Angel & Crown

There's no part of London with a denser concentration of pubs than the West End, but it's not always easy to find one you'd drink in out of choice. They're convenient for the multifarious attractions of central London; many are historic, and some are very attractive (like the spectacularly gilded Salisbury Stores, just over the road from the Angel & Crown). But most are owned by breweries or chains and display the please-all lack of verve found in tourist areas the world over.

It's heartening then to be able to have found somewhere I would drink in out of choice right in the flouncing, high-kicking heart of Theatreland. The Angel & Crown has been bought by serial pub refurbishers the Martin Brothers, who also own the Botanist, Chiswell Street Dining Rooms and Cadogan Arms, among others.

Their handiwork here retains the best Victorian features of the building, and they've focused a gastropubby food operation upstairs (no one likes drinking on the first floor anyway). Their free-of-brewery-tie status has ensured a catholic drinks selection to the downstairs bar: three real ales (including Sambrook's and Dark Star's Hophead), some nice beers by the bottle, a few simple cocktails and an accessible wine list.

The mounted hunting trophies are perhaps a step too far, but fortunately the plasma on the wall was off, and the pewter tankards hanging above the bar - although purely decorative - are a nice touch. Dark wood panelling has been buffed with brio and the decorative mirrors are a treat

I ate in the dining room on an earlier sojourn, and it was decent: as with the other pubs in the group, it's big on British ingredients and majors in meat. In the bar, you can choose from the full menu (although good luck finding a table in the evenings), or choose from the list of upmarket bar snacks: a generous home-made sausage roll with mustard, pork crackling, or a fish-finger sandwich, say.

On both my visits it was full of local workers enjoying a better sort of city-centre drinking experience, and was notably free of tourists. Ironically, this is exactly the sort of place I'd recommend to a visitor, to show them that West End pubs can be much more than just middle-of-the-road moneyspinners.