Literary London

The Coach and Horses

Jeffrey Bernard's pub on Greek Street, protected for a 1930s fit-out of spittoon troughs and Art Deco lino.

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First licensed in 1724 and rebuilt in 1889, with a coach shuttle thought to have run from here to Smithfield, where the northern coaches began. None of that is why it is protected, though, or why it is on CAMRA's inventory: the fittings that matter are of the 1930s - the spittoon troughs along the foot of the bar, the bar-back and wall panelling of that date, and Art Deco tiles in the lino.

It was Jeffrey Bernard's pub, and the one Keith Waterhouse put on stage in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, which is still staged here from time to time. Norman Balon kept it for more than sixty years, retired in 2006, called himself London's rudest landlord and wrote a book called You're Barred, You Bastards!; he died in 2026 at 99, and he is on the sign. Private Eye held its fortnightly editorial lunch upstairs until 2014, with Special Branch in the bar below.

Piano singalongs on Wednesday and Saturday. Bar snacks and nothing more, which is the point: the drinking is the business here, and Fuller's made it their City Pub of the Year and then their National Pub of the Year in 2025.

Where

29 Greek Street, W1D 5DH

Nearest station

Leicester Square · 3 min walk

Hours

Hours from the page that lists them, checked 18 September 2026.

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