Theodore Bullfrog, Embankment, London

I’m torn for my review of this place. When I arrived the staff were great, the place was clean and there were a lot of people about. It seemed safe and enjoyable and a great place to be.

The wine selection is limited but the beer selection is diverse and should appeal to a number if different interests. The evening seemed plesant and enjoyable and the people I was with were great.

Roll on 10:15 when I left and there was a fight starting outside, people sleeping rough next to the pub and you are suddenly aware that it is down an alley way and away from the main atrip.

This seems to be a great place for an after work drink but I’d hesitate to recommend it for a lengthy stay.

Agree with pretty much everyone here. I think the best thing going for this pub is the location and the fact it doesn’t seem to get too busy during the after work rush. I stumbled upon it randomly a week before the Qype party when a friend and I were looking for a place to grab a quick drink.

Thought the function room was a nice venue and would consider using it myself for work events, but would probably think hard before ordering food except for the wedges which, to be honest, is always the safe option in any pub.

I usually feel a bit of a cheat reviewing pubs, as I’m not a drinker, so mostly I’ve just visited to use the loos or for a bit of food and have no idea what they are like with a full crowd just before closing time. Well this time I stayed all night, had a great time, and I’m still wondering if I’m qualified to review the pub. Reason being I was upstairs all night in a private party with free booze and people who wouldn’t normally be there.

Anyway the (Qype) party was great. Good mix of people you could actually have a conversation with. And a very good room for having it in, with a mix of hard chairs and comfy sofas, none of which I really made use of. In fact many chairs remained empty as people stood around chatting in groups. There’s more on the party and my interesting journey home at my blog.

As for the pub: its location down a side street near to Charing Cross made for an interesting walk to get there. Not many places round there you can find yourself walking somewhere totally deserted except for piles of rubbish from restaurants and an abandoned traffic cone. Luckily it is possible to take a better route direct from Charing Cross tube, as I found on my way out. And the back street location makes it less of a place for the general hoards.

I, of course, spent most of my night in the function room upstairs, which was very nice. Staff on the bar were great. I did have a nasty moment when I though my server had pressed the ‘diet pepsi’ button on the cash register when getting my rum and coke, but it turned out the button actually said ‘dash pepsi’. I’m not sure if that is better… but it tasted OK. They had a good range of drinks available including, I believe, one (only one) real ale. The wine was nice.

The toilet upstairs was pleasantly decorated. Unfortunately it was also unpleasantly decorated, with pee and other miscellaneous liquids. Someone had done a spray job and a glass was overturned on the floor. Definitely time to roll up my jeans legs before lowering the top. A staff member did tell me there were nicer toilets downstairs… A set of back stairs took me right into the basement. Those toilets were distinctly drier, with lots of cubicles, though there was still a fair amount of toilet paper scattered around. Not bad for the end of a good night really. They did suffer from lack of cubicle space … who is it that thinks you only need about 2 inches in front of the bowl? Luckily the doors opened outwards, but I still feel more spaces is needed. A cramped toilet is the last thing you need when a bit tipsy and trying to ‘hover’.

By the time I first entered the main bar it was well past closing time, and only a few guys in suits were still in evidence. It was very nice though, with lots of wood and seating areas on different levels. With that and the location of the toilets it’s definitely not a disabled accessible venue.

Overall, a nice place. If the loos were a mess, it was at least clear that they’d be getting a good clean before the next night. It was pretty noisy, but I’m not totally clear if the music was actually that loud, as people were well and truly talking over it and each other. And that was our group anyway. Décor was nice, service good. Not a place with massive character of its own as far as I could see, but a place to meet a group of friends and make your own atmosphere.

I am still tipsy whilst writing this, but perhaps that is just testament to how awesome the place is, that I stayed there for 3 hours without sitting down :D (yes, my feet hurt)

As you will probably know, Theodore Bullfrog has just been host to Qype’s May party! Kudos to Qype for the open bar and free food, but back to the review…

First off, the bar staff were quality. They don’t serve cocktails as a general rule, but our barman had some experience in cocktail making, and made me a Cosmo as a one off - special treatment, woo! - and it was lovely. He made nice conversation with everyone, told me he knew me from somewhere, as they always do, and was consistently polite and chirpy :-)

No surprises here, but the drinks were good too. Mine were, at least, although I don’t suppose making a Martini and lemonade is so hard…

The food was top notch; really, really fresh and hot when first served (ouchy - wasn’t expecting that), very tasty and good quality. I have to specifically point out that the potato wedges were crispy and soft, as quite often you get served wedges that are soggy yet somehow hard in the middle, and I was very pleased with these.

Much as Theodore Bullfrog was really cool and a nice place in general, I do feel obliged to knock off a star for the fact that the toilets weren’t so hot (wet floors around toilets is always a bad sign, isn’t it?) and the room we were in was boiling - and not just for me. Apparently somebody asked them to open the windows, but only a couple of them actually opened. The rest of them were… ehm, novelty windows, if you will. So I sweated all night, and a few others were looking pretty red in the face. In all fairness though, it was a humid day and evening.

The smokers area (aka the pavement) was wicked - ashtrays that were emptied very regularly, and ‘shelves’ to place your drinks/empty glasses on, that were also efficiently cleared up.

