please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
The criticisms are correct - expensive, inept barstaff and the running out of all four cask ales.
However there really is something about this place - the drinkers are an interesting crowd, and the building is nice and also unusual - original Victorian elements with later woody changes (amongst which the charming Double Diamond lights high up behind the bar.)
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I still dont know why people still rate this pub, on of the least charming establishments in all of Soho.
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On the face of it you'd think that this pub would be the perfect antidote to all those sterile chain bars.
But whats the point of having 4 real ales on tap if all 4 have run out as was the case when I went in there last week.
Very disappointing.
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I never realised this place had such a history, but being Soho, doesn't everywhere? (apart from the All Bar Ones, Cafe Neros, Generics-R-US etc)
Anyway, this is my new fav meeting point for the West End (sorry Porcupine!). It's fairly quiet, but with interesting clientele, lovely staff, great artwork on the walls but most of all, it's a place I would feel perfectly comfortable going in on my own to have a glass of wine and read my book or just relax for a while.
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I was a bit concerned when the new owners took over but the improvements they have made have not diminished the esential character of the pub.
It is still an old fashioned boozers pub and a bit harsh on the wallet if you are on a budget but if thats not what you're after then there is a McWetherspoons round the corner you can go to instead.
The loos are now a lot nicer and the range of beer and particularly the ciders have greatly increased so for that the new owners need to be commended.
The new landlord is also much more welcoming than Norman and Michael ever were !
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I had a few pints of lager in here last Thursday night after work and wasn’t overly impressed with any aspect of the pub.
It was busy, but that is only due to the location. It is also very expensive, £3.40 a pint of bog standard bitter/lager. I wonder how much the stella is?
The barmaid was in no hurry to serve and the toilets were an utter disgrace.
There are plenty of far superior pubs in the area, so I won’t be rushing back for another Coach & Horses experience in a hurry.
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The reality is that this pub has altered very little since Norman left. You'd certainly only find this place in Soho. It's averagely priced for the area, the staff in my experience are actually very jovial and the toilets are no worse than an average pub. I haven't tried the food and personally wouldn't; this is certainly a drinkers pub. The age range is totally mixed and yes, there are probably a few more middle aged Soho types in here than most pubs, but quite frankly, if a youthful crowd is your main reason (or even A reason)for visiting a pub, you should be delighted witih 95% of the pubs in the West-end and go and drink in one of them instead. I'm 28 and I've never been the youngest in the C&H whenever I've been in, so ignore the old man stories. I would certainly concede that this is a love it or hate it type place though, and it's also fairly exclusive, in it's own odd way. I'm definately in the "love it" group.
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Hi, everybody!
I visited this pub the 20th July of this year!
I liked very much. I knew a very special person who made me feel alive during more than one month.
I come from a different land and I admired you profoundly. I also like your language for which I am very fond of. I also liked the half pints of Guiness with that special person offered me that night.
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This pub has a bit of a musty old fashioned feel to it inside, its rickety wooden tables and chairs, appaling patterned carpet and vile wood panel effect walling making it look and feel like an OB shot from a 1982 episode of Minder.
The clientele seems to consist mostly of middle aged men or older, so unless this is the type that takes your fancy probably not a good stopping off point if you are "on the pull".
Despite all of this, along with the over sized cutlery on each table, the positioning of the odd poorly flowered vases and not the most friendly bar staff on the planet, it at least has some character.
There are a great selection of bottled ciders, which are also delicious, along with a menu which suggests that food is very cheap indeed. I am, however, unable to report on its quality.
If you can avoid the gents toilets (which absolutely honked the last time I was there) and the dodgy individuals on the scrounge (one of whom has always been in when I have been supping) , it might just be a good pub to while away a rainy afternoon or two.
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Always enjoy poppin in for a pint in this spot cant see why so many bad reviews always found the staff helpful even when i realised i hadnt brought any cash and had to do a dash to the cashlink.
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Rather refreshing on a Sunday afternoon when most of the obvious choices are horrid chain pubs full of tourists. Staff friendly enough and clientele about as normal as you expect for this part of the world.
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Wasn't aware this pub had any history or anything. Had 5 good ales on, Peetermans Artois, Lowenbrau, loads of other beer etc. Nice atmosphere, superb crisps, really expensive though. Old fella behind the bar was a little odd though.
