The Albany

Food is great, but really disappointed in how slow the staff are. I sometimes come on my Lunch hour and its just too slow, the staff need to have a little more urgency.

Decent late night gaff. Added bonus of being open till the more reasonable midnight. It’s always frustrating when bars shut at 11. Conveniently located by the underground station too. Big open bar with plenty of room and tables nicely lit with a good chilled ambience

New management and a facelift put this pub back on my go-​to list. The staff is very friendly and they were extremely helpful when I was booking a large business lunch. The Uke Nights on Wednesdays is delightful and the basement staff even seemed to enjoy my out of tune singing. For me, a huge plus is location, being right near Great Portland St Station. But the friendly vibe definitely keep me coming back.

Recently renovated the Albany has undergone a great new refit which makes this pub a lot more spacious and relaxed. Staff were lovely and friendly and burgers were great!

Was here with a friend on a Friday night and give this one a meh. Decent enough but not worth going out of the way to visit. Good selection of beer and reasonably friendly staff but food portions (i.e. sweet potato fries) are small and ambience is only so so.

Been here a few times and there’s always a lovely atmosphere. Cosy during the day for a lunchtime snack/​drink and friendly/​lively in the evening. Bar staff are lovely and very helpful! They seem too go out of their way to help.

Friendly pub with normal london price booze. Had a sunday roast this weekend. Good size portions but all of our meals were served luke warm which was disappointing — however a nice size pub with good atmosphere.

Not a bad location and most of the staff are friendly enough. Prices reasonable and food looked pretty good too. Why two stars then? Purely and simply because they don’t allow vaping. In this day and age — and bearing in mind it does no-​one any harm — that should be a negative stars review.
Ended up going fifty yards further down the road where the beer was better and I could vape to my heart’s content.

My boyfriend and I spent New Year’s Eve (2013 – 14) here. First we had dinner on the main floor and it was delicious. Seriously everything we had was great. I didn’t find the food very run-​of-​the-​mill pub style at all. The wine and beer selection was fantastic.
And then there was the party downstairs, hosted by those awesome Feeling Gloomy boys (it’s usually at the Phoenix). Nice atmosphere and tunes, great crowd. No regrets picking this place for the last night of the year!

Although they were all out of Sunday roasts by the time we got here for dinner at around 6pm, we still loved our second choice meals! Of course, the waitress waited until we had our beers until she broke the news to us that they had no more roasts, but I suppose that was just smart on her part. I had the fish and chips, which were crispy when I wanted them to be and juicy when I wanted them to be. Great batter, too — not too oily. My husband had the bangers and mash, which were super tasty and savory. He loved them! Plus, he had a bit to drink so he was loving everything, if you know what I mean. My parents both tried the gnocchi and they both seemed to enjoy it. For dessert we had the sticky toffee pudding, which was TO DIE FOR. Great food and atmosphere to hang out for the night!

Just a big pub, sorry man.
Food: Nothing special…
Beers: Got some specials!
Crowd: 20 – 40, international students, british girls and some badly cut suits.
It’s more an excuse bar (Want to go for a drink, don’t want to travel for it or think about it) than a destination.
Oh, wait: friendly staff!

Good food
Good atmosphere
Serve variety of drinks
Friendly staff

Fine old Fitzrovia pub. It’s the picture that you’d imagine you’d have if you were in the US and thought «posh Fitzrovia pub» if you knew where Fitzrovia was.
This place has decent food and a stunning selection of beers and whatnot, slightly let down by the inordinate prices. Yes, they’ve broken the £4-​a-​pint barrier.
And… I dunno, there’s something about it that says «we are running this as a business to separate you from your cash». It’s fine– that’s what it’s all about, after all, but it’s a little too clean and a little too shiny and a little too on-​the-​bandwagon of hard-​to-​find ales without any of the authenticity or care that goes into, say, the Tap.
More of a stop-​in-​and-​have-​a-​quiet-​pint kind of a place rather than a place for a session.

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I fear this place has gone downhill since they reopened after refurbishment.
Prices? Up.
Staff? Harried and confused.
Table bookings? Only available online, and then often ignored or unconfirmed.
Food? Half your table will finish before the rest even get their meal.
Order a rum and coke? You might spend a disbelieving minute or two as the person behind the bar *slowly reads the liquor bottle labels* until she finds the rum.
It’s a shame. A horrible shame.

