The Spice Of Life

Good pub for a jug of Pimm’s on a sunny afternoon! They’ve also got pretty solid sweet potato wedges. The space is almost awkwardly large, but it’s warm and welcoming.
In contrast, the outside is preciously small, and the few tables are often taken up by smokers just hanging out and not actually patronizing the establishment.
Muggles be warned– since it’s across the street from The Cursed Child and just finished a remodel, I imagine this place will be crawling with witches and wizards for the next several years. ;-)

Got the killer Camden lager and fish and chips, also wife got the beef burger with cheddar and bacon. The fish had limited taste but the beer is good.
The burger is good
Cool atmosphere

The Spice of Life is my favourite pub in the entire world. I live in Canada, but I make a point to visit here every time I visit London. They have the expected great local beer, but also an amazing room downstairs where there is live music almost every day. It’s an amazing place.

I had their Sunday roast, and it was great. Meat was delicious.

Spice of Life is a cool pub with plenty of room and ample outdoor drinking space. They have a couple of fun beers on tap but just a few. The staff can vary between friendly and curt.
I mainly come here, because all-​around this pub is pretty solid.

Super nice waitstaff. Fresh and tasty food alongside a frosty pint. What’s not to like?

Though I visited this bar close to three years ago, it still a great memory I have of a cool bar in London. The brews were great and the people were cool. Even though you didn’t know them, they treated you like they knew you their whole lives. If I ever make my way back to London, this will definitely be on the list of places I go back to.
Good times! Cheers!

Pub hyper sympa à la déco typique des pubs anglais qui ont de la gueule ! Belles boiseries, énorme bar avec des tas de trucs à boire en pression, grandes tables pour les groupes et toutes petites pour les couples qui viennent se retrouver ici.
Le choix est bien entendu très large niveau boisson. J’ai un amour fou pour les cidres aromatisés donc j’ai testé les Rekorderlig aux fruits rouges puis à la poire. Ca change des bières et c’est très rafraîchissant.
Vous pouvez tenter les plats, ils sentaient bons et avaient l’air d’être appréciés par nos voisins de table. Et tout ça en écoutant les nombreux concerts live qui se passent ici (voir sur le site pour plus d’infos, ça tourne souvent)

The staff was fantastic here. Very friendly. It was obvious that this was more of a local spot rather than a touristy place. Cider was fantastic, and the food was great. Everyone at our table seemed to enjoy their food. The crackly pork starter we had was a bit rich, but excellent. It was a bit noisy inside, but that certainly made this place a great dining experience, especially from a couple of tourists visiting London.

During our trip to London, we stopped in this pub a few different times. It is a come-​as-​you-​are, non pretentious pub. An interesting mix of locals and tourists. The drink prices are reasonable. (not the largest selection of draught/​bottles but decent). They have great live bands playing (especially Jazz). We didn’t eat any food here but from what I observed, the food looked good.
We liked The Spice Of Life!

Pretty good music and decent beer selection. A nice place for a drink although the food was nothing special. Also it’s very crowded and noisy so good for a drink but not for a meal and chat.

Stuck on Charing Cross road/​Soho/​etc?
Want to find a decent boozer?
Spice of life has decent food, a good range of ales & beers, and a pleasant atmosphere all at central London prices. It won’t break your bank… too much.
Fair warning (and you’ll be warned by the staff as well) to watch out — the location means that you may be targeted by pickpockets and the like.
But all in all a nice place for a friendly pint without too much hassle.
Probably one of the best pubs in the area (and they’re a bit difficult to find) hidden right in plain sight.

It seems to be a busy place I only could sit right at the bar. Not the best place, but it was okay. I ordered a burger and some wine and both went down well. So for drinks and food, I can recommend this place. But then I went down for some classical music gig. It looks like a nice venue. But for some reason the staff didn’t realize that everybody was freezing due to the aircon, or didn’t manage to turn it down. After the first act I asked them to turn it off, but it didn’t really help that much, it was just a bit less freezing than before. That was really annoying. It were these days when it was quite cold outside, so you’re happy if it’s warm inside. But it was not.
Second, for no obvious reason the microphone and speakers were turned on while a guy played his songs on the piano. This wouldn’t harm, if it wouldn’t result in infrequent crackles. Not the kind of sound you enjoy. The other ensemble, Ligeti Quartet (
), actually needed microphones, so their really good performance also suffered from the crackles caused by whatever machinery in the pub.
Third, there was one obviously drunk man, who couldn’t shut up. If you’re at a (free!) concert and don’t like the music, you just leave quietly, don’t you? Not him, he had to discuss this issue with his partner. And despite some people in the audience repeatedly pointed out to the staff that this was really irritating and annoying even one of the performers on stage commented on this behaviour neither the staff nor the guy running the concert made an effort to get this guy out.
After these shortcomings, there’s not much the need to mention that the staff behind the bar were not really aware of the music and also disrupted the listening experience with dish washing and the like. It is difficult to rate this place, probably I should go back for another gig. But at this gig, despite the good food, they definitely messed up big time.

The Spice of Life is one of my favourite pubs in London — it is one of those dying breeds even in London in this day and age… a good traditional, friendly boozer!
Location wise you cannot fault it, being on the edge of Soho and Covent Garden it is handy for many a mode of public transport and any type of night out, whether it’s a simple after works drink, drinks before the theatre as it’s in the heart of theatreland (and right next to the Palace Theatre), casual night with mates or a night discovering new talent at their Open Mic nights, you can get it all here.
More importantly, you will receive friendly and courteous service and the atmosphere in the pub is relaxed and down to earth, nothing pretentious at all. Be warned though it is always busy and you can rarely get a seat after 7pm!
I’m a bit wary of raving about the pub because it will go off the scale!

