Crown & Two Chairmen, Soho, London

Popped in on Saturday night for a couple of pints. The Doom Bar was selling well but I had Trade Winds which was well kept and very nice. Staff were friendly and chatty. The pub was busy but not packed and would certainly visit again.

Four of us stumbled on this pub by chance while walking down Dean Street. It wasn't even the first pub I was aiming for until someone said, hey here's a pub!

It was a Sunday evening and the downstairs was packed with people both eating and drinking. Upstairs there were a few tables free so it was perfect to relax and not have to worry about people bumping into you (leave that for a cabaret night that was close by). It was quite dark but not unbearably and as a result, it was cosy as well.

We had calamari and a few orders of nachos. Nothing complicated but we were impressed by the nachos. Drinks were fairly reasonable and the barman was helpful and courteous.

I wouldn't mind going back in there for a roast as their menu looked pretty good, even for a vegetarian (my friend).

Went for the monday night pub quiz and left promising never to return.

The bar staff were pleasant and the London Pride reasonable, although it was the only one of the advertised ales actually available.
The quiz though was flaccid and strikingly unatmospheric. Such things are usually more fun when not entirely serious but in this case the combination of an incredibly amateur quiz master and the victors being friends of the staff made it all laughably dull.

Not the best pub or best pub quiz in Soho, let alone in London

It’s not an easy task to determine what really distinguishes one Soho pub from t’other - particularly if you’re there on a Friday night.

What first caught my eye were the ropes hemming all the punters in and keeping them off the pavement. That is appealing to the officious, jobsworth, would-be local councillor in me. Usually, as I meander through crowds spilling on to the streets from drinking establishments, I mutter legal threats and the invocation of bye-laws under my breath.

Back to the point, it is very dark inside, which may suit some, and other than that pretty much your prosaic London boozer. They do, however, seem to be doing their best to establish their own personal identity as there are Sunday film club screenings in the more pleasant upstairs section and on Monday nights, a good old fashioned pub quiz. So, fair play for that.

I paid my first visit on Friday night and was pleasantly surprised by this place. The downstairs was super packed but my group of friends and me ended up in the upstairs bar which was far less crowded, noisy and much cosier. Would like to come back if only to try the food.

I popped along here on a Sunday evening for a spot of roast dinnerage, tales of the pub’s ablities in this area having been spread far and wide. There was a table free when we got in, but only the one, and in a similar manner there was but one barman, acting as waiter, potboy, order taker and pourer of beverage - the poor chap was a bit overworked on occasion but fought on nonetheless.

Anyways, we arrived just in time, as moments after ordering our beefy roasts the menus were whisked away (by a young lady who then disappeared, leaving the barman still on his lonesome) - so it seems that food stops on a Sunday about 7pm, although this was noted to be different to in the past, when food has continued on into the night, although there was a “chef/cook” wanted sign in the window, that might have had something to do with it.

They were down a bit on the the ale front, with two of their 4 pumps with turned around clips, but they supplied pretty good pints of Honeydew and London Pride still.

The beefy goodness turned up, and while the beefy bit was rather stewed in gravy (as we did turn up at the end of service) it was all good, with a fine chunk of yorkshire pudding and some tasty non-stewed veggies.

All in all pretty good, and definitely a place to find if you are need of a roast dinner and a pint in Soho.

Being a man of upstanding reputation, I managed to resist the lure of neon lights from the pole dancing joint sat aside (not astride) this pub. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to get my heart racing here.

In denial regarding the fast approaching Monday morning we thought drinking games might be an appropriate way to embark on our early Sunday evening, and spying the ‘connect 6’ offer we thought we’d found our perfect medium: A selection of 6 1/3 pint glasses of lager (Fruli and Hoegarden were the more exotic of the bunch) for £7.00. Not wanting to do things by halves (or thirds) we tried to order three trays of intoxication, only to be informed that there were not more than 7 of these esteemed pots left in the pub, as previous pioneers had tea-leafed the lot.

Food was equally disappointing, barely anything on the menu was available; such staple ingredients as ‘cheese’ having disappeared into the sunset (with those fun size glasses no doubt). I know it was a Sunday, and God loves a trier, but these guys must try harder.

I've entered the pub quiz in this Soho pub a few times now and find it a great way to spend a Monday evening.
The pub quiz is held in the upstairs bar which is really nice layout- get there early to secure your table though- it can be very popular! And no doubt with winner takes all the kitty!
I am embarassed to say that me and my friends came, er, last in this quiz the first time we played. But to our loser's delight we won a free roast dinner for 2 people for coming last!
We went to claim our losing prize the following Sunday and it really was a fantastic roast- all the more delicious because we had won it.
As for the other food on the menu- the only things I have tried are the platters for sharing. These are a great option for the quiz night. They do lovely platters of 'finger food' including quesadillas, olives, wedges and so on for reasonable prices if you fancy a decent snack.
This makes the evening a good option for a big group of friends. Bear in mind teams have to be split up into 6 but being rivals with your friends can be great fun!
Only a couple of negatives- the food took a ridiculously long time to arrive once when we ordered for more than 6 people. Other times it has been punctual. And they really need to get a new cd player as the music round really suffers from those muffley speakers the quizmaster uses!

I went to the Crown and Two Chairmen for their Monday night pub quiz and was pretty impressed. The quiz itself is good, not too long, decent level of difficulty and a good selection of subjects (picture round, music intro round, general knowledge etc).

It's £2 per person to enter but the winning team gets the kitty and there's a 'prize' for everyone (prize is in inverted commas because they included packets of crisps for bottom place...but, hey, better than nothing right?).

We actually did pretty badly on the general knowledge and managed to mistake Terry Pratchett for Harold Shipman in the picture round, but we stormed the music round (10 out of 10) so ended up coming about mid-table which netted us a mini box of Black Magic chocolates (there's a confectionery blast from the past).

Pub itself is ok. They didn't have nearly enough bar staff on upstairs (where the quiz is held). One poor guy struggling to take food and drink orders between rounds when it got busy, and even when we tried the downstairs bar which was a bit emptier (Monday night remember) the guy serving us seemed to be popping into another dimension to pour our pints...one...at...a...time. Wow it was slow. They do have wasabi peas available here (served in half pint glasses) and they are they are the ultimate pub snack so they get an extra star for that.

Didn't eat here on this occasion but I've been before and the grub has been fair to middling.

if you looking for some warm and nice ambient, this is the place to go. BTW try the second floor, much nicer, little crowded, but worth the shub... good german beer available, service is not the greatest, but bearable