The Harp

Date January 10, 2010 | Map

What a find!

Decent pubs in the tourist hotspot between Covent Garden and Piccadilly Circus are rather scarce, and I always need to think hard when being asked where to go for spontaneous drinks. Exiting the National Portrait Gallery, though, I remembered The Harp instantly: a CAMRA member recommended this pub to me a few months ago, and I had passed on this recommendation to other friends, yet never visited myself. And I am glad I corrected this omission today.

[simage=310,200,y,left]The Harp is a very small pub. The long, thin room is not much bigger than the bar, which features an impressive number of eight hand pumps churning out an ever-changing selection of real ales. Undoubtedly the reason for the pub’s high standing among CAMRA members. We arrived early enough to occupy a comfortable amount of standing space, but our pub experience would have been only average, had we not discovered the upstairs room.

[simage=309,200,y,right]The upstairs room is this place’s true highlight. Well, unless you are exclusively focused on quality real ale. We, however, are also people who enjoy a comfortable atmosphere, which is exactly what The Harp has to offer. A bit like auntie’s living room, though auntie is not just a collector of antique-ish furniture, but also has a contemporary taste for combining pink walls, ornamented hardwood tables, decorative old-style lamps, stunningly framed paintings, and very comfortable modern leather armchairs. And that’s why we did not just stay for the quick one, but lingered about to conclude a relaxing day appropriately.

Beer in the Evening Review
Fancy a Pint Review
Time Out London Review

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