphere - plus of course other decent pubs close at hand - I don't envisage calling in here again.
On 6th October 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Roundhouse
I have utilised The Roundhouse a couple of times during the last month as a location to meet up, as the beer quality is usually good and, as a previous reviewer has commented, its location equidistant from Leicester Square and Covent garden make it fairly easy to find but far away from both not to be swamped by tourist hoards.
As mentioned below it is a bit of a strange layout and can get cramped, especially in the winter months. However on a hot summer day all the double doors are opened and then the large exterior pavement space is utilised to expand the available vertical drinking area.
The pub has three flat screen teles and limited seating inside.
Usual fullers beer on which included the seasonal Gales Festival Mild which was in good condition on this particularly warm Saturday afternoon.
On 9th July 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Roundhouse
It’s a good few years since I’ve been in here, and it doesn’t seem to have changed very much, except that it’s a Fuller’s pub now of course. They had the usual range of Fuller’s beers on (excepting Discovery) when I was in there. I reckon this is a typical West End pub – nothing special about it. Bare-boarded throughout, with the usual mix of high stools/high tables normal tables and chairs; small stools – plus faux chalkboards and the staff wearing regulation black shirts. And it is round, so meets that part of its description. There were mainly tourists in when I was in there on Wednesday lunchtime, with several groups perched round tables that were not really large enough for their groups. A couple of them got up and left when nothing happened after about 10 minutes (I supposed that they might have been expecting table service!). It must have seemed quite unwelcoming to them – a bit depressing on a wet day in London in June.
It’s a fair enough place if you’re a fan of Fuller’s ales; otherwise there’s nothing about it to warrant a recommendation.
On 10th June 2009
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]