The Open Guide to London: the free London guide

• Nearby Tube stations: Oxford Circus / Bond Street / Piccadilly Circus / Green Park

This quiet and pleasant Young's pub, tucked away in Mill Street on the edge of Mayfair, is well worth a visit, partially for its atmosphere and partly for its award-winning food. The Windmill has won the British Beef Steak and Kidney Pie Competition several times and was also the Traditional English Food Pub of the Year 2002.

Drinks

Normal range of beers available at a Young's: Young's Bitter, Special and Pilsener; Heineken Cold Filtered; Foster's; Guinness; Stella Artois; Blackthorn. Prices are "typical Mayfair", which means at the upper edge of what you'd consider normally paying for a beer — a pint of Special is £2.40, for example [Price as of February 2003]. They also have bottles of Young's Waggledance, Ramrod, Old Nick, Special London Ale and Chocolate Stout, which you can buy four for a fiver to take-out only or for £2.40 per bottle to drink on the premises price as of december 2005.

Food

Lunchtime food: main dishes include steak, pie, sausages and mash, burgers, salad. A main course will probably cost around £6.50, or a grilled sandwich, £3.50.

Evening food: The evening menu is quite small but of high quality. There is only one vegetarian option — Grilled Halloumi sandwich (£4.95) and no vegan options other than chips, though you might be able to convince them to give you some of the (rather nice) side salad that comes with the sandwiches, with it. The other menu options are the non-veggie hot sandwiches at £5.95 (Steak Mirabeau (with anchovies), Chicken Siciliano (with olives, bacon, sundried tomatoes and mascarpone), beef burger or lamb burger), shepherds' pie (£6.50), sausage, mash, & onion gravy (£6.50), and fish and chips (£8.50).

So a little expensive, but certainly the chicken sandwich (what I had) was worth the price. Simon Kent says: “The Sausage and Mash was great, and I heartily recommend it. Really, really good sausages, the mash was creamy and fluffy, and the onion gravy was perfect.”. MBM says that the grilled halloumi was good too.

The evening menu is served from 6–9:30pm Monday–Friday (though they have been known to stop slightly early, so make sure to order in plenty of time). There is also a restaurant upstairs for a wider choice of food.

Miscellany

There is a nice function room with its own bar on the ground floor (seats about 22–24) and “the boardroom”, a more luxurious function room, upstairs. The pub is very air-conditioned; I (Earle) felt almost too cold. Not quite, but almost. There is no piped music in the main part of the pub, meaning it was quiet enough to play go, which can only be a good thing.

I didn't feel too cold, for I have insulating layers of blubber. - DrHyde

There is actually piped music at least some of the time. I've been there at least three times when there was music (Kake). And the night London.pm went there for an emergency meet, in February 2003, it was very warm and there was an open fire. The air conditioning unit can sometimes be a little noisy.

(Note for those interested in the function room — room booking is done through their sister pub, the Guinea, on (020) 7409 1728.)