St James Tavern

In search of traditional pub and fish-​n-​chip, St. James did not disappoint. Stopped in on a cold January night. It’s in a great location; walking distance to Picadilly Square, Leichester Square and China Town. The place was packed with an eclectic mixture of locals, and tourists from all over – well, there were many wonderful languages being spoken. Fish-​n-​chips was perfect. Light and flaky cod, peas and chips. It’s traditional, so don’t expect anything spicy or coming in a tortilla with salsa as one previous reviewer dreamed of. Come in, find a table and order from the bar. The service is fast and friendly. Definitely coming back.

Another excellent British meal, again pub style – find an open table, order from the bartender. I had eggs and ham (again, evidently a most common for dinner in these parts), it was a nice tasty slice of ham with two nicely fried eggs and plenty of chips. Hot and tasty!

This pub was so crowded when I came with my friends for dinner. We ended up waiting for about 15 minutes for a table to open up. Oddly to me, the waiter did not come to seat us at all.
Anyway, overall, I really enjoyed the meal! I ordered the steak pot pie, with a side of chips and peas. It was the perfect food I needed after a cold day in the city. The filling was perfectly savory and hot, and the meat was very tender.
It was a turn-​off, however, that the bartender was so rude to me when I was ordering my food. She gave me an attitude when I was trying to explain where exactly I was seated.
Tip: The waiter doesn’t seat you. You have to be quick and grab a table when you can. Also, the waiter doesnt take your order. You have to order at the bar, and the waiter will bring it to you.

Soooo the atmosphere is nice and the place is clean but the food is just average pub fare, and their beer selection is nothing to boast about. Nice to stop in if your walking by and in need of a pint, but pass on the food, and not worth a special trip.

We were on a hop on hop off tour when we got derailed by a 10 k. I had to hop off to use the rest room and the rainforest café wouldn’t let me use their facilities– so we went across the street to this pub and I am so glad we did. They gave us a quiet corner in the back and we all ordered the fish and chips which was delicious. Some accidents turn out to be the best adventures. Would highly recommend. Note: you order at the bar and they deliver to your table.

This is a nice British pub in Piccadilly Circus, but unlike most, this is not one just full of regulars, this place is definitely for us tourists, as both my wife and I were in this particular case!
It seems a popular place, very busy at 9pm as indeed any pub is in this country, and I should know since I actually am from the UK originally and have frequented many! Service was really friendly and I would expect nothing less from my homeland. On top of this service was fast, efficient, and the prices pretty reasonable for somewhere in this part of London.
Piccadilly Circus is an area of London everyone should visit on a trip to England, and this place is great for some food and beverages when you need a little timeout from what is a busy part of the city. Definitely somewhere I would come back to.
Now, with all that, I just have to end on a funny anecdote — on the menu they have a «New Yorker Hot Dog» which it states is topped with bacon, BBQ sauce and melted cheese? Not to put too fine a point on it, what the bloody hell is that about? Bacon? Fail. BBQ sauce? Fail. Melted cheese? Fail. Sounds more like some drunken Texas fry up! In New York it’s Bun, Hot Dog Sausage, Mustard. That’s all folks! (Try to imagine a Porky Pig impersonation at this point for full effect).

I was drawn in by the sign out front
these Brits ain’t got nothing on Ensenada style Fish Tacos!
While I have NO idea what awards this dish has won, it must have been a small entry of competitors, so far the food in this country has been pretty bland!
Fish & Chips (£10.95)
Hand battered Cod (no seasoning to the batter) but it was a nice size piece of white fish cooked nicely (I’d give this fish a solid 4-​Stars) but the French Fries were a little soft and no seasoning at all, it also came with Pea’s, well they were pea’s… Tarter Sauce & Lemon slice to garnish.
I liked the Fish the rest they could keep, someone find me some Tortillas PLEASE…

Had the classic turkey club premium sandwich. Yikes. Disgusting. And for nearly £10 ($ 15). The turkey meat was completely gross!

The pub is in a great location and is generally packed with tourists since, apparently, Charles Dickens used to frequent the places, hence the one star. We ordered sandwiches for lunch and both were more than disappointed. Bread was at least a day old, turkey was like rubber and had to be sitting out. To eaten it would have been a mistake. Disgusting food, unfriendly and abrupt staff. Not a place I’ll be returning to…

From my experience I give this four stars. I got the steak and ale pie with potatoes and peas which was amazing! My boyfriend said he would’ve given it two stars. He got the chili cheese hot dog which he says was mediocre.

