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The Cock, Fitzrovia, W1

27 Great Portland Street
W1
W1W 8QE

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Cock

As you approach this Sam Smiths tied house,the enormous ,oversized hanging lanterns outside give an ominous warning.Inside it's all very traditional but souless.There are three sections on the ground floor and lots of wood,while the curved staircase to the first floor dining area is the best feature.
Quite a young crowd of student age,some well oiled made up the punters on my Saturday afternoon visit and the pub was noisy.Both handpumps had clips reversed so I had to go for a SS keg lager by the name of Double Four.Tasteless pish.I noticed pistachios at £4.25 which seemed a complete rip off,I though Humphrey offered drinkers value in his pubs as long as you don't use mobiles or foul language.On that basis all the punters inside should have been banned.
I would not have minded being shown the door,I downed my half pronto and pushed off resolving never to darken this pub door again.It was real Cock.

On 25th September 2022 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Cock

Another pub in the area dating from the late 17th century but rebuilt in the late 19th and another SS pub which has what must be a fake High Victorian interior with ornate cornicing, ceiling roses, cut and etched glass or mirrored screens and signs prohibiting the use of mobile phones; there's an ornate fireplace at one end with its original surround and the fine bar back is original. I don't know if the Minton (or similar) tiled floor is original, but it looks good. Like the Crown & Sceptre up the road, customers seemed to be mainly blokes with beards and tattoos.
There was the one ale on, the ubiquitous Old Brewery Bitter at a pricey (for Sams) £2.35 a half and although it wasn't customarily freezing cold, it was a bit lifeless, served by a very uninterested barman who didn't seem to have heard of the half before.
This is a pretty pub, but the choice of ale and general ambience don't make for a restful experience, but it was probably the best of my four pub mini-crawl.

On 10th October 2021 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


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Will Larter left this review about The Cock

A fantastic building, easily identifiable from further up Great Portland Street by the huge lamps suspended over the pavement and looking as though they could fall at any moment. Inside it's superbly well presented too, but this almost goes without saying for the vast majority of Sam Smith's pubs. Quite busy at the time of my visit with a post-work crowd revelling in paying only £3.50 a pint. The Old Brewery Bitter was in good condition and all's right with the world.

On 17th February 2020 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


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Quinno _ left this review about The Cock

Chugging along much as it was five years back. Bottles of Nut Brown ale and Chocolate Stout enjoyed on a rather busy Friday evening visit.

May 2014
Another Sam Smiths outlet in an area they seem to have colonised. This one has some ultra-massive glass lanterns hanging outside the pub. The inside is, apparently, a faux-recreation of an old Edwardian pub and I really rather like it. The ground floor has lovely tiled flooring, leather banquettes, plasterworked ceiling and some classic dark wood fittings including snob screens, a large partitioning archway with inlaid clock and a tidy bar back. There’s a lounge bar upstairs that was closed on my visit. Usual Sam’s selection including cask OBB which was in decent nick if (as usual) a tad cold (should that be ‘Tad cold’?). Pretty busy on our visit, certainly in comparison with two their nearby Sam’s pubs (the Cock and Dover Castle). I quite enjoyed it in here and wouldn’t be averse to a revisit, even if it’s unlikely to trouble the ‘must-do’ list. Rated 7

On 18th December 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]


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Real Ale Ray left this review about The Cock

This pub is easy to spot on approach, with its large pendant shaped lanterns hanging down from the first floor, even better looking when lit. The interior in here is stunning, with lots of dark oak ornate woodwork, screens etched glass, patterned terracotta floor tiles and an entrance screen with built in clock that leads you into the centre of the bar. Prices were excellent for this part of London and I paid £3.70 for a pint of Sam Smiths Indian Pale. The pub also had a no mobile phones policy to encourage customers to engage in conversation. The bar staff displayed this on T shirts and some posters dotted around the walls also promoted the idea.

On 17th November 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about The Cock

Located just off Oxford Street, this is a typically smart and ornate Sam Smiths pub. Clearly once a multiple room venue, the pub has now been opened out into a C-shaped room with a relatively large seating area at one end. The whole pub has a fine patterned tile floor, elegant wood panelled walls, etched glass Sam Smiths windows and an impressive decorative seating, all combining to show off the brewery’s commitment to restoring their pub’s to something approximating their former glory. A corner entrance leads you into the smaller left hand side of the room, where limited seating skirts the perimeter and from which a short section of the servery is accessible. You pass under an arched partitioning screen with a nice integral clock at the top, into the narrow bar area with the servery along the rear wall. The bar has a smart dark wood counter with decorative etched glass end screens topped with small semi-circular carved wood capitals. The counter also boasts a short section of snob screens in the centre and a pot shelf held up by some fun metalwork cherubs. The bar back has three large, dark wood arches and some great etched glass mirrors which give it a grand, imposing feel. The right side of the room is a little less interesting, comprising an open plan central space with banquette and chair seating to the front and rear and a small stone fireplace with the same etched glass mirror above as seen behind the bar. Stairs from here lead up to a first floor dining room which I didn’t get round to looking at.
It’s a Sam Smiths pub, so just Old Brewery Bitter on handpull at £3.40 a pint, with the usual keg and bottled range all present and correct. The staff were a bit flustered and disorganised but friendly enough once I eventually got served and the Bitter was in decent enough shape.
I liked the numerous interesting features that you can find all around this pub and enjoyed snooping around the place, spotting new interesting things, but it really isn’t the sort of place I can imagine frequenting for more than a quick pint. There are very few places to settle yourself down and the beer range suffers from the usual Sam Smiths complaints. Worth a look in passing though, just to check out the fine restoration work carried out here.

On 14th January 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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custodian 42 left this review about The Cock

Standard Sam Smiths pub. One room with bar in the middle. Usual drinks selection.

On 23rd July 2018 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cock

Inside, no real surprises for a Sam Smiths pub in London (i.e. dark wooden decor and the like-it-or-loathe-it beer at low prices). The main bar area is a recreation of a former age, with lots of attractive wood panelling, a gantried counter to one side and some screens which help break up the three-part bar area. There is also a dining room upstairs (not visited recently). Outside, there are the rather remarkable lanterns overhanging the on-street smoking zone. Four handpumps, but of course only OBB (£2.90) on offer. Overall, not too bad at all.

On 20th September 2015 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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hondo . left this review about The Cock

Sam Smith's pub so the usual selection and cheap prices.

On 20th March 2014 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]


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John Bonser left this review about The Cock

Situated on the next street corner going northwards from The George ( on which I have just posted ) is The Cock Tavern, an archetypal Sam Smiths pub

Immediately noticeable as you approach the pub are several splendid glass lanterns outside. A blackboard by the entrance greets us with the words " The Cock - making people laugh for over a century", although on my recent Saturday lunchtime visit, the sullen barmaid obviously hadn't read the script.

Inside we find a fairly typical Sam Smiths "Victorianisation", with fake snob screens, a colourful re-tiled floor, much dark wood panelling and comfortable leather banquettes.There's an upstairs lounge bar doing food at certain times.

On my visit, it was very noticeable how relatively empty and quiet the pub was compared with The George a block or so away and from where I had just come.

The Sam Smiths OBB is on handpump at the standard price of £ 1.99p.

If you like the Sam's style of pub, you're pretty sure to like this one, but it's not a pub to go out of your way to visit.

On 7th October 2010 - rating: 6
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]

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