You first come upon a garden patio (smokers paradise) preceding the fancy pants double-door entrance. The doors lead straight through to a dramatically vast interior and the immense wooden bar. It’s like stepping inside a massive old wooden ship that a group of flamboyant, beer-loving pirates invaded and decorated. To the left is the basement level where TVs and entertainment are the focus. To the bar’s left, a wide stairway leads to a quite foyer nook halfway up the stairs. The top level provides you a more spacious seating area. Extensive (and expensive) wood and brass-trimmed brewery-related piping and plating run throughout the pub. Even the hanging light fixtures are brass-trimmed. A very cool brass clock hangs over the upstairs balcony and can be viewed from any place in the top 2 floors. The wall nooks and windows are lined with Porterhouse beer bottles and knick knacks. It seems a bit cluttered. I’m trying to spy the taps but all the little doodads catch my eyes, forcing me again to concentrate on the task at hand…deciding on which beer to try next.Hang out near the bar on simple wooden stools, or relax upon cushioned leather armchairs and/or coach-style benches, or just stand around gawking, beer in hand. Choice is yours. Enjoy your surroundings before the after work crowd arrives…unless you prefer mob scenes. In that case, arrive at 7pm (1900) on a Friday night. Most Porterhouse beers are served on tap. There are always a couple of “Real” ales and bottled beers from around the world to try along with a solid selection of wines and mixed drinks for the people not very interested this review. The food menu is fairly extensive. A mix of pizza, burgers, fish & chips, standard Irish and pub food is available. The downside? My wife felt a little uncomfortable going to the lady’s room because a group of guys were hanging out by the door. That set up should be corrected. I’d place The Porterhouse on your ‘Should’ visit London Pub list. Cheers!

Me and my boyfriend visited the Porterhouse for the first time a few days ago. The night didn't begin on a good note and only got worse. Just as we were entering the Porterhouse, the bouncer stuck his arm out straight across me, pointing and said extremely rudely 'how old are you' and proceeded to demand to see my identification, which I have no problems with showing, given they ask me in a polite manner. Once we had finally got in, I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the place was. It looked amazing and I loved how they still kept the authentic feel throughout. I also couldn't believe how big it was and would have happily explored the place and getting lost in the process for hours! It was a Friday evening and was therefore becoming quite busy quickly. We went down to the bottom floor as this was quieter. My boyfriend asked for two ales from the menu, the barman who served us was actually one of the rudest people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. He was constantly looking down his nose at us, and patronizingly told us that we could not pay on card unless it was a bill of over £5, we did not have any cash on us so decided to order some garlic bread in order to be able to pay with our card. Like I said, it was extremely busy and at the time we didn't have a table. Because we didn't have a table but wanted to order food, the barman made us feel like we were committing a serious crime! He rudely told us to move over to the end of the bar and stand in the corner if we wanted to eat. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to talk to people like this, but we let it go because it was busy and I thought he may just be stressed. However, upon ordering a second round of drinks (by this time we had got a table) the beers my boyfriend and his fried asked for, the same barman told us there was nothing left on draught and only had 4 out of the 8 choices of beer in the fridge. Baring in mind, it was only 8:30pm and they had already run out of the draught ales I thoug

Waited 20 mins to get served. Asked rowan the server why he was serving everyone else before me and my friend. He abruptly replied , he is moving down the bar? The guy he tried to serve before me advised him we had been waiting and to serve me first. He replied he didnt care? Absolutely flabbergasted! Was enough to make me never ever spend money in Porterhouse again. If the owners/management read this. They need to sack that guy.

First time at this bar as don't normally frequent the Covent Garden area. Was pleasantly surprised by the layout and character of the bar, thought it was very tastefully done. Liked the selection of unknown beers, all tasted good and were interesting. Staff were OK, not overly nice but did nothing bad. The missus had cocktails but they were extremely sweet, so weren't overly impressed with them. Overall a good experience and would go back .

First time at this bar as don't normally frequent the Covent Garden area. Was pleasantly surprised by the layout and character of the bar, thought it was very tastefully done. Liked the selection of unknown beers, all tasted good and were interesting. Staff were OK, not overly nice but did nothing bad. The missus had cocktails but they were extremely sweet, so weren't overly impressed with them. Overall a good experience and would go back .

I have been to the Porterhouse many times and enjoyed myself inspite of considerable crowds and expensive drinks. My most recent visit however was somewhat disturbing. I was with two friends (I recommended we pop in for a drink there) and we ordered three beers, 2 of one kind and 1 of another. It was the middle of the day and very few people we in the bar. When we were served we got three of the same kind of beer, not a major issue, I said to the barmaid (who I suspect may have even been a manager or supervisor) that we actually wanted 1 different "would it be possible to change one" to which she loudly huffed and said "would have been nice to have been told that at the start!" she snatches the beer away and dumps another in front of us quite heavy handedly spilling a large portion. Incredible! We left soon after. With all this said I will likely return as the incompetence of one individual sound not completely taint an entire venue.

I love Porterhouse! I come to Porterhouse quite a lot, mostly in the evenings. It does get very busy but there is always such a buzz about the place, with the bar staff rushed off their feet, serving several customers all at once. Their draught beer is fantastic, in particular the Plain and Oyster Stouts, which I believe have won several brewing awards. The selection of bottled beers is also great, in particular the range from Belgium and Germany. The last time I was at Porterhouse was during the Six Nations match between Italy and Ireland. There was a queue outside, I was lucky enough to get in and the atmosphere was fantastic in the basement bar, where there are several plasma tvs and a big screen. Me and my friends all had food that day, decent burgers and pizzas which helped soak up the beer! All in all a great place!

Not quite sure what the attraction of this place is, it was overcrowded, overpriced and understaffed. It is a vast space, with lots of bars, not all of which were open and those that were had about half the staff they needed. As an observation, more staff would mean selling more drinks which would mean more profit - I am no Alan Sugar but seriously 4 deep at the bar and 15 minutes to get served is not the way to get repeat customers. Finally, I also found it too hot and too loud throughout, although both improved the higher up we went. On the plus side, a good range of uncommon beers were available, hence the one star, otherwise a big fat zero from me.