According to the Museum Tavern’s 32-page guidebook (yes, you heard right), local legend has it that Karl Marx spent an evening propping up the bar of this Bloomsbury boozer back in the 1850s. What the guide tellingly neglects to say is whether anything interesting has happened here since.

The Venue
Spend any length of time at the Museum Tavern and you’ll realise this is a pub that runs on the tourist trade. Occupying a busy corner squarely opposite the main gate of the British Museum, the perennially crowded bar - with its ornamental gas-lights, dark wood panelling and etched glass windows - could almost be an extension of the museum itself. The main room is a reasonable size with comfortable booth seating and eye-catching historic photographs dotted around, making this a good place to while away a rainy afternoon.

The Atmosphere
The one thing that stops the Museum Tavern from being a really great boozer is the crowd it draws in: a peculiar mix of tourists and locals that gives the place a cold, transient feeling. Office workers from the surrounding buildings may stop off here after work, but few stay for any length of time. With no sound system to speak of, the bar’s soundtrack is the low murmur of conversations in different languages and an occasional burst of music from Ye Olde English fruit machine.

According to a plaque on the wall, there’s been a public house on the site as far back as 1723, and looking at the place’s few regulars you’d be forgiven for wondering if they’ve been in situ since then, each one an exhibit in their own right.

The Food
The kitchen churns out a basic menu of classics from the pub grub hall of fame. As you might imagine, they do a roaring trade in fish and chips (£7.99), which is not only highlighted in big letters at the top of the specials board, but also on a board outside where even the most shortsighted of tourists can’t fail to spot it.

To its credit, the menu is extensive and varied with an emphasis on traditional English fare, and prices are reasonable compared with similar tourist traps in the area. The sausage of the day (£7.99) is also worth a look, if only to ponder how many different ways of serving sausage there can be (presumably at least seven, but you never know).

The Drink
The Museum Tavern’s real strength lies in its drinks offering. Any fan of real ale will think they’ve died and gone to pub heaven when they see the impressive range of hand-pulled ales on tap - from old favourites London Pride and Timothy Taylor, to less well-known tipples St Austell Tribute and Theakston’s Old Peculier. The bar also offers a good range of mainstream beers, and a pretty comprehensive wine menu. Prices are not as bad as you might expect either, with pints starting around the £3 mark and a bottle of wine setting you back a little over £10.

The Last Word
The Museum Tavern, with its classic pub architecture and healthy selection of drinks, is definitely worth a quick look if you’re in the area and in the mood for a history lesson. It could be a great venue but too much emphasis on passing trade from the museum makes this the Tin Woodsman of pubs: all the equipment is there, if it only had a heart.

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