Wait until next year

The Queen Charlotte is a former Brewdog pub, which in some ways is the least interesting thing about it, but also something that probably needs addressing at some point, if only to acknowledge both its recent history and its potential future – that here is an example of how pubs can not just survive but thrive once they have been released from Brewdog’s grip. It is a fine template of what newly independent pubs can do.

It is a one-room, corner boozer in Fitzrovia, a short walk up from Oxford Street but a world away from that particular thoroughfare in thrall to commerce. It’s all a little more refined up here but also a little more normal – fancy restaurants but also proper shops. A place that benefits from real pubs, and has a fair few of them.

The Queen Charlotte has a rather austere interior. It has been stripped back to its original bones – a traditional bar, wood flooring, banquette seating, leather-topped stools that look like massive Toffifee. It is sparse enough that you can project your own idea of a pub upon it – it can look like a trad boozer, a craft pub, a post-office drinking den.

There is the nostalgic smell of Brasso. The outside light hits the room perfectly, as if the place has been professionally illuminated. Bright, but soft somehow.

I’m the first one in for the day, as far as I can tell. I get a lovely welcome from the barman as he asked for my glass preference. I always go for a dimpled jug, even when it probably isn’t appropriate, because I quite like the idea of looking like an extra from an episode of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? The barman approves of my decision – I have made the right choice in his book.

There are two cask beers and they are both a fiver a pint. I think more pubs would benefit from offering this kind of cheaper option. Pubs should be accessible rather than a rare treat. Even the craft beer isn’t too expensive, I’ve seen it cost a lot more in far less fashionable parts of London. And the cask is good too, cool, packed full of flavour, the kind of pint that sings. Cheap beer doesn’t have to be bad beer, and if it encourages enough turnover then you can find yourself with beer that is both reasonably priced and outstandingly kept, that simply doesn’t have time to become dull, tired.

This pub does the simple things well – a fine space with a good choice of drinks, friendly service in a place that offers some escape for a while. Sometimes that is all a pub needs. It sets a high benchmark for independent pubs in Central London, and for all pubs really. I liked having it to myself for a while, but I hope it gets more patrons. It deserves them.