The Grenadier is a London pub which wilfully shies away from the limelight, presumably safe in the knowledge that enough people will track it down by word of mouth to keep it in business. At the end of an exclusive cobbled mews, near Old Barrack Yard, visitors are greeted by an original sentry box out front. The Duke of Wellington's Grenadier Guards used it as their mess and gambling den. The 'Iron Duke' himself lived nearby in Apsley House - known as "No 1, London" back in the day. The officers' mess was originally located on the top floor and the gambling & drinking were conducted downstairs - which was open to the ordinary 'rank and file'.

Although it's in a high-end area of town, there's nothing posh about the Grenadier and it certainly shows its age if you look closely enough, but when has this been a problem for pubs? Part of the charm of spending an evening at the pub is how attractive it can start to look as the evening progresses - a well known phenomenon after a few drinks, which applies to people as equally to buildings and pubs in particular.

The Grenadier is composed of three rooms, dressed in dark wood panelling and military memorabilia including a genuine busby. A guardsman grooms and keeps it in condition during his regular visits. The room at the back is set aside for dining and about twenty can fit in there, at a push. No spectacular food, but decent and filling and despite numerous reviews and complaints about the expense, the costs are below average for central London. Real Ales on tap and a rare and original pewter bar, a pinch of flickering candlelight - all the ingredients for an unusual, but memorable trip out. Check the Google map below to find the pub, as it's a tricky one to track down. If you're visiting London and want to experience a pub where they don't put pictures on the menus, then leave the area around Whitehall or Trafalgar Square and branch out to this little gem (and I do mean, little).

The Golden Eagle in Marylebone is small, for sure, but providing it's not a scrum - the tall ceilings can lend it an airy feel, and it's not nearly as pokey as it looks from the outside. There's not a huge range of beer on tap, so the choice is select, but it does what it does, well. The exterior overlooks a quiet section of Marylebone Lane, which if you follow south, along the winding path, narrows to shoulder width and deposits you through a small arch onto Oxford Street. Where the herd will suck you back in as it sweeps past. It's a pleasant haven, a skip and a jump from one of the busiest shopping thoroughfares in town.

Inside, it's been spruced up recently and the decor is 'antique-y' and easy on the eye. Several nights a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays) - including last night during our visit, they have a resident pianist. Initially, this may grate with some visitors, but several pints in, a tinkling 'Joanna', with someone crooning a 1940s wartime number, does have the ability to win you over and transport you in a way that a tourist attraction, with actors in traditional costumes - never will. It's also pleasingly mixed, in age and gender. Not all old-blokes, morosely supping pints.

Outside it caters for the smoker with extra-wide windowsills fashioned into all weather bar surfaces with ashtrays. On a mild evening during the summer, your only real need to go inside, is to get another round in. And find the toilets - which are downstairs by the way.