I guess I was lucky as the reviews do not seem very good of lately.
It was busy and we were lucky as there ws one table ready just for us.
We ordered at the bar but the girl was not very familiar with the menu. She seemed new.
I had the Yorkshire pudding which was just fantastic and my son had the fish and chips which I tried and enjoyed very much as well.
I wanted to go back and try the fish&chips but time seems to have run out. I guess next time.

Worst choice I made in London. Other reviewers call this a «tourist pub.» I call it awful. We went for lunch, not for drinks, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anything.
Walk in and seat yourself at a dirty table. Get back up and walk to the crowded bar if you want to order anything. The soda is flat or mostly seltzer unless you get it from a bottle. Don’t expect the food to come out right. Don’t expect it to b any good, either. The lettuce was brown, the tomatoes were beige, the bread was floppy supermarket white bread. The «waitresses» are glorified bussers that aren’t quite qualified. I
Nonexistent service, horrible food, dirty establishment. I wish zero stars was an option.

Best fish and chips I have tried so far. Friendly staff and has some nice outdoor seating. Give it a try.

Knowing it was a «tourist» pub, we stopped for lunch. Was quite happy with the tikka chicken masala. Great flavor! As with many other posts from our visit, the Guiness was good!

Bottom line: This is a tourist pub that want your money. Leave to the tourists.
Difficult to get a seat because most people eating. Nowhere to stand without getting jostled. Perhaps staff were busy but some of them a bit rude and pushy. Ales were ok, not bad.

Hard to get a seat the weekend we were here. Nice staff. Good fish and chips. Prices were reasonable for the area.

Ein sehr uriges, gemütliches und schlicht gesagt «originales» Pub in unmittelbarer Nähe zum Picadilly Circus.
Ich liebe traditionsbewußte Gastronomie — und das ist es hierbei zweifelsohne!

A good example of why British restaurants are not found throughout the world; tres bland. If you like tasteless sausages and instant potatoes, order the sausage and mash. If you prefer your prawns the size of a nickel, try the «prawn» salad. Beer was okay as long as you order Heineken.

Really solid pub right off the Picadilly Circus tube station. Was in London visiting for a day and went here for my fill of fish and chips and was decently satisfied, though hoped I could’ve gotten a bit more for the ten pounds I spent. Regardless, it’s quite good for pub food.

— really nice and cozy pub, centrally located
— even in the late afternoon it is very crowded
— service very kind
— wide variety of ciders
— prices okay

Interesting pub close to Piccadilly Circus so a good central location to meet up and enjoy a drink after work or before the theatre.
Good selection of ales an especially well kept Adnams bitter at 4%.
Wide selection of traditional British fayre at a reasonable price for central London that appears to be served up poste haste.
Enjoy.

The West End is probably the tourist hub of London, the Times Square of London if you will.
In amongst the neon screens of Piccadilly Circus and the cosmopolitan hubbub of Soho and Chinatown, it’s almost anachronistic to find St James Tavern. Its name suggests that they’re going for a more old style saloon feel rather than some of the more new-​fangled chain pubs.
I have to confess that I initially popped in because I had to use the toilet. That’s a handy tip for tourists by the way — pubs are good places to find a toilet or bathroom if you find toilet an offensive word.
I then stayed for a drink, partly out of thanks for the toilet facilities, partly to quench my thirst and partly to catch the lovely ambiance in the pub in order to be able to Unilocal about it!
If you fancy getting a more authentic older pub atmosphere in Central London, you could do worse than pop in here

Ein Pub zum verlieben, wenn man über 18 ist. Denn dann kommt man erst in den Genuss der englischen Pubkultur. Verspieltes Ambiente auf einem recht einfachen Level ist ganz klar ein Trumpf. Das Essen ist einfach gehaltne, aber dafür wahnsinnig lecker. Dort habe ich Fish & Chips gegessen und wurde positiv überrascht. Was man nicht vergessen darf ist, dass man an der Theke bestellen und sofort bezahlen muss. Ansonsten ein netter Pub mit netten Angestellten. Ein Tipp für Leute, die den Picadelly Circus leid sind.

Ce pub situé entre Piccadilly Circus et Leicester Square est parfait pour débuter une soirée sur Londres.
Vous y trouverez toute l’ambiance des pubs londoniens avec un choix incroyable de bières.
(Voir photo ci-​dessous)
La plupart des serveurs né sont pas anglais et sont là pour s’imprégner de la langue de Shakespeare. Le service est correct et rapide.
Par contre, succès oblige, il est souvent bondé. Donc si le bain de foule né vous rebute pas, courrez-​y !!