Review

Nelson's Column is not the only place around Trafalgar Square where you could have observed a highly placed figure. Until recently, The Chandos pub had a life-size replica of a bloke humping a barrel, or some suchlike, high above the corner entrance to the bar, but at some stage the figurine has been chopped in half. I'm not sure how and when this occurred, but currently there is just a pair of legs and a barrel - how confusing must this be to a passing tourist! If this is a result of the wind, I would have spent some of my hard-earned and easily-pissed-away cash to have witnessed the model being ripped apart and the head, chest and arms flung across the street. What the significance of this figure was, I haven't a clue.

Close to Leicester Square, situated next door to The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera, and looking out over the National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square, you would expect The Chandos to be a blatant tourist trap, but amazingly this pub is a gem in one of London's most visited areas. There is the occasional tourist who happens to wander in, and naturally the pre-theatre/opera crowd, but mostly this is a busy, rarely overcrowded, ideal drinking and meeting place close to Charing Cross station.

Amazingly The Chandos is like two separate pubs, one stacked on top of the other. The downstairs is a traditional bar area and upstairs is lounge. There is nothing extraordinary downstairs, other than the excess of booths, the protuberant bar, Basil Fawlty collecting the glasses, and Samuel Smiths wide-range of identifiable beers.

The upstairs lounge and bar area is called The Opera Room, and fortunately there are no fat Italians singing in here. The name is to be expected due to The Chandos's proximity next to the ENO and in the centre of Theatreland, and the theme continues with theatrical pictures and memorabilia aplenty. Sadly the music piped throughout the pub doesn't meet the arty expectations, with what can only be described as a 'wall of blandness' perpetrating one's eardrums!

One thing you'll never be lost for in The Chandos is somewhere to hang your coat. There are coat hooks everywhere, and the ratio of coat hooks to customers must be 10:1. 'Cider with Rosie' author, Laurie Lee, must have been drinking in The Chandos whilst writing 'My Many-Coated Man'.

There are ample sofas, tables, relaxing chairs, and corners to hide in, making The Chandos an ideal place to go if you fancy a change from the usual pub furniture that caters for convenience rather than comfort. If you're a clumsy person, or suffer from a balance problem after one too many beers (as we all do), The Chandos conveniently has a padded rail around the fire. The only downside is that the rail is about knee-height, which actively promotes and encourages the wobblier of us to tumble into the flames.

If Indecent Exposure is your preferred hobby, The Chandos facilitates the option of doing this legally within its premises. Visit the upstairs Gents toilets when the window's open and anybody with good eyesight walking along St Martins Place or St Martins Lane could easily see you taking a pee; it'd be a simple case of turning to your left after 'watering the horse' for the whole world to see your meat and two veg!

The Chandos is one of my personal favourites and there is little in the way of negatives to say about this pub. The drinks are cheap, the atmosphere is relaxing and comfortable, there is an abundance of women, and the central location can't be beat. Worth a visit.

Review by mr_psm