Duke Of Kendal, 38 Connaught Street

It’s the same man. The same man! Five months ago, in a Chinese restaurant in Edinburgh, I watched a father and his two sons demolish seemingly endless plates of food, displaying the sort of boundless enthusiasm exhibited by US Republicans when despoiling virgin wilderness in order to drill for oil. And here he was again, with his two children, 400 miles south of our previous meeting, sitting just across from me in the pub. It crossed my mind that maybe, like the Very Hungry Caterpillar, he’d eaten his way south, leaving nothing but a giant hole in the countryside behind him. The staff – all Thai – were being incredibly polite to him, bringing him plate after plate as he ordered more and more and their food stocks rapidly diminished. I tried my best to ignore the incessant munching and concentrate on the rest of the pub. It’s nice, laid back, quite a haven from the frantic shouting of the Marylebone pubs a little to the east. There were a cluster of Greek men busy drinking, some Austrian tourists and a few posh workies, making the place busy enough to have a little ambience, but not so busy that it began to feel crowded. The décor has rather been ruined by a bland 90s refit, leaving nasty terracotta and cream walls, too-bright halogen spotlights and a lack of interesting features as a rather unfortunate legacy, but a few real ales plus excellent Thai food – if any of it remains – help reinforce the impression that this is a pub well worth visiting. If all that remains is a giant hole by the side of the road, you’ll know what’s happened. Might well get crowded on football – or more likely, rugby – occasions.

---

All content © Random Pub Finder 2001-2010, website development by Doogal