My favourite London pubs

I started to write this as an email for a friend who is visiting this month, but I thought I may as well turn it into a blog post! My main caveat to these recommendations are that there are thousands of pubs in London, so of course, I can only vouch for ones that I have actually been to. All of my recommendations are ones that I have actually been to several times. Given all the choice in London, that's saying something...

The Volunteer (Baker Street Tube) - This pub is on Baker Street (a few doors down from the completely cheesy Sherlock Holmes museum, complete with tourists taking up the sidewalk and making me walk into the street to get around them....but I digress). The Volunteer is just around the corner from Regents Park, it has some front patio seating, and indoors has lots of nooks and funky seating areas. The food menu is affordable and tasty, and I have never had complaints with the wine and beer selection. I actually had my leaving drinks here, about this time last year!

The Angelic (Angel Tube) - This is a great place for a Sunday roast menu, or just a bottle of wine on a weeknight in the Angel area. The high ceilings, rustic wooden tables and large vases of flowers on the bar give the place great ambiance. Even the bathrooms have ambiance, with a dungeon chic feel as you climb down the spiral wrought iron staircase, pass the fountain, and enter the basement level. It is a comfortable place to chill out by yourself during the day, or to meet up with friend at night. If I lived in this area, I would want this to be my local.

The Washington Arms (Belsize Park Tube) - This is just a tad out of the way in North London, but only a few stops North of Kings Cross on the Northern Line. I have a few friends who live(d) in the area, and this pub was their local. The decor is a great cross of traditional pub and hip coffee house, the food is excellent and reasonably priced, and it is a comfortable pub to wile away the hours by yourself or with friends. It is about a 10 minute walk from the tube, but worth seeking out for a traditional, yet up-to-date, London pub experience without any tourists!