Plough, WC1A 1LH
- 27 Museum Street
- WC1A 1LH
- Nearby tube stops: Tottenham Court Road / Holborn
Drinks
Three or four real ales advertised on a blackboard. Dry Blackthorn cider �2.50, Marston's Pedigree �2.65. Also Stella and Grolsch.
Food
There were a couple of blackboards talking about burgers, but this might just be at lunchtime, since I didn't spot anyone eating (we were there from about 7pm till 9.30pm). A little Googling suggests that they certainly do food at lunchtime, a decent selection but a bit pricy, and also that we might have just missed the end of the food hours.
Service and Ambience
We went here on a Friday evening and it wasn't packed and noisy, which is a big plus. I don't remember spotting any suits. There was a group of what looked like students, one or two couples, one or two token old men, other randoms. Just generally fairly mixed and non-aggressive. It wasn't crowded, but as mentioned below there aren't enough seats so a fair number of people were standing. Glasses cleared reasonably often, one of the barstaff was very friendly and nice (didn't really talk to the other one).
Layout
The downstairs bit has a long bar with an almost corridor-like bit of standing space following round it. The bar is quite wide and had people sitting at it in a couple of clumps. There are also a couple of shelfy things opposite the bar which you can sit at on barstools. The room opens out slightly at either end of the pub, and there are one or two tables at each end. Really not enough seats in this bit to cater for any significant number of people.
http://www.edmund1.demon.co.uk/hassnwox.html says that there is another bit to the downstairs, but that it might not be open in the evening. I didn't notice it, so it probably isn't.
Upstairs is a function room (the "Plough Restaurant") which was booked out for a private party the evening we were there. That looks to be a bit more spacious. I think it had a separate bar along one of the walls.
Facilities
The upstairs room is bookable, but I don't know any details.
The toilets are upstairs. The ladies' is small and cramped, with no bin and an ineffective hand drier (the sink was clean, though). It only has one cubicle, which had an overflowing sanitary bin (*ick* and probably against some regulation or other). Trying to flush the toilet (it's one of those pull-chain ones) when the cistern isn't full makes the water in the cistern leap out and land on your head.