Sharp - 16 Feb 2007 12:00 |
very entertaining, I have never encountered so many idiots before!
beer like piss
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Unsure that this place is now quite as bad as some of the other recent reviews suggest, but certainly not a patch on what it used to be. Not usually a cider drinker, but had a nice pint of Thatchers draught though.
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I'm afraid I have to agree with previous postings. Now calling itself 'Norman's', it's a vain attempt to cash in on bohemian popularity. Fat-arsed beer-heads and pretentious lap-top wielding media wannabees in suits; well it's Soho so what did you expect? But the current landlords are rude. I agree that this may be an attempt to perpetuate the principal characteristic of a former incumbent, but it just strikes me as offensive behaviour.
There are better drinking experiences nearby. Give this one a miss.
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The hours I wasted in this characterless shithole hoping that Tom Baker would wander in again (he didn't). Just because a pub has "history" certainly doesn't mean it's any cop now. It isn't.
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No question that there was an element of people putting up with mediocre beer and over-inflated prices just to drink in the legendary Coach (though I suspect many didn't really know why it was/is legendary) but now Norman's gone there's no doubt even the spurious air of mythology has started to fade. The quirks have gone and generic wines have appeared on the shelves. It's pretty much all over for landlord-run pubs as this last bastion has fallen, but there's no point crying over it. Just move on to a better pub and hope for the best.
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I used to love this pub, and the Three Greyhounds next door, but Norman and Roxy have gone, and so has the charm. Some of the staff seem to think they have inherited Norman's legendary rudeness, but they have not the panache and it comes across as plain nastiness now. Far too expensive as well, and inhabited by faded old soaks. It's only a few minutes' walk to decent pubs that are trying harder, like The Harp in Chandos Place.
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I had not been here for a year and went there recently with my girlfriend.
We went in to be greeted immediately by the barmaid asking us what we wanted, while the tall lanky middle aged honcho collected glasses. My girlfriend was in his way, but did not notice him as she was deciding what to drink. He very rudely asked her to get out of the way.
My girlfriend and I looked at each other and decided to leave. By this time the barman was behind the bar and, as we were turning to go, said to us as loud and as saracstically as he could "What, you're not going already are you?!".
My girlfriend called him a twat and we walked out.
It just made me realise what a depressing, cirrhosis colured dump this is and how foolish I was to think it was a decent boozer.
It seems to be the haunt of alcoholic dilettantes and luvvies flaterring each other and unfortunate customers lapping up the abuse from a barman who feels he can do this because this is a "legendary drinking den" . Legendary my arse. Don't come here.
Axel1 - 16 Jun 2006 17:21 |
Norman has gone! The ravens have left the tower. Armageddon is nigh, etc, etc.
Sayonara story here:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/23/nsoho23.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/05/23/ixuknews.html
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Worn out old barman frowned at my wife when she ordered a half-pint. That wasn't necessary. We finished our one and moved on.
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I don't know how anybody could say the beer prices are reasonable in this pub! Norman Balon must be laughing all the way to the bank.
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Easily one of the top two or three pubs in Soho. Admittedly the toilets could do with an upgrade but good beers at reasonable prices, cheap no-frills food and decent bar staff. What else could you ask for?
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I like the place, but it's definately trading on past glories. Seem to be a more than a few 'professional alcoholics' who will bore you to half to death for several hours at the slightest provocation. However, I definately wouldn't want to see anything change except the beer selection and it's still a great place to spend an evening.
Has anyone else noticed that the bottom of the bar looks like an old fashioned urinal?
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Ian - I agree that the Coach & Horses is thankfully not a typical West End pub and does indeed have character, though the beer is nothing to write home about. Also I can only assume that the toilets are a relic from the Black Hole of Calcutta and I remain convinced that this pub should NOT be in CAMRA's Good Pub Guide. But "one man's meat....".
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Ignore the other ill-informed reviews and misinformed rumours about change of landlord. Norman will *never* sell the Coach - it's a Soho landmark. This is a traditional community pub, with terrific staff and an air that it's hard to find in a West End bar these days. Visit and enjoy.
