Beer in the Evening

About a week ago, Steve and I travelled to London for a couple of meetings. We planned to have a meeting in the morning and meet up with dsf for lunch. dsf suggested The Tottenham as it was close to his work and pretty central for us to get to.

Oxford Street is notoriously busy, and for a country boy like Steve the hustle and bustle that London carpet bombs you with can sometimes get a bit much. “People have no manners here” he moans, “wherever you are going there’s at least ten people who will be in your way”.  Thank the capital city then for The Tottenham, as soon as you walk in you’re met with laid back music that fits well with the old English Oak decor, the city is left behind, you literally have to strain your ears to hear anything of the outside world which you can watch as life continues to pass by through the large front windows.  Inside The Tottenham time really does seem to slow down…

We ordered one Black Russian and a pint of Russells, Hobgoblins just sold out which was a shame as Steve’s keen to try it, thinking that Hobgoblin is subliminally calling to him through direct advertising, he notes, “this is the fifth time I’ve seen a bloody advert for ‘goblin today”. – “Anyhoo, it’s a relief that this pint of Russells is pretty good, I thought it might taste a bit sour, but it’s actually really smooth.”

The Tottenham boasts that it is the only pub on Oxford Street and this probably equates to why there are so many people in here, a couple of suits, some European tourists, a middle aged couple.  We watch as food appears in a dumb-waiter and is served to the people sat next to us, immediately we are hungry and grab the menu and start reading – it’s typical English Pub food, sausages and mash, fish and chips – done, as Gordon Ramsay would have it.  The food arrives, and it’s actually a bounty for the price we pay.  Steve is chuffed with his mountain of fish and chips, exclaiming that the tartar sauce is the “proper s***”, the sausage and mash has the home cooked taste pub goers often look for and, it’s a small point, but there are five sausages on this plate, not your usual two.

The Tottenham may well have received a few duff reviews recently on our site, but when we visited it during the lunchtime rush hour it was a godsend, the staff were friendly and chatty, offering the customer a taste of the available beers always gets a place good marks in Steves book, – the decor is still authentic last century and has all the character of a great pub.

A pint goes to anyone who can take a decent picture of the interior of The Tottenham – as the one on our site is crap.

Chris’s score: 8/10

Steves score: 9/10

Pub Visited: The Tottenham, Soho, W1N