Bars & Pubs

The clientele at the impressive, historic, frosted-glass-and-mahogany Argyll Arms is almost as transitory as Oxford Circus, a stone's throw away. The pub was just as popular in 1895, when Robert Sawyer saw fit to divide the interior into sections according to social classes, and these days you can be quite intimate while the world and its shopping bags shuffle past outside. It's a Nicholson's pub, so traditional fare includes pies, fish and chips, and draught ales Shepherd Neame Spitfire, Adnams, London Pride, Black Sheep and Timothy Taylor Landlord. The upstairs Palladium Bar, diagonally opposite the theatre of the same name, is an old luvvies' favourite.

Time Out Bars, Pubs & Clubs Guide 2008/9