please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
When it was suggested that we visited here on Thursday I was extremely alarmed by the comments below. However Thirstyboy is spot on. What a great boozer!!!
Location: seconds from Leicester Square on a quiet alleyway - and fairly free of tourists
Beers: Plenty of standard and premium beers on tap, and good ales too
Price: VERY reasonable for food and drink - my local in Tooting is far more expensive
Food: Served 'til late (1030 if my memory serves me correctly). Great menu - traditional pub grub but definitely home made (the Chicken Kiev is actually made from real chicken, rather than beak/gristle/ankle).
Service: Amazing! If you're sitting upstairs, they will offer table service. Lack of barmen for your next order? No problem! The blackboard kindly offers their phone number to call for service! The staff are really friendly and professional and genuinely look like they value your custom (rare for a boozer). When I told them that there was no soap in the loos, the landlord was mortified and sorted it immediately. Glasses are collected from the tables very regularly.
Ambience: Very friendly - a pub that's great for talking without being drowned out by crap music
Decor: All the period features remain, and it's in immaculate condition. Very clean too.
Smokers: Well catered for with outside seating. And the ashtrays are cleaned very regularly.
We'll definitely make this a regular haunt. Why isn't every pub like this? Top work, Mr Landlord.
|
I have tried this pub again after a few bad experiances and have to say what a difference! There is a new maager in there now and he is really trying to sort out this pub which could be great. It is cleaner, friendlier and more inviting and there was a great range of ales. The standard GK IPA (only £2.35 a pint!!!) as well as Bath Spa, Lancaster Bomber and coming next Golden Stag and all under £3.
Hope he continues on this upwards trend cos this could be a great boozer, in a great location, still traditional and if well loved I will be back.
|
A truly dreadful pub - AVOID AVOID AVOID! I visited the Round Table last night with friends. I was totally ignored by the barmaid who continuously served people arriving to the bar after me, when I spoke to her about this she simply smiled and carried on serving other people. I asked to speak to the manager, but he could not be bothered to come and speak to me as he was more interested in rolling cigarettes. Instead he sat in the doorway of the office located behind the bar and tried to conduct a conversation with me from about 6 feet away. I told him that the barmaid was only serving her friends in preference to anyone else, his reply was that "they are not friends they are regulars" - as though that makes it any better! I told him it was a disgrace and that I had been waiting to be served over 15 minutes - his response, he called me a liar and closed the door of his office on me. This is a truly dreadful pub - it is quite clear that they do not care about providing a decent service because its the sort of pub that will always be busy because of its location. There's plenty of nice pubs in this area, don't waste your time or money with this one.
|
Although the pub is better than ones near by we had a bad experience.
We were consistently served short pints - at least a 1 inch head on Greene King IPA. One pint had even more head so I asked for it to be topped up. After putting a very small amount of extra beer in I asked them for a proper top up. This was refused because 'we are not allowed to serve a whole pint'. Needless to say we asked to see the manager...who turned up 20 minutes later and said the problem was down to large staff turnover.
Just to make matters worse we were served an off pint of London Pride. When we took it back they said they knew it was off when it was being put into the glass. Not good!
|
Decent pub, quick to get served, friendly bar staff, cheap beer (£2.35 for a Fosters!!)... a bit of a hidden gem. Not the best pub in the world, but definitely a regular haunt. Has outside seating with heaters for the smokers among us.
|
Don't be fooled by the exterior - this is a pretty basic boozer (OK I had been spoilt by the 'Wow' factor of several pubs that day before we dropped in here).
A small, unpretentious little place that had a couple of ales on (Bombadier and Theko's Old Peculiar) in average condition.
Enjoyed the old skool music selection, made the stop-off a little more memorable, hope they stick with that policy on a regular basis.
With The Salisbury so near, I'd recommend to keep on walking towards it.
|
My wife and I love this little pub near the crowded square. It is off the beaten path enough to not get too crowded at times. The food is good and they usually always have Old Peculier and it has always been in good form. Bartender could top them up a bit, but not a bad pint. If you like GK IPA it is only 2.00 per pint.
|
Not a bad little place with a handy upstairs no one seems to know about. Ok pint, not expensive,and as their condiment holders make desireable braceletts, we can give them more marks. However I feel they may be short of a leg or too?
|
Not great, but still a reasonably pleasant surprise when compared with some of the other 'unpleasant, packed-to-the-rafters, rubbish beer and worse service' establishments nearby.
|
Sat out side had a nice pint of bitter reasonably priced very quite in the afternoon. Can sit out side and watch the world go by however quite confortably.