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Norman Balon once banned smoking in parts of this pub, but all the regulars stuck two fingers up at him, ignored the ban and kept puffing away. Norman eventually admitted defeat, after trying to ban various people ... it could only happen in the Coach.
Poor old Norman, he's hasn't been around much which probably explains why standards there have slipped, especially the service - too many rude, amateur bar staff.
The new owners (of French House fame) should sort that out, though I wonder what Jeffrey 'Just the One' Bernard would have made of it all.
Tizer - 27 Sep 2005 15:36 |
Laid back back street pub that has gathered a romantic reputation as a grumpy old alcoholic's boozer partly due to Norman Balon's bohemian style of management which would involve the traditional landlord's use of direct language: "You're barred - now fuck off!" The last of Soho's legendary landlords, he is now retiring and, no doubt, the new landlord will give the place a much needed make-over. And that would possibly include making the most of the pub's association with drunken poets and journalists - such as Jeffrey Bernard, the subject of Keith Waterhouse's play in which he gets locked in the pub overnight and is then barred. Put all those associations aside and you simply have a scruffy pub selling cheap and chunky sandwiches and standard cask ales in decent condition at average West End prices.
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For such a smart and vibrant part of the city this pub has to be one of the more grotty establisments i have stepped my elegently shod feet in, this is a real khazi, as you walk in, the bar smells as in has been doused in bleach, the badly kept beers have a whiff of disinfectant about them the decor is of that gloomy 1970's school not that the charming style of The Blue posts but that of a owner who's too mean to make this establishment welcoming. I have tried to give this pub a chance over the period of 20 years but i have yet to find a single redeeming feature to recommend this place avoid at all costs
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Popped in as it's in the CAMRA Pub Guide - but can't say why this is an entry. Beer average, food average (though at £1 for a sandwich good value), toilets DISGUSTING!!
Barman (landlord?) clearly unhappy that me and my friends were being tourists by only having a quick half & food and got the distinct impression we were the only non-luvvies in there.
Disappointing. 4/10.
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overly priced and rubbish beer. went there the other day and all the beers were off except Tetley's. I can see why people who have never left a city centre might like it as it looks like a proper pub. It is nothing of the sort. The £1 sandwiches look vile, but then you get what you pay for in this instance. with such a grotty place i wouldn't eat there anyway...
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Expensive but then consider the rent they must have to pay. This is a genuine pub, as Nick Hamer says, and you can imagine - if the relevant cartoons weren't on the walls anyway - a string of slightly worse-for-wear out of work thesps and Fleet Street journos shambling in and saying, "JEFF BEEN IN?" Even so, refer to first word. Expensive. It is by no means the only pub with character in that area.
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I have the pub next door (three Greyhounds) and i think that the Coach and horses is one of the leading pubs in soho. By the way Norman is a pussy cat because Johnno (who now runs the Dog and Duck,and used to be normans manager) told me so.
Karen
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This pub is living of the legend of Mr Barnard. Over priced for what is a dirty little boozer with very average service - I don't mind "old man pubs" in fact I thrive on them, but it is service which separates out the great from the merely average and this oub is very much of the latter.
Ciarán - 26 Aug 2004 16:44 |
The beer is hugely expensive but It is fora reason.This is probably the most famous pub in the west end,one of the last proper "pubs" in Soho.Legends have graced the pub such as Jeffrey Barnard (THE FAMOUS PISSED JOURNALIST) and george best (Well the famous pissed footballer).Attracts the regulars in the afternoons and the serious after work drinkers in the evenings.
Nick Hamer - 18 Jun 2004 18:48 |
I do like the fact that you can get a sandwich for a pound compensates for the beer being expensive.
Simon. - 7 Mar 2004 18:19 |
Once I saw Paul Burrell in this pub.
Pauly - 25 Feb 2004 20:24 |
This is my current favourite pub in Soho, and has been for some time. It may be a bit pricey for a pint, but this is a small price to pay for a genuine pub in the middle of false land. Also famous Rock band The Black Elks seem to be in there every Friday evening, getting merry from what I can see. All in all a top drinker.
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This pub charges through the nose but it's worth it purely because you know Mr Bernard used to drink there. All sorts of people go inhabit this alcoholic nether world and I reguarly use it as a place to start a crawl around Soho.
Good for: the first pint of many
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