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Crown & Two Chairmen, Soho, W1
W1
W1D 3SB
Pub Type
Castle (Mitchells & Butlers)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Another street corner pub with an open plan interior save for a rear snug with red leather bound bench seating.Lots of high tables by the bar,drinking shelves and some seating outside.Modern mosaic infront of the bar ,there is an upstairs bar and lounge but unused on my trip and maybe an overflow area.
Food from a short menu looked like expensive pub grub with mains around £15,there is live music on Sundays and just two ales on my trip Doom Bar and Bedlam East Coast Pale (Tired ,NBSS 1.5,£3.10 half !)
Leave it to the tourists.
On 7th August 2022
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Yet another early 18th century pub rebuilt, but unbelievably in 1929 for Meux’s; former famous customers are listed on What?ub.
Much of what has been written below still applies. This is a relatively large – for the area – pub, which has been stripped out. There’s a modern boarded floor, battleship grey match board to the dado then pale grey walls to a white, cluttered ceiling; there’s also some bare brick. The bar front is field panelled and painted turquoise, but the back is some tubular affair, with a Charrington’s mirror to the left and an ‘Elland Road LS11’ sign above the bar, indicating the pub’s sporting inclinations. Furniture to the front is tall and mismatched, to the rear are more conventional tables and chairs. Lighting comes from mismatched hanging glass lamps with similar sconces, all with filament bulbs, the wattage duly decreased at 21.30 on the dot, to ramp up the gloom factor. The music was really quite loud, meaning that the mainly younger female customers had to shout, resulting in a rather unrestful experience.
Surprisingly there were three ales: Doom, Landlord and Ubu at a savage £2.95 a half and fine.
This really isn’t a great place. Soho is more a nightlife destination, so I suppose it fulfils that brief, but as a pub, it’s really not great at all.
Rated 3.5.
On 20th October 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Larger than the average pub in the area - one big drinking area. Nothing very distinguishable inside.
Timothy Taylor in good condition - which makes a change from the fullers pubs near by. Not that I dont love fullers beers.
On its own - it would be OK - but many better places vying for your money in a small area.
On 26th July 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Another traditional pub that has been gutted and trendified as a craft ale joint with a slightly industrial feel. There is one room, occupied almost entirely by high tables and stools, although one cosy corner of the old pub survives behind the bar. Another room is signed upstairs (not visited). It usually has a couple of interesting beers on pump however, as well as the keg craft stuff and some nice Belgians in bottle, plus for who knows what reason Doom Bar.
On 17th March 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
One room pub with the bar to the left. Four hand pumps - all weak real ale. Not a very interesting place.
On 22nd August 2018
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Stripped back interior with a mixture of bare boards and tiled flooring. 4 real ales 2 on during my visit. Handy for the Soho theatre.
On 27th October 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Crown & Two Chairmen
Unbranded M&B (Castle) corner pub, with a stripped-out interior of little interest and a mix of furniture (including some of those annoying high seats). More space upstairs, with another - more comfortable - seating / dining area (but no real ale from the small bar therein). Also has some patio tables out on the pavement. Three of four handpumps in operation on this visit, offering Doom Bar, Black Sheep and Timothy Taylor Boltmaker (plus another real ale 'coming soon'). (NB - I did have an issue about the way the beer was served on my previous visit, but the manager responded promptly and helpfully to my feedback so full marks for that.)
On 23rd August 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Crown & 2 Chairmen
Large, noisy and fairly charmless two-floored corner pub with a dull interior and standing room only. Five handpumps though two were off last night. I tried Purity UBU which was good and some unknown (to me) IPA which was passable. However I did notice whilst waiting that many of the beers came out with startlingly short measures and some were even started off from drip trays; terrible, given the prices. There was a good selection of continental keg stuff and bottles so perhaps this is your best bet for a full measure. Staff were fairly clueless and served people who shouted and waved their £20 note around the most, though the quickest way to grab their attention was to stand in the way of the glass collection point – lightning reaction by comparison.
I doubt I’ll be making reappearance here, especially given the proximity of the far superior Dog & Duck a few yards away.
On 27th January 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Crown & 2 Chairmen
The Crown & Two Chairmen is situated pretty much in the dead centre of Soho making it convenienet from all angles if you know where you’re going through the myriad of lanes and alleys that make up the area.
It is slightly larger that the average Soho pub and does have a slightly more up-market feel to it with the main bar having that now all too common stripped back trendy approach. The décor is quite plain with exposed brickwork, part stone, part wooden bare floors and a battered mix of unmatching furniture. Breweriana fans will spot the large Charringtons mirror that stands behind bar whislt sports fans will be glued to the flat screen TV on the central pillar. The music can be a bit on the thumpy side and is quite intrusive but seemed to generate a fairly bubbly atmosphere if you don’t mind shouting at your neighbour. There is an upstairs lounge bar although I didn’t venture that far.
The Ale choice is a bit more interesting than most of its more unadventurous neighbours with Doom Bar, Purity Ubu, Fullers IPA and Sambrook Wandle available on my recent visit and nice to see pints served in an old fashioned dimpled mug. The Purity was £3.45 which is about par for the area. Aside from the ales it does have a good range of draught craft beers including Brewdog and Camden as well as several American and continental beers, mainly priced between £4/5. On top of that is a good selection of global bottled beers.
The food is a notch up from the chain pub grub menus that you will find in most pubs in the area with main courses around £8-£16 although the fixed price menu seemed to be particularly good value on the assumption that the food is decent enough (I haven’t eaten here so can’t comment).
The pub was quite busy and it was standing room only but that is often a problem among all soho pubs during the evenings. Given the ale selection I would certainly pop in for a couple again but it was perhaps a bit too hustle and bustle to make me want to stay for a longer session.
On 26th October 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Crown & 2 Chairmen
Have utilised the Crown and Two Chairman on a few occasions when it’s been standing room only in the nearby Dog and Duck.
Can get quite busy as it is popular with the media & production crowd who ply their trade in this part of town, but I’ve always found it to be a decent enough pub.
The main street level bar has a modern design interior albeit a bit on the dark side with large wood tables and chairs in the bar area and then a seating area at the back. This tends to be quite busy at most times, but I usually manage to find a seat in the fairly spacious upstairs Chairmans’s Lounge room which has comfortable settee type seating and its own serving bar area. There are five handpumps on the main bar but I’ve only ever seen two beers on offer, as it was the other night when two of the pumps were dispensing Doombar and one other with Sambrook Wandle with the others idle. And then these two beers were replicated again on the two pumps in the upstairs room. Both beers were in reasonable condition albeit at usual Soho prices.
On 19th January 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]