A mate and I usually head over to Bath for a Christmas all-dayer followed by curry each December, but as we got cheap rail tickets for the Smoke we're going up there on Saturday instead.

Getting in to Paddington about mid-day, train back about 9.30pm.

Question is where to go? We've both done Soho & Covent Garden a fair few times so looking for somewhere off the beaten track a bit (but within zone 2 on the tube). Looking for old school boozers with no tv screens, loud sh*te music (good juke box is fine though), groups of loud meatheads etc. Thinking of heading out east first of all, are there any decent pubs in the East End?

All recommendations considered. Also, where can we get a good Indian before heading back to Paddington?

Cheers

For unfussy old school pubs try Clerkenwell or Bloomsbury Check out fancyapint.com – it has an easy search and good advice. There are literally dozens of decent pubs, good beer, places to sit, no piped sh1te music, interesting buildings, etc.

For a curry you could pop over to Brick Lane or go back towards Paddington and check out around Fitzroy and Whitfield Sts – lots of unpretentious eats aimed at students and others looking for value and not brand obsessed.

Enjoy – I know I would.

Ah – Brick Lane – hadn't thought of that!!! Yeah, may have to sample a curry down there… 🙂

I use Beer In The Evening quite a lot for finding boozers in the smoke.

Morning bump for the day shift 😀

I assume you've already been to De Hems near Chinatown? Good beer, very central.

Otherwise, a +1 for Bloomsbury. Also try north of Oxford Street for lots of very pleasant pubs. I worked in Soho for five years, and we always used to escape by walking north to the pubs up there.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

A proper old pub, with proper beer & proper food

http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=216

Recommended

Ooh, yes.

I'm off there next week for the annual journo bash there. All day. Beer and cheese and hacks. Should be very restrained, as with previous years…

Would not bother with brick lane for curry, nowhere near as good as it used to be.

Drummond street (near Euston station) has several good curry houses

Gordons Wine Bar

no TV, not much light and cheese!

For curry, I seriously recommend a tandoori grillhouse called Needo's which is near Brick Lane but not on the main strip.

http://www.needoogrill.co.uk/

The tandoori chicken and lamp chops are superb. Might need to book if you're eating after 7ish. We couldn't find a decent pub nearby.

If you are more central, there is Shah Tandoori on Drummond Street;

http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-1571.

Warren St tube is closest but always closed at weekends now, so get to Euston or Euston Sq. tube. In fact, there's a decent boozer near Farringdon not far away…

http://www.thecoachandhorses.com/

Thats just what you're after (ignore the posh restaurant bit), then 2/3 stops to Euston Sq on the central line for curry.

Have a look at http://www.fancyapint.com as that does pretty 'honest' reviews and you can group by area.

Pubs around the Square Mile are likely to be shut at the weekend but there is a good selection around London Bridge/ Borough market.

I'd say go to Shoreditch, have fun in the pubs up there, get some Vietnamese food on Kingsland road (Viet Grill is a safe choice) and then zoom home.

fancyapint.com
is *far* more reliable as being an indicator of a decent pub – in particular look for the 5 and 4-pinters, tho' the 3s will be pretty decent too. (Many of the 2s are ok too, it's more of a relative measure..) It's also got a useful pub map once you've settled on an area.

The (customer-submitted) reviews on beerintheevening, while they *can* be useful (particularly outside London) often have to be taken with a very large pinch of salt. The place we went to after work last week sounded like a dive with useless barstaff, according to a couple of reviews. We ignored 'em, and it actually precent decent. Likewise you'll get larger drinkers complaining about lack of music or lager in a real ale pub. Occasionally you'll get what are obviously partisan postings just to bump up the average.

Yup, there's several nr London Bridge/Borough worth a look (see FAP).
Market Porter has > 10 ales on, only downside is it can get busy (can't think why..) and there's not a lot of seating – but in the week it opens out after about 9pm as the Suits clear off home.

Not far from there is the Royal Oak
http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1228.php
– excellent for food

The George Inn (owned by Nat. Trust) worth a look (literally) but there's far better to spend time in.

A little walk from Chancery Lane tube – Ye Old Mitre's worth a try if you're nearby.

Several of the Sam Smiths pubs are worth trying – often interesting buildings – eg Citte of Yorke, Princess Louise (both nr Holborn). Bricklayers (Tottenham Crt Road Tube) and Chandos (nr Trafalgar) are decent too.