Bars & Pubs

This two-floor Irish hostelry off Soho Square hasn't always been Guinness-themed. Amid the striking vintage publicity material (seals, toucans and suchlike) for stout, Jimi Hendrix is commemorated, as the basement (then known as Knuckles) was once the venue for an early London show. Today Toucan is a post-work oasis of jovial pub banter, generally engaged in over a pint of the black stuff, although black velvets (laced with champagne, £6) and red witches (with Pernod, cider and blackcurrant, £6) are also available. An impressive 50-strong selection of little-found Irish whiskeys - Knappogue Castle, Hewitts, Clontarf Reserve - complements a 20-strong list of very rare ones, 42-year-old Tullamore, Old Midleton, and so on. There's decent lunchtime pub grub too.

Time Out Bars, Pubs & Clubs Guide 2008/9