This Soho institution may have mellowed somewhat since self-proclaimed ‘London’s rudest landlord’ Norman Balon finally hung up his polishing cloth in 2006, but there’s still plenty to make it stand out from the crowd. There are ten flavours of pickled eggs, for starters, plus an all-vegetarian food menu and, upstairs, a small ‘secret’ tea room. Decor, meanwhile, is stuck firmly in the past, with carpets worn threadbare by decades of post-work sessions.
It all adds up to a curious mix of old-timey standards and progressive ideas which, crucially, work together like a charm. We seriously doubt there’s anywhere else in the city you’ll hear a rendition of ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’ while chomping on a tofu burger.
Came here for a drink before dinner. As it's 'away from the bustle' did not seem too busy. Had quite a few pub dogs inside which gave me a lot of things to coo at. Decent beer selection but nothing too far out of the ordinary.
I discovered this little gem whilst attending an event in their upstairs room and have been back a couple of times since. This is a lovely little pub, nestled around the back of Old Compton Street. It's location means that its less rammed come 6pm than other establishments on the main streets of Soho and it's quirky enough to keep you coming back.
It has a lovely, if small, beer garden (more of a beer terrace) and hosts weekly sing a longs around a piano. What more could you want?
Expensive but something a bit different I guess. 5 cocktail limit is rubbish. And if it's busy then u might as well go and drink in any other bar much cheaper.
Limited beer selection, sticky bar, foul smelling loos, rotten carpet. Any regular will tell you Norman's is the greatest pub in London, let alone Soho. Go Wednesdays or Saturdays for the Cockney piano singalong.
I came here with a group of friends on Saturday night. The piano singalong was fantastic and the drinks were surprisingly cheap for central London. A really great night out!
I was really looking forward to this pub as the menu looks great. I had the chickpea burger with chips. Sadly the chips were the run of the mill frozen chips you can buy in Iceland supermarket. The burger bun was dry and a bit uninspired. The burger itself was okay, tasted a little deep fried, but it just didnt taste as good as it looked on paper or on the plate
@Richard Oakley@Irf Majeed@David Isaac A great boozer and Soho institution that hasn't changed much over the years. Good beers on tap and good service behind the bar. Great place to keep cosy in the winter or spill out onto the pavement and people watch in the summer.
I did not know about the switch for a vegetarian menu, but had the "Tofush & chips" - and was positively surprised. Being part-time vegetarian, I rate the tofu better than average. And the twist of making it look like te "original" was a bonus. Having said that, it was still "pub food", slightly lack of vegetables, and with fries an mayo. Perhaps not the healtiest food... And a very limited choice of dishes - was it three items om the menu?
Nice setting and good atmosphere, but very disappointing friday night food. Tasteless tofu, a veggie burger tasting solely of white pepper and very mushy, cold peas and a very long wait for what turned out to be extremely dull fare. Only three dishes offered for each course is just not trying hard enough, especially when the two mains we ordered were so badly executed. Lazy and unimaginative cooking, I won't be going back, except to have a drink in the lovely pub downstairs.
First class food, and excellent friendly service. The nettle pesto pasta was among the best pasta dishes I've had, the beetroot ravioli with cashew cheese was interesting, and the Tofush and chips looked authentic with the seaweed resembling dark fish skin (though it didn't really do it for me in flavour).
The highlight though were the pickled eggs. The one with tamarind was the nicest egg I've ever had.
Went for the brilliant cockney knees-up on a Saturday night. It started off quietly, but by 9.30 the place was packed with friendly, smiling punters of all ages, crowding round the fabulous Betty on piano and singing their hearts out to the old tunes. Great fun, welcoming clientele and really nice to chat, laugh and sing with a bunch of strangers all night.
The restaurant went vegetarian last month. Our main courses were delicious, as were those of the diners on the adjacent table who we compared notes with. However, all three of us who had the lime tart pudding agreed that it was a disaster. No lime tanginess and the pastry was dense, hard and barely edible. The lovely waitress came back from the kitchen with the explanation 'It's because it's vegan' ! But the berry crumble was delicious. The menu offers icecream to accompany your pudding in an exciting and unusual range of flavours (eg golden beetroot and ginger). Inexplicably none were available. My banana icecream was full of crunchy ice crystals.
We had a great time downstairs in the bar after our meal singing along with Dave on the piano.
Enjoyed a fine evening in the company of Pat n Dave here last night! Pat plays the spoons and Dave the piano and the whole place was rocking and singing along until last orders! A great evening in great company in the heart of Soho...I'd highly recommend it if you fancy a good old fashioned sing song on a Wednesday night...may try the fish n chips next time...apparently the best in London!
