Chandos
- 29 St Martin's Lane (map of this place)
- WC2N 4ER
- Nearby tube stops: Leicester Square / Charing Cross / Embankment
This pub seems to feature in several “Monopoly board” pub crawls, due to being close to Trafalgar Square and not crap.
Drinks
Samuel Smith's cider is really rather nice. Um, forgot to check up on prices.
James 'Silk' Davey adds : I too forgot to check on the prices but I do recall that Sam Smith's pubs are the cheapest I have found in London, and like others The Old Brewery Bitter is a very drinkable pint.
Food
Served until 7pm. Chips or curly fries (nice) are £2.50, onion rings are £2, and you can have BBQ dip with them instead of boring ketchup, yey. More substantial meals include baguettes at £5–£6 (eg hot brie, tomato and basil; sausage and onion; stilton and apple) and main courses at £6–£7 (eg bangers and mash; fish and chips; leek and mozzarella crumble; prawn and cream cheese cannelloni).
The sausage and mash (£6.25) isn't bad. The sausages are deepfried, though, and the onion gravy is straight out of a packet. But the mash is OK (though not creamy enough for blech) and has lumps like real home-made stuff.
Layout
The upstairs “Opera Bar” has sofas and coffee tables, and window seats. You can open the window next to you right up, which is nice on a warmish day. The downstairs has some of those booth things IIRC.
James 'Silk' Davey adds : All is all a very nicely decorated pub, though it can get exceptionally smoky if crowded, which it often is. Certainly my favorite pub in the immediate vicinity.