A very nice pub and given they have more than one chef on staff, it is the perfect place for a lunch meal when you don’t have 3 hours to have it. I think the chips portion with the meal is too small but that is because they are so lovely.
The food is always well cooked and almost always well presented. It is a bit prict but the atmosphere and location more than compensate for the cost.
There is an excellent selection of beer here on draught and they even have Fruli fruit beer. A really great place

I’ve been to the The Albany a number of times on business trips, and I think it’s a fine establishment.
The food is good for the price, the drinks are good and the staff is pretty friendly.
What I like best is the ambiance, it’s got a rustic feel with a lounge mixed in.
Overall it’s not the the very best bar/​pub I’ve been to, but it’s a nice place to grab a pint and eat some good food.

I met good friends here for a few the other week. What a gem!
Way down Great Portland Street, it’s reletively unknown but still easy to get to and well worth a visit.
The atmosphere is totally inviting, and you feel comfortable sitting down from the moment you step in. Apparently it’s pretty tough to get a table on the busier days, we were in there having a sneaky cider on a Wednesday and it was packed — so I can wholly believe it.
The prices are good, the toilets are clean (plus, the manager has left a really important notice about leaving drinks and bags lying about — which I thought was not only very thoughtful but also ensured that I kept my wits about!). I spent ages studying the food menu, even though we didn’t eat, and that looked yummy too. Great choice of beers and fun music to boot.

I play a gig at the Albany every month (3^rd Monday of the month if you’re interested) so you’d think I’d have a lot of love for it. Well I do… just not as much as you might think.
OK let’s do the sandwich thing, we’ll start with what I like, move on to where it needs improvement and then end with something good.
Firstly, I love the way it’s decorated, dark walls and a black wooden ceiling with an incredible relief. Seemingly random sets of furniture making up several large areas that you can enjoy with friends or strangers. The bar has a wonderfully extensive range of beers, ciders and liquor (and I’m assured the happy hour is great though I’ve never taken part).
Where the whole place falls down for me is the food. It’s OK but not great and I feel this place should be doing kick ass grub. The menu reads well but it over sells the end product, the burgers are unimpressive, the use of the word mezze does little to dispel the «not a lot of food for quite a bit of money» aspect of the starter menu and when I asked about the frankly decadent sounding lasagna with it’s «Angus Aberdeen beef steak mince and beef tomato sauce» I was reliably informed it’s not even made on the premises!
NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
I, on the other hand, make a lasagna fit for royalty and would happily do a comparison test if there are any volunteers.
The other thing that ‘grinds my gears’ about the Albany is the sound on stage. This venue hosts some of the best names in comedy and a lot of very up and coming bands, when we play there’s only 2 of us and all I can hear is the tambourine! Get some monitors people!
OK something good something good… the staff are lovely x

Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone but this is where the BBC folks hang out. Hate a show you hear on the radio? Come here with your rotten tomatoes and lob them at the discerning punters. Okay actually don’t do that because this is actually quite a nice boozer.
The do tasty cloudy cider which after a pint or two you will feel like the world is your lover. It’s in a prime location for being a warm up drinking spot for 229 if you are going to see some bands and actually they have their own entertainment on her too. Comedy and the likes.
I have been here a few times and in the evening it can get super busy so watch out if you are planning on coming here in a big group. All in all, a solid effort!

When I begin wixing up my mords and mumbling phrases like «Take me drunk I’m home,» you can almost bet I’ve been at the Albany again.
I’m not sure if every hour is happy hour, but £2.50 for a double vodka soda (house vodka being Smirnoff, mind you,) is an absolute steal… and my liver’s new nemesis.
I was first drawn in by the ambiance. A wide open space with funky modern light fixtures, the Albany has managed to create a number of different intimate seating areas for any size of group. (I highly recommend coming here on awkward double dates and after wine-​heavy holiday parties.)
While I can’t high-​five the food quite yet, the bar staff is quick and down to Earth, it is within spitting distance of the Great Portland Street tube and those drink specials will keep me coming back long after I leave the neighbourhood. Definitely one of the best pubs around.
p. s. If I haven’t been conviscing enough (£2.50. seriously.) They offer ½ price bottles of wine on Mondays.