The Garrick Arms

I like this pub. I stumbled across it in the days before I was Unilocaling and remembered it on Friday night so we decided to go back!
It’s in quite a busy place — around the back of Leicester Square and very close to Trafalgar Square and both Charing Cross and Leicester Square stations.
We only went for drinks and I had a Hendricks and tonic which they correctly served with cucumber — #winning! The service was quick and the prices are normal London prices so around £6-£7 for a single.
The atmosphere was good — mainly an after work crowd. We got there at 9pm and got a seat immediately. Probably because it was a nice evening and people wanted to sit outside. Not that there is anywhere to sit outside. The music was going through the 80s cheese which I don’t mind once in a while! There were some people next to us who were enjoying it so much that they had a little dance!
I like the décor in this place too — very modern but with an old school twist as quite a few of the chairs were mismatched however they looked very much in place.
A nice pub overall! Need to go back and try the food now!

Great Bloody Mary’s here! Good central location to Leicester Square so the perfect place for meeting friends there. Was there around mid day, started to get busy and full of rowdy drunks so that was our time to leave! Staff were great and laughed with us at the rowdy drunks.

Since the refurb this place looks great — cool décor on the walls (I like the chaise long type seats). Good selection of drinks on offer and the food looks pretty decent too (though I have yet to try it).
It is a pretty average pub, but they have made up for it with a modern take. As this venue is in such a prime location, it can get pretty busy with tourists, but I always manage to get a seat.
A really pointless comment — but I really like the wine glass shape here (very Parisian — if you know your wines, you’ll know what I mean and will appreciate this touch of elegance).
I must go back and try the food!

Before I left London, I wanted to statisfy my British Food fix.
The place was a cool pub. Long wide bar area with a few beers on tap. Not a big selection but good enough, they imports on tap and even a few local brews.
The food was decent. We ordered a Nachos Bisket as an appetizer, which was delicious and better than our entrees.
I ordered sausage and mash and my partner ordered a fried chicken. My sausges were on the dry and mushy side. And the friend’s fried chicken was mostly oil.
But nevertheless the place ambience satisfied my Brit fix.
I probably wouldn’t come back the next time I am in London, but for a first time I would visit this place!

Upon walking in after visiting the National Portrait Gallery I was greeted by one of the staff. The prim young man seated me and shortly after a very polite waitress took my order of fish and chips. Service was quick. My meal was delivered hot and with all the sauces I could ask for. It was a rather large fish and it filled me up to the top! It was tasty and I liked it. No complaints!
I ate there on a Monday night and it was not too crowded. Some pubs get so cramped I feel like I’m going to choke. Not here on my visit. Nice!

The Absolutely rudest staff I have ever encountered. We were not served in a half empty pub at 7:30pm…on a Tuesday because we were a group of 4 men and one lady (oh and one of us was gay)… They actually asked us to leave… we were polite, totally sober and simply wanted to have a drink after supper. Absolutely unbelievable. TO BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS, THEY DESERVE TO GO UNDER.

Another ubiquitous Nicholson pub, much like the others. A good selection of cask ales. Competent service. A nice spot for a quick pint, although I suspect that before theater it won’t be that quick.

In summary: Great portions for the price and okay food.
In long stretch of mediocre or expensive restaurants, I walked into the Garrick Arms purely because I was hungry and they advertised fish and chips for £9.75 which I did end up ordering. I was really impressed by the size of the dish especially given the price, but I was really let down by the taste. While the outside layer of the fish tasted fine, the inner layer lacked flavor probably due to the fish’s size. In addition, the chips were very plain.
I also was able to try some of their glazed ham which was pretty decent, but nothing to write home about. I was going to order drinks too here, but their menu fails to list the cost of their beers. In the end, it was a mediocre experience.

Passage obligée lors d’un séjour à Londres: le FISH & CHIPS !!
Après une bonne matinée de visite, l’appel de l’estomac devient insistant et il devient urgent de trouver un fish & chips typique !
On en trouve à chaque coin de rue mais nous espérons trouver LE VRAI, LE BON :-)
La devanture du Garrick Arms attire l’oeil immédiatement: pub anglais par excellence… le prix affiché par le plat est raisonnable: Banco !
L’intérieur est dans la même lignée: plongée dans l’univers du pub anglais avec le bar, les bières, les décos murales, les tables, les banquettes et surtout l’ambiance !
N’étant pas experte en bière, je suis vite perdue dans les nombreux choix donc dans un anglais quasi parfait (si si ^^) je demande à la barwoman de choisir pour moi.
Après un peu d’attente, il arrive: THE fish & chips !
Le poisson: un vrai délice …et avec la quantité! Accompagné de bonnes potatoes et sauce tartare.
La présentation est originale sur une planche en bois.
Conquise par le lieu, l’ambiance et les saveurs de ce plat !

