The Marylebone, Marylebone

For all of us who find the ubiquitous All Bar One franchises far too edgy and dangerous, we can thank the brewery for taking what used to be a nasty pub called the Marylebone Tup and rebranding it as the Marylebone. If you don�t like pubs much, it�s a wonderful experience.

The Tup used to be an awful place if you wanted to have a nap or do some quilt-making on a Saturday afternoon in winter. It was always full of loud rugby fans, drinking pints of beer and cheering for their team.

Luckily now the clever landlord has painted it grey like a suburban library and bought some scatter cushions to soak up the sound of any stray whispers. He thankfully keeps the volume down on the television while the game is on, which means that finally we can hear the enchanting mix of lounge jazz and Hall & Oates that the bar plays for its grateful clientele.

I would recommend this to anyone who, for example, wants to finish off an afternoon�s shopping for deck shoes with a quiet chat with his fiancee about the colour of table linens for their wedding over a small glass of chardonnay; or also for any tourists who feel uncomfortable in their red kagoules, but would like to try a half of Guinness between them while they look up the way to Madame Tussauds.

The only problem I had was the constant stream of young men who walk in, then shrug, turn round and walk out! They must have their times mixed up, and were expecting to attend the weekly cheese and wine night.

I commend this bar for the dedication of its staff, which even extends to a couple of them posting reviews of the Marylebone on this site! A welcome addition to the dozen or so places exactly like it in this area.

1 Mar 2010 01:37