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Cambridge PuG Crawl, Friday 5th April 2024 with Gann on the Pub Forum

The Shaston Arms, Soho, W1

4 Ganton Street
W1
W1F 7QN
Phone: 02072872631

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Shaston Arms

Two former shops ,now a Hall & Woodhouse tied house with two narrow rooms with a very traditional feel.To the left a rank of small seating booths ,to the right the bar,then a bench seat opposite a fireplace,before both sides drop down to a small conservatory.It's all very traditional but the mindless muzak lowers the tone.
Sadly just H&W Badger ales in Fursty Ferret,Tanglefoot and Selector Gold (watery ,NBSS 1.5)
Badly let down by poor ale,not on the list for a revisit despite some internal interest.

On 7th August 2022 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Shaston Arms

A clever conceit here in that this seemingly ye olde pub is actually a new shop conversion dating from 2000.
The ceiling is low with a boarded floor, mushroom Anaglypta to the dado then white walls to the burgundy Anaglypta ceiling. There are booths to the walls with studded upholstery, much dark wood with etched mirror panels. The remaining furniture is conventional and there are many framed prints to the walls; lighting is Victorian-style fake candle sconces. The crowd was mixed and probably office workers too, the interior being rammed, me standing by the open door.
Ales: one pump unused, Tangle Foot and Firsty Ferret, both clips reversed early evening; a half of Guinness set me back £2.75 and was fine.
With the large crowds, this wasn’t a great experience, but the lack of ale in a brewery’s pub and early evening too, isn’t a great advert for the place, so I’m unlikely to return.

On 21st October 2021 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1955 recommendations about 1922 pubs]


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Moby Duck left this review about The Shaston Arms

Small multi-areaed Hall & Woodhouse pub, just a couple of beers on, Pickled Partridge and Tanglefoot the latter at a pricey £2.45 a half.Typical touristy stuff.

On 31st December 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1868 recommendations about 1841 pubs]


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hondo . left this review about The Shaston Arms

Compact Hall & Woodhouse pub with many different sections. 3 real ales and keg beers served.

On 24th 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 The Shaston Arms

Small Hall & Woodhouse pub, with a short bar counter and a somewhat cramped layout of various little seating areas (including one in a modest modern extension at the back). The main room also has a row of booths which further sub-divides the limited space, but the overall effect is a place which is quite good for a quiet chat just a few steps away from the hustle and bustle of Carnaby Street. There are also a few tables on the front pavement (but you are supposed have to have a plastic glass if you are drinking outside). Three handpumps offering Tanglefoot, Fursty Ferret and First Call (£3.60?) available from the three handpumps on this visit. Overall, worth seeking out if in the area.

On 20th September 2015 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]


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Peter Rydings left this review about The Shaston Arms

Found this gem of a place by accident also found the lad behind the bar used to drink in our pub 15 years ago when he lived up north had a good hour just chatting about old times he was only a kid when he came into our i could not remember him but its nice to bump into people from years ago

On 6th August 2014 - rating: 10
[User has posted 948 recommendations about 917 pubs]


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Rex Rattus left this review about The Shaston Arms

Previous reviewers reckon this has been either a wine bar or sandwich bar, or possibly both. Anyway, it certainly looks as if two small houses have been converted into a pub. The two front doors are still there, but only the left hand one is in use. As you enter you immediately turn right into the other “house”, as that is where the bar is situated. Most of the central dividing wall is in place, including a fireplace in what would have been the back room, making it seem very much a pub of two halves. Most of the seating, which is mainly normal tables and chairs, is in the left hand side of the pub for the simple reason that it doesn’t have a bar counter taking up a large part of the room. There is also a small conservatory extension at the back, providing more seating. But this is not a basic backstreet boozer (such a thing could hardly exist this close to the tourist hell of Carnaby St). Although it’s small and cozy it is still an upmarket kind of place – prints carefully and tastefully arranged on the walls, sombre colour schemes, bare-boarded floors, and candles on all the tables.
As others have pointed out, it’s a Hall & Woodhouse pub, with Badger Bitter and Pickled Partridge on during my visit, the latter at £3.30 a pint. Despite its modern and slightly upmarket feel, I quite liked this pub. It didn’t have any of the tourist pub grub look and smells that many of the chain pubs in this area suffer from. I would be happy to drop in for another pint sometime.

On 9th January 2011 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


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Steve of N21 left this review about The Shaston Arms

The Shaston Arms is one of only 9 Hall & Woodhouse pubs with a London postcode. It is a fairly recent pub and was opened in December 2000 when converted from a former wine bar.
It takes its name from the old English name for Shaftesbury, which is near to the home of Hall & Woodhouse and was seen as a fitting name as Shaftesbury Plc is the landlord of most of the Carnaby Estate including this pub.
The pub itself is quite small and despite its recent build, a lot of effort has been put in to making it look Dickensian and fitting in with its cobbled street location. The copious use of dark wood, old mirrors, low level lighting and a series of interconnecting rooms with plenty of nooks and crannies providing seating booths, make it appear a lot older than it actually is.
And although a lot of effort was obviously taken to make the most of the available floor plan, it is still quite cramped when there is a crowd in, which there invariably is during week days. But fortunately the cobbled street outside doubles as an extension to the pub and is usually full of drinkers on a decent weather day.
Usual decent range of Hall & Woodhouse beers and the Badger and Tanglefoot have always been in good condition when I have visited.
One small negative is that this pub is closed on Sundays.

On 25th May 2010 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


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claira vasquez left this review about The Shaston Arms

This is a great little pub just off Carnaby Street. Good ales and good food. The staff are really friendly and it has a great atmosphere.

On 11th May 2007 - rating: 8
[User has posted 7 recommendations about 7 pubs]


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Quinno _ left this review about The Shaston Arms

Tucked away just off the main Soho drag, this is a small and compartmented little Hall & Woodhouse pub (and fairly new, converted from a sandwich shop I believe). As mentioned it's on the small side, so getting a seat can be tricky in the evenings and people tend to spill out onto the pavement. Not too bad and worth a stop if you like Badger beers (or HB lager, which apparently can cause an excitement), but not much reason to stay beyond a pint unless you sneak in at a quiet time.

On 13th December 2006 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5043 recommendations about 5026 pubs]