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The George, Soho, W1
W1
W1F 8DG
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The George
A small street corner Shepherd Neame house well described by Tris C below.There is a Sky Sports flatscreen on mute while no match was on,the muzak was well chosen and lively while the strange small handpumps were offering SN Spitfire and Whitstable Pale .(NBSS 3,£5.30 ).
The first floor now seems to be a function room ,there was no sign of food and there is a perilous descent to the loos.However there is a traditional feel and a few pleasing features ,so worth popping in if passing.The three doors maybe hint at an original series of small rooms,these days it's open plan but still modest in size.
On 6th August 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2737 recommendations about 2737 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The George
Another pub, another dating from the early 18th century, rebuilt in the late 19th, with attractive etched and cut-glass picture windows, bearing the name of the former owner, Taylor Walker and the pub’s name in mosaic to the entrance.
This is quite a modest sized room, with a lacquered floor and full height match boarded walls, topped with a white Lincrusta ceiling. The bar front is stylish and the back is very attractive, with etched mirrors. At left, is a very grand pink marble fireplace. The walls are decked with integrated Victorian mirrors advertising mineral water and whisky with a very fine example at right, for former local brewery, Meux’s.
Furniture is conventional and tall, with low tables, chairs and studded banquettes to parts of the periphery and given that this is a slightly more traditional pub, customers were a bit older; lighting is your traditional brass ‘n’ glass stuff. There’s a restaurant upstairs and treacherous steps down to the lavs.
Ales: none, with all five pumps unused. I overheard the barman telling a disappointed customer that they were having trouble with deliveries, but I’ve been in Shep’s pubs years back and they’ve not had deliveries; talk about organising a booze-up in a brewery and it is an actual brewery!
This is a nice pub, despite the shortfall in ale and is one of the best in the area, certainly one of the most traditional and authentic.
On 20th October 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1993 recommendations about 1959 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The George
pleasantly decorated, clean and tidy Shep’s pub on a Soho street corner. A quite ornate single room with some nice features. Three ales on including the always excellent Bishops Finger.
On 24th August 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The George
A small pub with some interesting traces of antiquity including the ceiling and the traditional central London 'North face of the Eiger' stairs to the gents, but spoilt by odd bits of modernity. The upstairs room is available for hire. Beers from Shepherd Neames are fair enough but overall it didn't feel quite right.
On 17th March 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3352 recommendations about 3289 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The George
Compact and busy single-bar pub of the traditional sort, acquired by Shepherd Neame since my last visit a couple of years ago. Retains some interesting features such as the tiled name at the side doorway, and benefits from noticeably large windows so light inside. Usually has a large crowd out on the pavement, but there is a small upstairs room which is often almost deserted. Four of five handpumps in operation this time, with Spitfire, Whitstable Bay, Late Red (£4.25) and Bishops Finger on offer. Overall, OK but nothing special, but watch out for the perilous journey if heading down to the gents!
On 20th September 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The George
Shepherd Neame has acquired the lease of The George public house, in D’Arblay Street, Soho, which the Kent brewer will operate as part of its managed estate.
The pub has been closed for many months and Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer, plans to immediately refurbish the four-storey property which it hopes to open in time for Christmas.
On 30th September 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The George
This pub is a small single room affair without the usual upstairs overspill space you tend to find in this part of town. Polished wooden floor, small island bar with a carved back piece to one side, seating is at a couple of high tables, some padded banquettes in the front window and a couple of small tables at the back, plus a window shelf. The room is easily full due to the closeness of the tables as much as anything and it was a squeeze to get passed a rather dozy and unaware group standing in just the wrong place at the narrowest point.
The pub has an ornate textured ceiling and the lower sections of the windows still bear the pub's name as well as that of the now defunct Taylor Walker brewery (not the new pubco). Not much room for decor but there are three splendid mirrors, Friary Mieux Ales, Mitchell's Old Irish Whiskey and Rawlings Mineral Water, all hanging on wood panelled walls. No sign of food, it doesn't look that sort of place but it was 4ish on a Saturday; three handpumps, one unclipped, GKIPA plus Derby Beer Company Beer o' Clock. The Derby beer was sparklered while the IPA wasn't, so a bit of attention to detail shown there.
Mind the descent to the gents, you need to watch your footing and head at the same time.
On 22nd April 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The George
There is only one handpump on the bar, with a reversed clip when I arrived during a late lunchtime on Wednesday. Just to be a bit contrary, I asked whether there was any real ale on, knowing what the answer was going to be (or so I thought), but surprisingly the lady whom I took to be the landlady said that there was a cask on ready to be pulled through. It turned out to be Theakston’s Cooper’s Butt, and a decent pint it was too, although at £3.40 a pint the sort of price I’ve become anaesthetised to paying in Central London. I didn’t see any sign of food or menus.
This pub is housed in a magnificent Victorian corner-site building. Inside it’s a small one-room pub, with a mixed bag of furnishings crammed into it – one high pedestal table and high stools; stools at a ledge by the windows; a couple of sofas and armchairs, plus a couple of banquettes. The limited wall space is dominated by three superb large brewery mirrors, and a flatscreen TV that was switched off. They’ve clearly replaced the upholstery on the banquettes since my last visit, and in fact the whole place looks a fair bit cleaner. The bar back looks as if it is an original feature, and the “Taylor Walker” windows look pretty old, if possibly not original. Like all pubs in this area, the clientele is predominantly passing trade, but nonetheless it has retained some semblance of being a real pub, a characteristic sadly lacking in most drinking establishments in this part of the world. I would be happy to pay a return visit.
On 6th August 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The George
This corner pub stands on the junction of Wardour and D'Arblay Street, a bit further down Wardour Street from The Ship.. At street level it’s a good example of a Victorian pub exterior with a granite facade with heavy wooden framed windows, with cut glass panels.. Above the plaster work has the date of 1897 for when the pub was built and the face of the English king the pub is named after.
Internally it’s still largely a traditional Victorian pub with the smallish single room having a wooden oak floor and panelled walls ands several of the fixtures and fittings look original, like the curved bar area and the brass ceiling lights. There’s a few nice traditional touches such as the several old brewery mirrors that adorn the walls.
It was quite quiet when I visited so not much atmosphere, and there’s not a great choice of Ales in that there is a solitary hand pump dispensing St Austells Tribute.
On 26th June 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2122 recommendations about 2001 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The George
The George is a typical late Victorian, single room pub in the depths of Soho. Rather awkwardly laid out with a fruit machine almost blocking the one door and a generous amount of space behind the bar given the size of the pub. 2 ales but the pumps are rather strangely situated at opposite ends of the bar and you cannot tell what they are without asking or fighting your way around the bar to look (Courage Best and Bombardier is the answer). Quite airy with plenty of windows, bare floors, basic furniture and 3 TVs (a bit excessive for a pub this size), however the best features are probably the old mirrors advertising Friary Meux (remember them) beers and Mineral Water. Nothing specifically wrong with the pub but there is not really enough to warrant going out of the way for and is probably best as part of a crawl or a meeting place.
On 10th April 2006
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]