Jewel

130 Wood Street,
London, EC2V 6DL

+44 (0) 20 7600 9624
http://www.jewelstpauls.co.uk/

Now Jewel... That is an apt name.

Just off Cheapside and minutes walk from St Pauls this is a fantastic bar. What used to be quite boring and traditional in The Livery, which used to be situated here, has become a lively and exciting place.

Come in on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and you'll be greeted with a quirky interior and a long bar. The ceilings are high in the main bar area and there's plenty of room to sit or dance (will come to that later). The booths are cosy and the lighting makes it even more so.

There are some rather unusual touches and they work very well. Leave the main bar up the stairs and you come to the Suit Room. Again aptly named. A rack of suits along one wall and a very Sherlock Holmesy atmosphere or wing backed chairs and old wood.

Downstairs is the Dressing Room, a oval nest of nearly ceiling height sofa with some mannequins above it. Fantastic room to hire out for a girly night out.

  
In the back is the Shoe Room and, guess what, the theme here is shoes! A very imaginative design (though someone could have come up with more imaginative names) and all the rooms are very different from each other in mood and atmosphere.

The service is fantastic, even with a queue 3 deep you usually get served in minutes and the happy hour (The 5-8 Club they call it) is great if you're not too particular on beers - only Becks (bottled and pints of Vier) is included but, if you're into wines or cocktails it's fantastic.

Come here on a Thursday or a Friday and the place changes completely. From a bar it turns into something more akin to a club - the dance floor is almost constantly packed and the entertainment is something else. There are gorgeous girls dancing on stages by the main bar and plenty of other scantily clad (though very elaborately dressed) beauties sauntering round. If you look hard enough (ok, it's not that hard) you can even see a girl on stilts.

Fantastic location, fantastic atmosphere and great service. The only let down being outdoor space is somewhat lacking, though when you're here it's hard to care.

Alternatives:

If you want some outdoor space and a view to die for try Madison

To watch some sports try Yager

For something a bit more traditional try Red Herring

Pavilion End

23 Watling Street,

London, EC4M 9BR

+44 (0) 20 7236 6719

http://www.pavilionendpub.co.uk/

On a little alley nestled between St Pauls and Bank is the Pavilion End.

To be fair, it is "just a pub" but it's a popular one for many reasons. It's big and centrally located, spread over 2 floors and a very large beer garden enclosed by tall buildings. A great place to hide from the heat (on those rare occasions it is hot in London) and the rain (several huge umbrellas covering half the outside space).

Inside the bar is relatively short for such a large space, but the service quick and efficient. Whenever there are any sporting events on, be it football or whatever, this pub is rammed. Moving around can be a bit of a challenge at times.

You get all sorts here but mainly it's the city type, large groups coming here to watch a game, or a couple senior guys having a quiet chat at one of the small outside tables.

  

The main selling points are the service and the garden, there are plenty of alternatives around that beat it on both counts but the location means that it will always be busy.

Alternatives:

For an awesome view and huge roof terrace try Madison

For a more sports oriented locale try Yager
For a quirky bar with surprising Thursdays and Fridays try Jewel

For something closer to a traditional pub try Ye Olde Watling

The Samuel Pepys

Stew Lane,
London, EC4V 3PT

+44(0)20 7489 1871

http://www.thesamuelpepys.co.uk/contact.html

Unless you know about it, the only way to find this place is getting lost trying to find Millennium Bridge.

The Samuel Pepys is another of my locals near work, for a change it is a local that has a lot more than just its location on offer.

Walking down a dead-end alley towards the river you find a set of doors to some stairs spiralling upwards. What you find upstairs is not what you expect.

After walking by some simple couches, there is a spacious bar split into 3 sections, the main area at the front with a foosball table and some high tables and a long bar behind which reside some friendly staff - always happy to have a chat but more focussed on getting you your drinks. Great service.

Further in is some more seating and some more sofas and finally a large room with tables for eating and drinking and a wall of comfy booths. There's a second bar here which is normally unstaffed unless it is particularly busy.

The best bit by far comes next. The balcony over the Thames is just a glorious place to be, especially at sunset and after dark. The view is spectacular.

To your left is Southwark Bridge and The Shard jutting up into the sky, in front the Globe Theatre and to your right Millennium Bridge, the Tate Modern and the rest of London. Early in the week it's a fantastic place to sit and relax with a couple of friends or a date, listen to the sounds of the river and take in the view. Towards the end of the week it's another story, finding space here is a bit of a challenge, though usually possible even if it takes a short wait.

I would recommend this place to anyone, day or night and on any day of the week. Too bad it's not more well known, people are really missing out, but that's a good thing too - otherwise it would constantly be rammed.

Let's just hope that somehow they manage to extend the balcony. Fantastic bar.

Alternatives:

For a bit more outside space try The Banker or Oyster Shed

For a great sports bar try Yager

For some other awesome views of London try the rooftop bar Madison

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Infinity

85 Ballards Lane,
London, N3 1XU

No Number
No Website
Doesn't matter.

If you find yourself here, run! Fast!

Alternatives:
For a warmer atmosphere and friendlier crowd try Hell.
For a good pub in the area try The Dignity.
For a decent pub in the area try Catcher in the Rye.
For something "similar" but populated with humans try Gertie Brownes

Sir Richard Steele

7 Haverstock Hill,

London, NW3 4RL

+44 (0) 20 7483 1261

http://www.faucetinn.com/sirrichardsteele/

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Why couldn't this refurb have come sooner. Before it used to be a case of having to choose between The Hill or sitting next to a guy with a tatoo of a spiderweb on his face and the possibility of being stabbed.

That has all changed.The Sir Richard Steele - or Red Steele as it used to be called by the locals (great idea changing the colour by the way) has become a true alternative to the denizens of Belsize Park and Hampstead.

Most of the interior has been left as it was (though the bats hanging down from the ceiling are now gone) and thats a good thing. Plenty of character.

The staff are much friendlier (slight understatement) and the service is quick. The old pub used to have a certain charm but I would never have called it friendly or relaxed, now I will.

The beer garden, which used to be completely open to the road and filled with furniture from an 80's picknick site, has been rebuilt from the ground up.

A very impressive improvement.

I have to stress again quite how significant the changes are.

This has gone from a pub that I actively avoided to one of my locals and a place I want to be.

Well done guys.

Alternatives:
Just because you can try The Hill - all of 5 seconds away
For a great beer garden try The Stag
For somewhere you can dance try Barfly

Coach and Horses

5 Bruton Street, Mayfair,

London, W1J 6PT

+44 (0) 203 627 3804

http://www.taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/coach-and-horses-mayfair/s5155/

A great little pub just off Bond street. I like to come here when seeing friends in the Mayfair area as a convenient place to meet before moving elsewhere.

Even with the very traditional (and even somewhat crooked, which adds to the charm) in appearance and a fantastic location you don't see many tourists here. Usually just a few hedge fund types having a couple after work.

Bond street is to blame for a near constant stream of stunning women walking past so it's kind to the eyes as well, as long as the shops are open.

The staff are friendly and talkative, though at times it feels understaffed and you can end up waiting minutes to be served even if there's no one else waiting, though when there is someone behind the bar, the service is swift.

Nice and unpretentious - somewhat refreshing given the area and many of the other bars around.

Alternatives:

To see more beautiful people try the bar at Novikov

For great, quiet outdoor seating on a very quiet street try Hush