The Champion has heritage aplenty within its chic interior and the prices are the icing on the cake.

The Venue
The Champion is situated on the corner of Wells Street, a short stroll from Oxford Street, and yet once inside you’ll feel like you couldn’t be further away from the money-mad branding of shopping hell. The exterior of the pub is nothing spectacular, just an old wooden box of a building shielded by lightly frosted windows.

Once inside, you can’t fail to be struck by the impressive stained glass windows and on a sunny day the images of 1920s boxers, cricketers and general workers are beamed through like light boxes. The rest of the pub is carefully put together and complements the windows. The black and white chequered floor provides a base for red leather benches, simple stools and the sight of traditional old barrels piled high on the curved oak bar.

The Atmosphere
There is no music to disturb the serenity that can be gained from a visit here and even the fruit machines seem too embarrassed to bleep out any sound. The Champion is certainly a pub for the lone wolf and will appeal to those that like to venture out with a weathered Cormac McCarthy in hand, looking for quiet pubs to hole up in. The tables are home to small groups but still the noise levels don’t distract and it is only the weekends that really see a change from the sound of silence.

The Food
There is a simple menu of traditional pub food that is likely to be able to match most on its level, even if it is just through the deity of angelic light filtering through fruit-coloured windows onto your shiny bangers and glistening gravy. If you’re looking for something a little more haute though, then this isn’t the place.

The Drink
The Champion is one of the many Samuel Smiths pubs in Central London, and perhaps it is the lack of stress that they go through when engineering the drinks menu that leaves them time to scout such good premises. Here it is the same old stuff at excellent value with some beers slipping beneath the £2 mark. Beer includes Alpine and Taddy, while there is also the brewery’s own wheat beer.

The Last Word
There isn’t any need to spice things up with a disastrous attempt at a pun on the name, The Champion is simply tradition at its finest.

venue information venue map view london review user reviews (1)