Part of our Best Pubs in London microsite. See if we've included your local.
In contrast to many Soho pubs the Coach and Horses is light and airy, and feels like it hasn’t changed much from the 1970s. Private Eye have their fortnightly lunches upstairs in what was once advertised all around and outside the pub as 'secret tearooms' (unusually, you have to pass behind the bar to reach the stairs), and on an evening you might well catch a piano sing-a-long or local watercolour artist.
In recent years, the Coach had gained an unexpected reputation for its vegetarian and vegan kitchen. We were particularly taken with the tofush and chips. Sadly, the place seems to have lost its kitchen since Fullers took over. They do provide a delicious range of beers, however, which stray beyond the usual Fullers range to include several guest kegs and casts.
The pub’s famously rude landlord, Norman Balon, is now long-retired so you’re free to sample your pint in peace. The place is still regularly referred to as Norman's, though, even on the pub sign.
Had you popped in here during the 1980s, you may well have found Spectator columnist Jeffrey Barnard propping up the bar. In fact, it’s this very pub that Keith Waterhouse immortalised in his play Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell. The walls are still lined with photos and memorabilia relating to the notoriously drunken writer.
The Fuller's takeover may not be to everyone's liking — especially the lack of food — but there's no denying they've kept the place looking like it's good old self. The beer-soaked carpet remains, as do the mid-afternoon bar-flies. We noticed a much younger crowd on our last visit. Like the Blue Posts on Berwick Street, the Coach's old-school charms have found favour with the next generation, which can only be a good thing.