Overall, Theodore Bullfrog was a great place and I can’t wait to go back there! Good choice by the Qype guys… looking forward to the next Qype party!

This is a nice enough pub in the Charing Cross area - a modern wood interior with mutliple levels on the ground floor, and a spacious function room on the first floor. It’s not a great deal of intrinsic atmosphere, but the staff are very nice and service pretty good. It’s also quiet enough to stand a chance of getting a seat (rare this close to Charing Cross) on a weekday evening, and it is considerably better than it was in a previous incarnation.

Unfortunately for me there are a few downsides: not much of a real-ale choice, (Greene King IPA) music a tad too loud for my ageing auditory organs and in this area, can’t really compete with the nearby Harp or Ship & Shovell. I’d probably give 3.5 stars if I could, but I’m not a great fan of the name, so 3 out of 5 it is.

None of this is to comment, of course, on the great Qype party last night - perhaps time to place a specific review on that event?

I am a little supercritical of the pubs the south side of the Strand as from previous experience they don’t offer much fun and this includes a visit to Theodore Bullfrog many, many moons ago. However, it has improved significantly as the Qype party proved. Yet again a good function room that feels slightly lived in. The smoking area was well catered for even if we were on the street. I saw these cocktails being made and whilst it took the guy a little effort, it would have been good if there was a few more of the excellent bar staff to cut waiting times or the occasions when the bar was left unattended as requested products were obtained from storage/downstairs main bar.

This pub offers a good range of beers, including Budvar on draught which is always excellent if very gassy. The food was nice, especially the chicken kebabs on little sticks and I loved the light feel of the room offered by the big windows. Finally, I have to mention the smell of custard from the lavoratories. I cannot explain it, but if anyone knows of other loos smelling of custard or a reason why these one did that night please let me know.

A nice pub in the middle of well… everything. Very easy to find even though it is located in a small very 18th century street. It was easy seeing Qypers from far away and know that a good party is going on :-)
The room upstairs is very spacious and the staff aims to please, gracefully dealing with a large number of people, doing it all with a smile and general positive attitude (and as a fellow service giver I tend to critic harder bad service, yet I have not a bad word to say).
There is a nice selection of beers and also flavored bottled vodkas (just for us girls), and the most important thing, they have shot glasses!!! I’m just saying…

Lovely room upstairs with big windows, so very light and airy.

My flatmate fancied the barman with his long fluttery eyelashes.

Brilliant venue for the Qype party. I’m not a huge fan of the pub downstairs, but the function room is perfect. The staff were lovely and silly and a guy with crazy hair mocked me for drinking small glasses of wine. And actually the wine was pretty good. I hear a rumour of them making cocktails earlier in the evening but as I was fashionably late I wouldn’t know about that.

Location is brilliant. Right next to Charing Cross station. I like that. Even if I did have to wait half an hour for a train still. How?

Not sure if I’d come just to drink in the pub, I find it a bit ‘plasticy’ but if there was another party upstairs I’d be happy. Especially if it was another Qype party as they’re pretty good fun.

Nice little pub moments from the Thames. We had a cracking Qype party here last night in the function room upstairs. The room easily accommodates 80-100 people and they have a reasonable sound system too. Not as much real ale on tap as i would like to see (i think they just had Greene King IPA) but a decent selection of lagers (San Miguel, Carlsberg, Carling, Kronenbourg and a few more). Friendly staff and really close to Charing Cross train station so if you are coming from outside of town this could be the pub for you!

Anyone else hungover? :)

On first glance I was a bit skeptical but the function room upstairs is a cracking venue for a party! Good sofas, loads of space… lots of mingling. The barman was a great laugh, and all the staff really friendly and helpful. I’m knocking a star off for the fact that they only had Greene King IPA upstairs, so it was downstairs only for the really decent beer. But let’s not pick holes - great party!

nice place to chill out,come rain come shine,friendly bar men,nice food etc

This pub is ideally situated for a drink with mates both old and brand-new, and is cheap and cheerful enough to suit most tastes.

Much like any bullfrog it is large, a bit noisy, and not far from the river.

It has friendly bar staff, good standard pub grub, it’s fairly comfortable, and they have a quiz on the first and third Wednesday of every month.

However, my own personal gripes were that I had to strain to hear people both upstairs and downstairs, and the only ale I could see was a pint of Greene King IPA at £2.90.

If I was in a smaller group, I’d drink in the Ship and Shovell, Gordon’s Wine Bar or possibly even Champagne Charlies nearby, but for a large group of quality Qypers it did very nicely indeed.

Many thanks to those who organised the meet.

Me like, a lot. nice beer and nicely located.

This boozer used to be a magnet for after-hours office workers and not much else, but it’s improved a lot in the past few months, and it looks like they’ve worked hard to bring it out of the doldrums by adding a range of new beers (incl a decent selection of real ales and even a Polish lager which is really tasty), wines and some basic but tasty pub grub (let’s hear it for fish finger sandwiches!).

Also, for a pub this close to Charing Cross it doesn’t get too busy so it’s worth popping your head in if you can’t find a seat anywhere else.