The Chandos

The Chandos is a Victorian pub on the corner of St Martin's Lane and Chandos Place in Covent Garden, beside the London Coliseum. It began life as the Bull's Head and had taken the Chandos name, from its Chandos Street address, by 1891; the frontage is topped by a figure of a cooper at his craft on a balcony high on the corner, and the original bar was carved with the names of Fijian troops who served here in the First World War. Upstairs, the lounge is called the Opera Room after the English National Opera next door. The kitchen serves pub classics and lighter dishes, and every beer is brewed by Samuel Smith's Old Brewery in Tadcaster, founded in 1758, with cask Old Brewery Bitter served from oak casks in the cellar alongside four house wines and a range of spirits. The bars and dining areas are available for parties, social gatherings and private hire, and darts packages with food and sharing boards start at £19.95 a head.