Good bar/pub near Charing Cross

[markh1973]

I need to find a good bar or pub near Charing Cross - not an area of London I normally visit. Requirements are that it needs to be somewhere where you can actually hear yourselves think (must be getting old!) as I will be going with a couple of friends from work and then meeting up there with an old friend who I don't get to see very often. Needs to have a decent wine list - one of the girls is very picky about what wine she drinks - and preferably decent bitter as well.

Any suggestions from the wisdom of PH?

[Dieter7S4]

Not sure about the wine list, but how about The Harp, Chandos Place. It's won CAMRA pub of the year on occasion!

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/92/924/Harp/Covent_Garden

BITE link above says Covent Garden, but that's not strictly true - it's just over Strand from Charing Cross Station.

[FredericRobinson]

The Harp is excellent, so is The Ship & Shovel in Cravens Passage

[silverthorn2151]

Dieter7S4 said:

Not sure about the wine list, but how about The Harp, Chandos Place. It's won CAMRA pub of the year on occasion!

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/92/924/Harp/Covent_Garden

BITE link above says Covent Garden, but that's not strictly true - it's just over Strand from Charing Cross Station.

Work just around the corner fom The Harp. It's a good bet, and oh, it is really covent garden. Anything east of St Martins lane is.

[Timberwolf]

FredericRobinson said:

The Harp is excellent, so is The Ship & Shovel in Cravens Passage

Ship and Shovell. Especially the upstairs if they've got the south pub open.

Regarding the Chandos, I never quite get Sam Smiths pubs. I know there's the obvious attraction that they're the cheapest for a good 100 mile radius or so (once you discount places where you buy a pint and get your head kicked in for free) but they've always seemed bizarrely soulless despite often being in some ostensibly interesting buildings.

[ChairsWithHairs]

The chandos will work if you like lager, but I've been told by many I should visit the harp (which despite working in the area for a year I never did!). Chandos wise - remember sam smiths wine in the devil, evil stuff!

[ChairsWithHairs]

I went to The Harp following the reminder on this thread - excellent selection of beers and though it was a busy weekday when I arrived it soon quietened down to an acceptable level. Good service as well.