The Bell And Compass, Charing Cross - pub details
Previously called: Griffin
Address: 9-11 Villiers Street, Charing Cross, London, WC2N 6NA [map] [gmap]
Tel: 08721 077 077 (ref 711)
Charing Cross (0 miles), Embankment (0.1 miles), Leicester Square (0.3 miles)
London Charing Cross (0 miles), London Waterloo (0.7 miles), London Waterloo East (0.7 miles)
Pub facilities/features:
- Sky TV, Big screen
- Fruit machines, Quiz machines (itbox)
- Food served, Sunday roast, Real ale
- Wireless internet access (provided by The Cloud)
NB: Information may be incomplete or out of date as this pub is not currently registered.
Are you the Licensee? Click here.
> Current user rating: 3.9/10 (rated by 46 users)
> Local guides: London pub guide, Central London pub guide
other pubs nearby:
Boadicea, Charing Cross Station (0.0 miles), Theodore Bullfrog, Charing Cross (0.0 miles), Players Lounge, Charing Cross (0.0 miles), Villiers Bar, Charing Cross (0.0 miles), Ha Ha Bar & Canteen, Charing Cross (0.0 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Bell And Compass, Charing Cross
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 44 shown - see all reviews
| I hired the downstairs function room at the Bell & Compass in April 2010. There was a £350 minimum spend, which my function didn't meet, so I lost my £100 deposit. The pub itself is a busy, well situated venue. But it's definitely seen better days and is badly in need of a lick of paint. The function room was spacious but neither clean or cosy. We had a dedicated waiter which meant service was much better than upstairs, where people had to wait 10 minutes to get a beer (no ale served downstairs). Food was very bland, hardly warm pub grub -- better off eating elsewhere. I'd definitely recommend booking your event in a different pub. I found the three different "managers" I spoke to to be unorganised, and one of them was plain rude. The second one told me to call in to get my deposit back, and the third one kept me waiting for 30 minutes then told me that I wouldn't be getting anything back at all. bensonf - 27 May 2010 16:49 |
| Visited this pub on a friday evening. Nothing remarkable about the venue itself although range of lager on tap is good. Sadly, that's as far as it goes in terms of positive feedback. It took almost ten minutes to get served with only two staff serving although plenty more faffing around and hiding in the back; the barmaid that eventually served me broke off halfway through to berate someone through a doorway for lack of front line staff, but to no effect. I had my change thrust into my hand and, upon turning away with my drink, the barmaid shouted out "thank yooou" in a sarcastic manner as one might do to a petulant child. Absolutely priceless! That was after waiting nearly ten minutes for a beer and receiving sullen service and no thanks for my custom. Daf111 - 13 Mar 2010 11:32 |
| Not a bad place to kick off a nights drinking, simply because it's next to the station. Usually rammed in the evenings - I think they open the downstairs bar now, but then again it's fairly rubbish down there. lennie384 - 2 Mar 2010 01:46 |
| To Rex, I was in here and wanted to know who was responsible for such a dreadful place so I asked for a receipt. They usually have the owners details on it. Turns out it belongs to Marstons. Even Spirit Group would be hard pushed to find anyone shit enough to design and run this place. thirstyboy - 29 Dec 2009 00:32 |
| Several real ales on when I was in on Friday afternoon – Brakspear’s Bitter; Jennings Redbreast; Marston’s Pedigree; and Marston’s Ugly Sisters. I went for the Ugly Sisters. It was OK, but hard work for the barmaid to pour a pint as all the ales are dispensed through sparklers. She was unwilling to remove the sparkler, because “without it the beer would be flat” – but admitted that she didn’t know anything about such things. The trouble is, unless you are really on the ball, by the time you realise that a sparkler is being used it’s usually too late to do anything about it. Anyway, I found the pub itself to have less character than the average Wetherspoons. Furnishings are mainly high stools and tables, many of the tables having metallic, faux copper, tops. I sat on something that I would guess is supposed to be banquette seat, but again was so high that you had to lean forward and put your feet on the bar at the bottom to stop yourself from sliding off. This is probably the pub with the most uncomfortable furnishings I have been in. I would normally turn round and walk out of such a place, but decided to give it a go having seen the couple of Christmas ales on offer. It has the Spirit Group style faux chalkboards on display all over the place. This is a classic pubco wasteland of a pub that has been made over to death, with no endearing features that I could discern. It’s nothing like the old Griffin that I recall going back to the 60s – even though that wasn’t a brilliant pub, it’s a darn sight better than its successor. I won’t be back. RexRattus - 21 Dec 2009 15:48 |
see more reviews |
| Copyright Neransk Limited 2001-2010. All Rights Reserved. Calls to 0871 and 0872 numbers cost 10p/min. |