The Chandos Reviews Summary

Category: Pub London

Address: 29 St Martin's Ln, London, WC2N 4DD, United Kingdom

Phone: +442078361401

Rating: 4.3
based on 324 reviews.

Decor and Atmosphere

Pros:

  • "A smashing traditional pub; polished wood, gleaming brass and private booths."
  • "It's quite dark inside but also really colourful and well decorated, a nice place for a date or for a get together with friends!"
  • "Very spacious pub and has a lovely up stair area. Has great decor all around the pub inside and outside."
  • "This pub has an old world style with great booths for those date nights or quite business meeting."
  • "It's perfectly located minutes from Charing Cross and seconds from Trafalgar Square."
  • "A lovely and cosy place decorated in traditional style, perfect for those who want to taste the authenticity of the British cuisine."
  • "Beautiful pub a stone's throw from both Leicester Square and Charing Cross. Very welcoming atmosphere with lots of seating including booths so it doesn't get overly noisy if you want to chat."

Cons:

  • "Lovely pub decor-wise, however the service desires a lot of improvement."
  • "It's sad. What was a central London oasis is on the way to becoming a barren watering hole, just like the others."
  • "The only downfall was the smell in the toilets. Quite rank."
  • "Downstairs is crowded, cramped and horrible."
  • "It feels dated and dingey, more old-fashioned than old-timey."
  • "Worse part was the women's toilets was an absolute mess."
  • "The bar is dark and old fashioned... the food was bland and arrived within 5 mins of ordering it so clearly isn’t freshly made."

Service

Pros:

  • "Service was fine, but individuals in our team weren't allowed to order drinks upstairs unless every person bought also bought food."
  • "Staff, where very accommodating in tune with their customers requests."
  • "The Canadian young women behind the bar were helpful in guiding beer and menu choices."
  • "Honestly I came here to use the toilet but decided to stay for a drink. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, great selection of drinks and very reasonable prices! Oh and the restrooms were very clean!"
  • "Friendly staff round out a really positive eating experience."
  • "Had a joint retirement do here last night and have to say that the staff were really helpful and great service."
  • "Staff are friendly and efficient."

Cons:

  • "Absolutely terrible pub. Refused to serve us at 9pm on a Saturday."
  • "Bar staff were moody on my visit too!"
  • "Awful customer service. I had to wait 40 min to get my burger."
  • "Service at the bar was slow and only one serving at their busiest time!"
  • "Service was a disgrace, the waiting staff didn't know what dishes they served and then laughed at us when we had to pay for ketchup."
  • "Terrible service from the miserable woman in the upstairs bar."
  • "The staff was rude, we had just finished prudential ride 100, i was with my family, we ordered a round of drinks which came to around £50 and within minutes of drinking our pints the lady told us to go over the road and finish our pints away from pub.... Would strongly recommend people to not go to this pub"

Food and Drinks

Pros:

  • "Great Samuel smiths Brewery beers available, nice settings and food is lovely."
  • "Classic pub food (meat pie, fish and chips, etc.) generally about 10 pounds per plate."
  • "Food upstairs is quality pub grub, with a good selection."
  • "The pies at the Chandos are very good. I highly recommend the steak and kidney pie."
  • "We had a variety of meals and all of them were as expected. Have to mention especially the fish and chips, which were superb."
  • "Delicious salad (Burrata with Tomato salad) with vegan option, beer is amazing as always."
  • "Food is great, I had a steak and kidney pie with mash and it was lovely."

Cons:

  • "The only pub I know that charges you for half a pint of coke to have as a mixer with spirit when the glass itself doesn't even hold half a pint."
  • "Used to love this place but the post-covid prices are outrageous, £6.50 for a pint of cider when I last went."
  • "Had a dreadful pint of their own bitter which tasted like it had been sat in the pipe. And they refused to change it."
  • "Last time i visited this pub i had a lovely meal and was looking forward to my next visit! Unfortunately i was very disappointed my food was not just cold it was very dry!"
  • "Very disappointing sticky toffee pudding, ( the sponge was mushy and very thin tasteless custard)."
  • "The batter on the fish and chips wasn’t all the way cooked through and had an odd flavor, also there was like 5 chips served with the fish which seemed a tad confusing."
  • "The fish and chips was obviously microwaved, and the chicken burger, was horrible."

Price and Value

Pros:

  • "Drinks are cheap, as they always are in Sam Smith's pubs."
  • "Given its location, right in the heart of London, the Chandos is remarkably cheap."
  • "Mega selection of beers at very reasonable prices (for London) and in a central location."
  • "Reasonable prices for the area, and good selection of Sam Smith's beer and cider."
  • "Good quality and very cheap beer, plus reasonable food at a reasonable price."
  • "Also, the prices were very un-central London like. Just £6.50 for a pint and a glass of wine!!!"
  • "They offer a great selection of Samuel Smith at a very competitive price to be placed just in front of the National Gallery and 2 minutes away from Trafalgar Square."

Cons:

  • "A friend had his phone stolen here. Pub has CCTV cameras but not working."
  • "AVOID at all costs and read TripAdvisor reviews."
  • "I been visiting this Pub for years! Always a good atmosphere and a reasonable price. However, last week I visited the Pub for the first time since lock down. The Pub wasn't that busy, but I was shocked and appalled by the cost of drinks!"
  • "I was genuinely upset to find out how the current generation treat staff, and their responsibilities to their home town in recent troubled times."
  • "Its a great pub with fond memories but 7 pounds for a pint is shocking, even with the current inflation."
  • "Rude bar staff. On ordering food we were asked if we wanted sauces and we said yes, but she didn't say we would be charged for them."
  • "£7.50 for pint of cider !!! Was shocked so checked this was correct."

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