This used to be an occasional watering hole of mine when I worked in the area, but has now has new owners. It’s located on the junction of Strutton Ground and Victoria Street, a few minutes’ walk from New Scotland Yard and St James’s Park Underground station.

Let’s get the main downsides out of the way first: it’s entirely underground, with only pavement skylights to provide a little bit of natural daylight. It feels a bit like places I’ve visisted in Prague (though without the Czech beer). And it’s really an office worker’s pub - it’s not somewhere you’d travel to visit. But if you find yourself in the area, you could do a lot worse. (And I mean a lot worse).

Despite being underground, the ceiling is quite high, so it is surprisingly unclaustrophobic. The interior features lots of wooden floors and furniture, and whilst it isn’t going to win any awards for design or originality, it’s perfectly OK. The best feature is a small raised area at one end, with half a dozen cosy vaults, each with a couple of tables - good if you want to colonise one as part of a small crowd or, if it’s a bit quieter, to eat somewhere with a bit of privacy. There’s a long bar, and actually loads of room and lots of tables, so you shouldn’t have any problems finding anywhere to sit (except on a Friday when the office workers descend in force).

They do a fairly standard range of real ales, such as Greene King IPA, Abbott and Pride, together with one or two more interesting guests. They are all reasonably kept. They also have a menu of fairly standard pub food, but do a good 2-meals-for-£10 lunchtime offer - Veggie Burger and Chips, Scampi or Fish and chips with peas, that sort of thing.

They also have a slightly more extensive menu of sandwiches and other starters and mains, but unsurprisingly everyone was going for the offer. Food quality is fine but not outstanding - but what do you expect for £5 in Victoria? They also cater for parties, with a buffet menu starting from £7.50 a head.

Service was very quick and efficient and friendly, and the food came quickly too, which is a nice change in this neck of the woods. Overall, it probably gets 7/10, so for the nice staff I’ll give it 4 stars!