The selection of ales seems to have ben cut down on it once had an excellent range but was rather expensive it now has the standard fare. Bar man seemed helpful and polite.
|
IPA, Old P., Landlord. Medium sized wood and bare brick single room with obvious but not over loud music. Curious mix of dark interior and bright glaring lights. Place lacks atmosphere and character - feels cold, noisy and awkward. A dull place.
|
Nice little pub with a good range of real beer (Old Peculiar always goes down well). Often not too busy - nice place to meet for a quite night or on the way out.
|
A reality check: If you pay three or four pounds for a comedy night, it isn't going to be a purpose built-venue with professional comedians. It's going to be the back room of a pub, featuring mainly very new acts learning their stuff. Some of these will be crap. A very few will be future stars of comedy - everyone started on the 'open mic' circuit. Most will be alright. Very, very occasionaly you'll see a famous comedian come down to try out new material.
The capacity of these rooms is generally very small. I doubt the room at The Round Table could fit many more than about twenty people in. At 3-4 pounds a head, this hardly leaves much room for profiteering. Nor does it leave much money to pay flyerers. Many open mic nights ask new acts to flyer in exchange for a slot, though some do pay flyerers as well.
If you want slick professionals delivering seasoned gags in a spacious venue, I suggest you get your wallet out and got to Jongleurs.
|
Yes, "Maniacts" is a near total con. The so-called acts don't get paid anything, the "promoter" keeps the lot. So, everyone (acts and audience) is either exploited or ripped off (or both). I was talking to another act, and we both admitted we'd done this gig, once - enough said. The Red Lion in nearby Great Windmill St has much better acts, cheaper drinks, better sound and lighting, and it's free Mon-Wed. No contest.
anonymous - 8 Nov 2005 10:42 |
I agree with James, anonymous clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. This is a charming pub in the heart of theatreland. The staff always extend a warm welcome to the theatre goers and actors who frequent it without being overly fussy. As for the standards, I have never been able to find fault - the manager is well known as a perfectionist!
|
Expect this one to appear on "Watchdog" soon if it hasn't already.
Pulls in punters (at a price) with a fake comedy night called "Maniacts". My girlfriend & I were in Leicester Square when we ran into a bunch of people handing out flyers for a comedy night. It seemed like a good deal so we went in and paid our money for tickets.
Turns out there was an empty function room - no mike sound system or anything. Acts came on but seemed appalingly bad - then we recognised a couple and realised they weren't comedians at all, but the people who handed out flyers trying to tell jokes!!!
Even when we got up to leave we had to put up with a tirade of abuse from the middle-aged drunk woman who seemed to be running it.
We felt cheated, not just of our money, but of an evening of our lives. AVOID.
|
Filthy Bar-keeping:
Ordered some wine which was served in a really filthy glass, preferring not to describe it more. Asked for a new glass, which the bar-keeper found after a while.
Yet, the guy poured the dirty wine into the new glass and served it to me. Lousy & Disgusting. Better had a Becks then.
anonymous - 11 Feb 2005 12:41 |
chanced upon this pub. it was great to find a genuinly old-school look and feel pub righht in the heart of london, unponcy and untouristy, it bore tourists in mind, which - to be fair - you have to if your 50 yards from leicester square station, but kept its authenticity . has a good range of well-kept beers on hand-pump . good pub .
dan - 18 Aug 2004 12:09 |
I’m not sure what ‘anonymous’ is talking about, the manager isn’t Irish for a start. This is one of the finest pubs in the Covent Garden area. The management and staff could not be friendlier. It would be a crime to pass without stopping for a pint.
James - 7 Jun 2004 14:56 |
Gone through a number of managers which has affected the running of the place. Had a really good guy in charge a year or so ago. Some Irish guy took over and it went down hill. Don't go in anymore.
anonymous - 6 Apr 2004 01:29 |
