Bars & Pubs

Lamb & Flag, Covent Garden

Maple Leaf
Why not pay this Canadian pub (6) a visit to celebrate the joy of not being American?

Best drink Sleeman’s Honey Brown.
When to go Canada Day.
Best seat At the back, in the faux log cabin bit.
Best snack ‘Fries’.
41 Maiden Lane, WC2 (020 7240 2843).

Porterhouse
Enormous, warren-like boozer (7) offering a wealth of nooks and crannies to settle into before it fills with evening revellers.

Best drink Oyster Stout.
When to go Early evening on a weekend.
Best seat Straight on when you get in, down the stairs – no, the other ones … oh, you’ll find it.
Best snack Salty Dog crisps.
1 Maiden Lane, WC2 (020 7379 7917).
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Lamb & Flag
Everything about this pub (8) says old. Walls are covered in Punch cartoons. Peer out of the top-floor window, and you could be in gaslight London.

Best drink Archers Village.
When to go Good luck – it’s always heaving.
Best seat Upstairs by the window.
Best snack Cornish pasty.
33 Rose St, WC2 (020 7497 9504).

Salisbury
It’s more towards Leicester Square, but this gorgeous Victorian pub (9) is dripping with hand-carved mahogany, brass lamps and fantastic cut glass. It holds a rare Platinum Award for quality beer from the British Guild of Beer Writers.

Best drink Guest ales currently Old Hooky and St Austell’s Tribute.
When to go Try Sundays for a quiet pint.
Best seat Along the left-hand side of the bar, where the glass-and-brass effect is at its best.
Best snack Fish and chips.
St Martin’s Lane, WC2 (020 7836 5863).