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.

 

The Golden Eagle in Marylebone is a bona fide original. Not perfect, but where is? If you enjoy a traditional pub feel, a few tunes to tap your feet to, or somewhere to smoke and not feel an outcast - pitch up and give it a try.

If you're visiting from abroad and want to try a pub near the centre, that isn't bereft of locals or atmosphere, you know where to go.

Follow the map, though, it's easy to wind up traipsing backstreets with a confused look on your face.


Usual opening times, except Sunday - when it shuts at 7pm.

 

 

 

59 Marylebone Lane, Marylebone, London, W1U 2NY

Bond Street Tube

Call:  020 7935 3228

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