Soho · Westminster
The Coach and Horses
Soho's rudest, most beloved literary local since 1724.
- Address29 Greek Street, Soho, London W1D 5DH
- Phone020 7437 5920
- Websitecoachandhorsessoho.pub
- OwnershipIndependent pub
About The Coach and Horses
A defiantly old-school Soho boozer where Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and a young Jeffrey Bernard held court, its 1930s bar still unchanged.
Licensed since 1724, the Coach and Horses became legend under landlord Norman Balon, self-styled 'London's rudest landlord', who presided over decades of Private Eye lunches and Jeffrey Bernard's infamous 'Low Life' bar-room stupors. The dark, narrow room has barely changed since a 1930s refit, with a well-worn bar and a devoted, still faintly bohemian crowd. Cask ale flows but the pub's real currency has always been conversation and gossip.
On tap
A tight, well-kept range of cask ales served at a bar built for elbows and arguments, not menus.
Food
None served — the Coach and Horses has never done food and isn't about to start now.
More pubs in Soho
- The French HouseOnly halves served, ever, since the 1920s.
- The Dog and DuckA Grade II Victorian gem with an Orwell room upstairs.
- The Blue PostsA 1739 Soho local stacked three storeys deep.