Decent fish and chips. Friendly service, but you must order at the bar and they will ignore you if you just sit down.

Garrick Arms is a good pub for lunch. My husband and I stopped in for some lunch and a quick drink. The location is good, just down the road from Trafalgar Square. The food was not standard bar fare, it was quite good! Very fresh with thoughtful ingredients. Staff was very nice, too. Definitely recommend.

Decent food for the price, but a bit cheap on the portion. Good service though. My Fish and chips was tasty and just the right amount, but the GF’s grilled bass was a joke. More filler than anything. the mustard sauce is the only thing that saved it from becoming a complete disaster.

This was our second ever London pub experience, and it didn’t disappoint! Granted we only popped in for a quick drink, and to escape the cold, but extremely cozy, cute, reasonably priced, and a decent bloody mary (much better than most I tried at pubs throughout our most recent trip to London).
Can’t vouch for the food, but the service was great, very friendly, and convenient when waiting for the bus. One of, if not, the best bloodies I tried. Granted some people invaded my personal space, which left me frustrated most of the time we were seated, but that can happen anywhere.

End of story: Decent pub with decent food and beer.
This pub is right around the corner from Cecil Court, the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. We were tourists with tired feet after going on the Muggle Walking Tour, and looking around, we were a little worried we would end up in a tourist place with high prices and bad food. We were pleasantly surprised.
If I lived in the area, I would go back. The interior is comfortable, the bar long, and the food just what I would expect from a pub. We got fish and chips, steak and ale pie … all huge, well prepared, and very satisfying. We did get an appetizer sampler, and the fried fish in the sampler was almost as big as what we got in our fish and chip platters. If we had known, we would have ordered something else for main entrees. Definitely more than enough fish!
Note to Americans: Don’t order nachos outside of the U.S. Anywhere we’ve gone outside of the US, nachos are BAD.

Despite the touristy location, this is a proper place to grab a pint and chat with friends. It’s got great atmosphere and a lively and animated crowd. I can’t speak for the rest of the food, but the chips are decent. £2.50 for a small bowl.

For a pub in a very touristy area… I actually think it’s not that bad. In fact it was nice, busy, but not overly crowded. And in my observations, it didn’t seem like there were a whole lot of tourists in that night. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of seating outside, so we had to sit inside, but there was plenty of space and seating inside.
The inside was clean and I quite liked the décor of the interior. We ponied up to the bar and were served quickly. Drinks were reasonable for Central London and it is conveniently located. Didn’t have the food, but a lot of people were eating and the food certainly looked good.

Been here now twice, it’s a lovely pub. When you sit down and enjoy your drink, you can feel a good vibe going on. Staff are friendly and the food is served with care. Mostly I avoid city centre pubs in London due of a higher price then the surrounding areas, but this place is a nice exception for a nice break during the day or evening

This spot is an impressive hideaway from an otherwise touristy area. Prices are rather reasonable, and their bangers and mash, and fish and chips, were, well, as good as the traditional food gets. The service is excellent, and the atmosphere is great for any number of occasions. Next time I’m in this part of the city and hungry I’m heading straight for this place.

A. Pretty big drinking space inside and seats outside are a +
B. Cask ales aplenty
C. Steak and mushroom meat pie was huge and flavorful
D. Bartender was not happy but the manager was very accomodating to f’n tourists who have a million questions like me
E. Convenient if you are stumbling toward Trafalgar Sq
I will hit again, since it was my ‘first’

This place is right behind my work and when I first started almost every friday you could find me with a glass of ‘mothers ruin’ propping up the bar. It’s right by the Capital Radio building so you generally get a mix of media lovies and radio DJs hanging around at funny times having a few drinks.
The problem with this place is that you can’t put anything down without worrying that someone else will walk off with it. I’ve even seen someone arrested here, so at least the police are aware. It is in a tourist spot so you kinda expect this but anyway, if you do go just be careful.
Food is average and drinks, for what they are are pricey but hey ho, thats what you get for going to a media pub in the heart of London.

Not the greatest pub in the world but handy if you work in Leicester Square (pity us!)
It often smells of sick but it’s big, quite spacious and pretty cheap. Normal range of drinks on display from Bud to WKD to really sweet (but i like it!) Rose wine.
The only oddity I’ve noticed is that they have Ocean Spray Cranberry in a can. Neat, huh!