The Lyric, Soho  rated2 pints - click for an explanation of our ratings

location:

Soho

address:

37 Great Windmill Street, W1D 7LT

phone:

0871 984 2563*
* calls cost 10p/minute, click here for more about 0871 numbers.

nearest stations:

Piccadilly Circus London Underground station
(180m) - zone 1

Leicester Square London Underground station
(450m) - zone 1

Tottenham Court Road London Underground station
(630m) - zone 1

Oxford Circus London Underground station
(670m) - zone 1

Covent Garden London Underground station
(730m) - zone 1

how to find it:

From Piccadilly Circus: Take the Shaftesbury Avenue exit from the station and head up the road. Take the second left into Great Windmill Street and the pub is ahead on the left. From Leicester Square: Go into the Square itself and head toward the Swiss Centre (you'll know it by the bells hanging on the outside which go off every hour). Go past it and across Wardour Street. Great Windmill Street is the second right. Cross Shaftesbury Avenue and the pub is just down on the left.

click here for a larger map

nearby attraction(s):

The Royal Academy (430m)

National Gallery (500m)

Trafalgar Square (590m)

picture of The LyricThe Lyric (or 'The Lyric - Soho', as it's name helpfully informs the geographically bereft) was one of more characterful pubs in the area before it closed in 2006. Happily, however, it's recently re-opened and is - for want of a better word - 'OK'. The attractive original frontage remains, along with some nice bits of tiling, while a new gantried bar area and candles give a potentially warm atmosphere. This is sadly offset by being painted in a predictable gastro-green and there being an almost complete lack of comfortable seating. The floor area has a few high level seats around the edge but also a conspicuous and sparse empty floor space. We can only assume its designed to facilitate more vertical drinkers in the small area available, but we do wonder how people eat in comfort. It's great to see the building back as a pub again, but it plays a little too safe for our tastes. To put it another way, it would have been an appropriate metaphor if the Janus theatre masks decoration on front of the pub had been correct (rather than having an over-optimistic pair of smiley masks).

reviewed:
10/01/2008
reviewed by redcat

pub features:(click on an icon to see an explanation)

good beer served - click for explanationreal ales
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