This a great spot for live music 7 days a week, if you are in central London.
It is located near Covent garden so attracts locals and tourists alike.
There is a live music venue downstairs where the likes of Bob Dylan has played in the past.
Worth checking out if you are a fan of live music.

We stumbled upon this great pub while strolling around Soho, taking in the sights and sounds. I’m glad we decided to go in since who knew this was one of the BEST pubs in London’s West End!
This place was buzzin with both tourists and locals. Everyone seem to be enjoying a pint or a glass of vino. My bf didn’t order anything else while we were in London except fish n chips. So that’s what he had and compared to other pubs we’ve been, I love their fish here: no bones, crisp batter and mushy peas were so good. I’ve always been a skinny fries kinda gal, but their chunky sized chips here were a delight to munch on.
My lamb kofta totally hit the spot. It was flavorful and moist with a small heap of couscous and onion and mint salad.
The backstage bar downstairs is a neat place where you can hear live music every night of the week! (check out the website for the listings) and every Monday is open mic.
A relaxed place where you can choose to chill out with friends or hear live music. With friendly bartenders, hot food that’s delicious and jazzy music, What more could you ask for?

Came here for open mic night and had a blast. I didn’t spend much time upstairs, but found the décor to be charming and the crowd to be very friendly. Downstairs, the setting is a bit more intimate and comfortable. Drinks were reasonably priced. Don’t know if it was specific to the night I was there, but the music was great! I loved all the local artists — music ranged from jazz, soul, to irish folk. Come here with an open mind and allow yourself to be serenaded with beautiful tunes.
The neighborhood is great– an east walk to most public transits and located near a major intersection. I have fond memories of this place; the inviting staff & customers + the warm atmosphere really makes this a place to visit!

Little English Gem.
The Spice of Life is a warm, cozy pub in trendy Soho with the relaxed, friendly atmosphere that you would expect a typical English pub to have. The drinks are reasonably priced, the décor inviting and the facilities adequate.
If you go there on a Monday night, you can catch some up and coming artists performing their latest creations at the open mike night. Just don’t make the same mistake we did and sit around upstairs waiting for people to whip out their guitars and break into song, only to discover that the stage and performers were all in the room downstairs. Oh, you push up on the buckle.
It depends on what you are after. If you want to be serenaded, go downstairs, but note that it is unacceptable to chat while people are performing, so if you are more into a social evening with mates, stick to the upstairs section.
All in all a good evening out and a good way to spice up an otherwise boring weekday.

The Spice Of Life est un super pub — parfait pour prendre un verre le soir au centre de Londres. J’ai aime ce pub pour une poignee de bonnes raisons, Karaōke, Blues jams ou bien Live music. quelqu’un m’as dit que le pub loue le sous-​sol pendant la journee a utiliser pour le boulot etc.
Les Lundi et mardi soir sont ouverts au amateurs de musique qui veulent s’exposer en public en exposant leur compositions les Lundi (Open Mic Night) ou juste en jammant avec d’autres musiciens les Mardis.
Le membres du staff sont jeunes, aimables et pleins d’enthousiastme, ce qui fait une grande difference. La boisson n’est pas trop chere comparant a d’autres pub au centre de londres.
Le rez-​de-​chaussee est generalement plein a craquer, en general c’est pas evident de trouver une table libre. Mais une fois assis, le pub devien un super bon endroit pour passer un bon temps avec les potes. Cet endroit est, sans hesitations, le meilleur pub du centre.

The Spice Of Life is a great pub — the perfect central Location for a night out. I have found Spice great for a whole bunch of different things; Karaōke downstairs, a social gathering upstairs — or during the day time using downstairs for work (they hire it out).
I heard that they stopped doing karaōke a while back; which is a shame. Because it was a staple of our Sunday nights for a few months. Oh the memories. I have also seen live music here; and it’s a good venue for that. Small and personal — their website says many famous acts have played here in the past, and I can understand why, it’s very intimate.
The staff are young, friendly and enthusiastic, which makes a big difference. Drinks aren’t too expensive, from what I remember. You can do a lot worse on a night out in London.
The upstairs is normally packed, you have to fight for a table. But once you’ve got one it’s a good place to hang out; lively but not noisy if you know what I mean. This place is probably top of my list in the area for a little gathering of friends.

The Spice of Life is in perfect location for meeting friends, even those who don’t know London very well. It is an old-​style pub of the type that’s disappearing from most popular areas: quite non-​descript in terms of décor, but reliable and trusted.
I hadn’t been for ages and went last night to see a performance as part of London Jazz Festival. The downstairs bar is smaller than the main pub and provides the perfect backdrop for an intimate gig.
Accoustics are good and if you arrive early enough to grab a table (looks like it may be a good idea to book in advance) you can enjoy a meal with the music. The food’s decent pub fare, not quite gastro pub level (priced at around £7/£8 for most warm disches if I remember correctly).

Occupying a prime location on Cambridge Circus, at first sight it isn’t that encouraging: the interior is large, the décor is unexciting, immediately after work it’s ram-​packed…
But a little later in the evening, it gets less busy, and then you can enjoy the good choice of interesting real ales — unusual for this part of London — served by friendly and helpful staff. It has a loyal clientele alongside the tourists and office-​workers attracted, in part, by the occasional live music, such as Jazz evenings. Overall, not a bad boozer for the area.
It’s also one of the few venues in the area with a disabled toilet and level access on the ground floor.