Lamb and Flag, Covent Garden, London

Pubs are everywhere in London, but really good ones are hard to find.. But I was more than happy with this one! Great location close to Covent Garden, beautiful and cosy interior with a nice little fireplace, great beers and friendly staff… almost perfect except for the stinking toilets – even if I know it’s a bit of tradition in London pubs…

Let´s be honest. This pub is within the media in relation to other pubs in London. It's a classic English pub, old certainly, but with a feature that makes it unique. On Sundays at about seven in the evening a jazz band lit every corner of Lamb and Flag playing classic jazz like Art Blakey, Eubie Blake or Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Its members, all over 60, have a special energy that is transmitted in the fluidity with which relate to throughout their performance.
I recommended this gig for Sunday afternoons. If you want to grab a seat, you should arrived early.

A great proper pub in Covent Garden tucked away down a side street, and Michael Caine has been known to pop in. I like to sit in the upstairs area, where there's a big bar too, but get there early as it fills up.

A proper traditional pub with friendly staff good beer and great sandwiches in the heart of Covent Garden.

Gets very busy in summer; perfect on a weekday afternoon in the winter when it’s raining and the coal fire is lit.

Lovely pub, gets a bit crowded but only ever in a good way. Good location, great beer: ace.

A lovely old traditional pub with good real ales!
A bit of a tourist trap…as it features in most of the overseas travel guides! But do go…it’s tucked away behind Covent Garden and is a good find!

The Lamb and the flag is located in a quiet street near to Covent Garden. It is one of these pubs in London with a lot of history and character. Inside the pub, in the ground floor there is a bar and some tables. In the first floor there are more seats and tables and you can order some food. The selection of beers is good (including Ichiban beer in tap!). They serve Sunday roast too.
The pub is a bit old and the toilets are not very nice but considering that is a historical pub this is also part of the ambiance of the place.

Lovely ancient pub hidden down a back alley in Covent Garden.
Narrow, cramped and busy in the way an old pub should be. Good for taking future wives on first dates and after work drinks with colleagues.

Great location and a decent little pub. Very close to all the main shops on Oxford Street and the restuarants around St Christophers Place. Very nice place on a sunny day (not that we get many) with plenty of seating on the main street. Quite reasonably priced too.

Quality, authentic cosy pub.

Claims to be one of the oldest pubs in London, it’s nestled in pleasant surroundings, certainly a venue for the summer, where local drinkers spill out onto the cobbled street in front of the pub.

Serves standard lagers plus a few ales, worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Its a lovely place, really an institution. There is only one problem, to get in. Its rather small and the way in is really narrow and always blocked with people. So, if ever you get hold of a pint, your neighbour will run into you and the first third is gone. Consequently, I only stayed for a drink about once every five times trying. It always so crammed with people.
If you sit in the Roundhouse opposite you can get a seat and still watch the people being pushed around outside the beautiful Lamb & Flag.

A bit of a London curio this one - somehow it has managed to build up a reputation as some sort of London legend by nature of it being around for rather a long time. In reality it’s got a good name, its got some friendly staff, and it attracts a nice crowd and it sells good beer. All of these things are valuable in a pub.

However, it could really do with a bit of doing up on the inside as it’s verging on tipping from all over the place shabby chic into tatty rubbish; the outside area is fine in the evening when you cant see the slightly worrying alley - not so good during the day when traffic crawls past and the stench of the bins wafts towards you.

So all in - yeah its fine, but its most definitely over rated.

Nice period building, cute side alleyway, but the main one isn’t that special, as ahunter mentions. The Harvey’s tasted a little past its best to me the other day, and it’s not exactly cheap, so, 3 stars it is. If you’re new to London, you’ll probably love it…

An OK pub, but superlatives aren’t really necessary here. This part of rose street is less of a street and more of a “scag alley” in my opinion. The pubs only outdoor area spills out onto the street which struggles to get any sunlight and is generally pretty manky. I have no idea how the Lamb and Flag attract so many people to the festering cesspit (ok, maybe i’m being a little harsh now).

So what has the pub got going for it?

- Lots of ale on tap
- A nice upstairs bit with great floor to ceiling windows
- friendly staff and friendly punters

Decent enough, but shouldn’t every pub have this? I must admit, i’m not itching to go back.

This pub has a lot of character and on a Friday evening, you can hear it before you see it. Rounding the corner people are spilled into the street like jelly beans, er with beers. Working your way through the outdoor crowd, it’s surprisingly empty inside - perhaps owing to the clingy heat and peculiar odour. Once our pints were pulled we joined the masses outside and I quite like that - standing outside with a drink after work, toasting a sunny evening. Not bad if you’re a local but nothing too special either, although I didn’t check out the upper floor.

Yeah, I like it here. It’s got a cosy feel to it upstairs which is perfect for sneaky chit chat, but you can also watch the telly and talk to the nice bar staff downstairs as well.

It’s a rickety old pub with tiny little staircases, and the wine is pretty good. I haven’t been in a while, and I remember that it was really lovely in winter. This is a great place to come after a bit of shopping on Oxford Street. You’re just far away enough from the hustle and bustle to relax.

Very old pub smack in the middle of Covent Garden. It’s a fun place to meet people because it’s genuine and it’s busy: you’re as likely to have to have your pint standing outside on the pavement with your glass perched on a ledge.

It’s small and low and unrenovated. There are a couple of TVs that will show whatever big sporting event England might happen to be losing at the moment. The ales and lagers on offer are typical.

Gets very busy right after work, as people stop in for one on the way home.

This pub has been around a long time and I went there very recently for a drinking session and found it really pleasing. It really is a genuinely old, higgledy-piggledy place, with bare floorboards, plenty of dark wood panelling and little brass plaques commemorating many people who have visited it.
It's just the sort of Olde Worlde Englishe Pubbe that tourists expect to see (especially if they're here for the first time) and they love it.
Although the pub might be a tourist cliche, but even for the most cynical of hardcore pub-goers, it is a really decent place to sit and have a drink.
It serves well-kept Young's beer and decent pub grub and, as a result of its location and history, it can get really busy.
If you can fight your way up the narrow stairs you can find a quieter spot or, if you're lucky, even a seat. If you're in the area and it looks quiet, do go in and have a pint and a nosey around.
And if you like cheery, crowded, old-fashioned pubs you won't be disappointed here.
CLIENTELE: tourists, locals

Maybe I recommend this pub only because one of my friends works there;) nooo....I think I actually really enjoy spending time in the crowded atmosphere of one of the oldest pubs in London.
The staff is great and even though the pub is always full they find time to talk to you for a little while. The beer that they serve tastes absolutely fantastic and the way they serve it is very proffessional.

A large internet open day was also being held and this was quite an attraction in itself. In the end we had a drink at the Lamb and Flag which was one of the more traditional British public houses that we could find, and my friend appreciated that touch as a British Pub in London felt much more authentic then any we had been to in L.A! This place certainly had that Old English feel about it and the service was excellent as were the range of drinks on offer. We stayed until 9pm and decided to end our day here. In all we had visited no less then 11 of London’s Major attraction in one day, with most of them being free, and all within easy reach. We decided to complete the second half of our sight seeing plans on the following day.