The Lord Raglan, 61 St Martins Le Grand

The Lord Raglan, 61 St Martins Le Grand, EC1A 4ER

We're off to a flying start. As I approach the bar, the diminutive Scottish barmaid immediately clocks me and I am served quickly. They have a healthy selection of guest ales and this is complemented by a range of malt whiskies. A serious attempt has been made here to create a pseudo "ye olde pub" experience with sepia toned pictures and vicious looking agricultural implements hanging from the walls. There is apparently no TV, probably in a bid to avoid violent football hooligans reaching for the rusty tools. The Christmas decorations are a throwback from the 1980s. Massive coloured foil jellyfish wobble like a teenager fed exclusively on a diet of chicken nuggets and chips. There is, rather unusually for a pub of this age, a mezzanine floor surrounding an atrium; all wooden. It's all vaguely reminiscent of one large brewery's generic old pubs which are commonly found on the edge of retail parks, but this place does have some genuine history. It was built in 1855 and was originally known as "The Fountain". At some point it was renamed after the commander-in-chief of the Crimean campaign, a man who was also responsible for the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade. This pub is a good deal more successful than that ill-fated battle and is a good place to while away a lunch hour.

Reviewed by Paul Melton, Nov 2004

Telephone: 020 7726 4756

Nearby pubs: The Rising Sun, 38 Cloth Fair, Smithfield (360 metres), The Viaduct Tavern, 126 Newgate Street (350 metres), The Hand and Shears, 1 Middle Street, Cloth Fair (350 metres), The White Hart, 7 Giltspur Street (370 metres), Butchers Hook and Cleaver, 61 West Smithfield (390 metres), The Paternoster, 2-4 Queens Head Passage, Paternoster Square (280 metres), The Long Lane Pub, 71 Long Lane (380 metres), The Barley Mow, Barley Mow Passage, off Long Lane (380 metres), The City Tavern, 29/30 Lawrence Lane (360 metres), The Distillers Smithfield, 64-66 West Smithfield (380 metres)

Nearest station: St. Pauls, Zone 1 (200 metres)