Mr Fogg's Tavern

Mr Fogg's Tavern is a Victorian-style pub on the corner of New Row and St Martin's Lane, in the heart of London's theatreland. It is part of the Mr Fogg's collection of themed bars, and its backstory has the building left by Phileas Fogg's late Aunt Gertrude to her loyal housekeeper Fanny McGee, who now runs it as a traditional London tavern for theatre-folk and art-lovers. The walls and ceilings are covered in an eccentric array of memorabilia and artefacts gathered from around the world, and a large outdoor seating area runs along the pavement.

The tavern belongs to the same family as Mr Fogg's Residence in Mayfair, the Apothecary, the Society of Exploration and the Pawnbrokers in Soho, each built around the same fictional Victorian explorer. Here the format is deliberately simpler: a ground-floor pub pouring traditional beers and real ales, freshly made fruit punches and what the house calls adventurous libations, with Mr Fogg's Gin Parlour occupying the floor above under its own name.

Victorian pub in Covent Garden with food and live entertainment

From Monday to Saturday a lunch menu covers fresh salads, burgers and other hearty dishes, and on Sundays a Sunday roast is served from midday with all the trimmings and a Mr Fogg's twist. Thursday evenings belong to the Cockney Singalong, when Tom Carradine takes to the old Joanna for timeless songs with full audience participation from 8.31pm to 10.31pm, for walk-ins and indoor table bookings only. Late-night live music has also been running on Fridays from 9pm.

What to expect on a visit

Tables can be booked, but a few are always kept aside for walk-ins, and you can simply stand at the bar. Venue hire runs from 30 to 70 guests in the tavern itself, or 130 for the full building including the Gin Parlour upstairs. Leicester Square is the nearest tube station, and the Duke of York's and the Coliseum are a few doors along, which makes it a natural pre-theatre stop. For something with more show to it, The Alchemist sits a little further up the same lane, and the rest of the area's cocktail bars in Covent Garden are all within a short walk.