For all its theatres and restaurants, Covent Garden is also a fine place to drink. The area holds a rare mix of historic pubs, many of them tucked down courts and alleys where you would not expect to find them, and a newer generation of cocktail bars that suit the after-work and after-theatre crowds. Knowing where to look makes all the difference, because some of the best rooms in the district are exactly the ones you cannot see from the main squares.
The historic pubs
Some of the area's pubs are destinations in themselves. The Lamb and Flag, hidden down a passage off Rose Street, is one of the oldest pubs in the district, a small and atmospheric house with a long history and a loyal following. Around the Piazza and along the surrounding streets you will find other traditional houses, several of them Victorian, with etched glass, dark wood and open fires in winter. These are the places to settle into for an unhurried pint, and their cramped, low-ceilinged rooms are part of the appeal rather than a drawback.
Step off the main squares and into the courts and passages, and Covent Garden gives up its best-kept rooms: small historic pubs with the noise of the Piazza only a street away.
Real ale and tradition
Covent Garden has a strong claim on the real-ale drinker. The Harp on Chandos Place is a celebrated free house that has won national recognition for its cask beer and cider, and several other pubs in the area keep a well-chosen and changing range on the pumps. If you care about what is in the glass as much as the room you drink it in, the district rewards a slow crawl between a handful of houses, each with its own character and its own regulars.
Cocktail bars and late drinking
Covent Garden also drinks in style. The area has a strong run of cocktail bars, from grand hotel bars to intimate basement rooms, many of them a short walk from the Piazza. The bars attached to the theatres and the larger restaurants are worth knowing too, ideal for a drink before a show or a nightcap afterwards. Because the area stays busy into the evening, there is usually somewhere serving later than you might expect, particularly towards Seven Dials and the Strand.
Drinking around a show
The rhythm of the theatre shapes drinking in Covent Garden. The hour before evening performances is busy as audiences gather, then the pubs and bars quieten during the shows before filling again at the final curtain. If you want a table before a performance, arrive early or book where you can. If you would rather avoid the rush, the interval and the immediate post-show hour are the busiest times to sidestep, and a mid-evening arrival often finds a quieter room.
Finding the quiet corners
The real pleasure of drinking in the area is discovery. Follow the courts, passages and side streets off the main squares and you will find smaller pubs and bars that the crowds walk straight past. A pint in a quiet historic house down a Covent Garden alley, or a well-made cocktail in a room you had to look for, is one of the small and reliable pleasures of central London, and a fitting end to an evening in the West End.