This does have the feel of a proper pub and is handy for a drink when you’re using Charing Cross station.

It always seems to be busy in here and it can be difficult to get a seat, but they do have some seating upstairs.

They offer good real ale and the mind blowing wasabi beans by the pint glass which you should tackle with caution!

Probably the most famous pub in the area, the Coal Hole is pretty much unchanged over the years, although it has had its ups and downs. Built in a corner of the Savoy Hotel complex, the pub has a medieval (circa 1904) style décor - dark beams, leaded lights, stone flag floors etc - lending it a theatrical air, which not only fits with the fact it’s next door to the Savoy Theatre, but is doubly apt given the past clientele.

The theme of stone, dark wood and leaded light windows , carries on into the street level bar. The ceiling is very high with heavy black beams. Hanging banners suggest something medieval, but no, it was decorated in 1904. Under the mock beams is a beautiful marble frieze of wistful maidens picking vines.

The Coal Hole occupies a corner of the Savoy Building, designed by Thomas Collcutt. It was in the basement of the pub’s former incarnation that the Wolf Club was founded, by actor and lush Edmund Kean.
Supposedly a place where hen-pecked husbands could enjoy a sing-song, its real role was less innocent, and involved heavy drinking and loose women.
But can you blame them…now the real ale is a pleasure to drink and the pub has a warm and welcoming feeling. One to visit then!
The crowd factor and the perennially over-amped PA upstairs means quiet conversation is not feasible -so not for a romantic date. It’s open till midnight Though.

It can be hard to find a good traditional pub on the strand, but this is one. It really looks the part. Be warned though last time I was there it shut early - a cardinal sin in my book - and the staff didn’t care, that’s why it only scored 3. Good pub not sure about the staff

I used to like this pub a lot. And then it went a bit wrong. I’m generally loathed to drink in Charing Cross. Nothing is here and it feels like a bit of a halfway house. You only come here if you can’t be bothered to go into Soho or Covent Garden. It doesn’t make for very cosy drinking.

If you don’t stay here for long, and treat it like a meeting place before moving on elsewhere then it’s fine. But otherwise it’s a bit generic. It’s a shame as it’s got a great history (it’s one of the old standing music hall venues.)

The food is pretty awful. They even managed to mess up a salad. But the red wine tastes of chocolate and is really yummy.

So a bit of confusion. Great history, average pub. I wouldn’t make a point of coming here, but it’s fine for the age old question in Charing Cross - “where is there to drink around here?”