Part of our Best Pubs in London microsite. Is your local listed?
The Shaston Arms is a nook-and-cranny strewn pub a stone's throw from Carnaby Street. It's a place of two halves, quite literally, with a wall running down the middle and an entrance on each side... a bit like that old episode of Steptoe and Son, where our heroes divided their home in twain. One leads to a series of snugs and tables, the other straight to the bar (though that door is sometimes closed).
Meanwhile, the back of the pub has a glass ceiling, which provides handy light for the restaurant section — Lord knows how dark it would get without it.
This favourite old pub sadly closed in mid-2025, but has since reopened under independent ownership. Gone are the Badger beers in favour of a more variable mix of kegs (plus two cask). Quite a good selection, actually, with three different IPAs alone on our visit, for example.
The reworked pub has stripped back the wall clutter to present a sparsely furnished hostelry that would look bleak in a larger setting, but comes across all snug and cosy in this cramped space. The partitioned booths along the west wall are among the most enviable drinking spots in Soho.
The biggest change here, though, is the food. It was, we think, entirely absent in the previous incarnation of the pub. Now it's a big part of this small pub's offering. We didn't try any of the dishes — partly because, yikes the price, and partly because we're not clever enough to understand all the fancy words. But if fine dining in places that should really stick to being pubs is your thing, or if you just want a pint in a cosy corner, then the Shaston is still a joy.
Images below are from a previous visit in 2014 and do not necessarily reflect the current look of the pub. We leave them in for posterity.
