Central London pubs are often on the tacky-touristy side but The Marquis is an exception, providing Londoners with elegant surroundings in the evening, while still serving appreciative tourists for lunch.

The Venue
Located just a few steps away from Trafalgar Square, The Marquis is a historical pub established in the 1600s and it can count the romantic highway man Claude Duval and Charles Dickens among its customers. The many changes of names and several renovations have left The Marquis with a historical canvas on which the current management has painted a delectable contemporary décor: a floral theme is employed on Perspex cut-out lampshades and canvases hang from the wall, as delicate shades of sage merge with black and damask patterns. The period features are particularly visible on the ground floor, where wooden partitions create nooks and tiles and mottos adorn the walls adding other points of interest.

The Atmosphere
For lunch the upstairs dining room gets particularly busy with groups of tourists. Families and couples come in looking for fish and chips and find more than they had bargained for: a beautifully elegant space with cheap food. The evenings, though, see a completely different crowd: local workers flock in for the great range of beers and the English National Opera staff have made this one of their favourite after-show haunts. If lunchtime is a foreign affair, the evenings attract more Londoners.

The Food
The Marquis doesn't claim gastropub or restaurant status, as the menu offers simple, affordable pub staples. For starters (£4-£5.25), pick from fishcakes (smoked haddock, fresh salmon and Atlantic prawns), a large portion of calamari or just a simple soup with a slice of toasted hearty bread. The mains (£7-£8.25) span from cottage pie to lamb steak, passing by sausages and mash, wholetail scampi, grilled gammon with pineapple and the ever popular fish and chips. The food is unpretentious and pretty good on the whole. The gourmet vegetarian burger is better than average and it combines an interesting mix of ingredients (puy lentils, carrots, courgettes, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, walnuts, cranberries and grated gruyere cheese) while the stuffed red pepper is tasty and well-cooked on the outside. Unfortunately, the risotto rice is overcooked and the mushrooms do not seem particularly fresh.

You can also order salads (£6.25-£7.45), sharing platters (£7.75-£13), baguettes (£5-£5.85) and desserts for lunch, but for dinner only platters and bar snacks are available.

The Drink
The selection of beers is remarkably good with plenty of quality to choose from, especially within the bottles (£3.30-£4.65): Cusqueña, Quilmes, Vedett, Negra Modelo, Nils Oscar God Lager and many others. Within the draughts (£3.20-£3.85) you can pick between Moretti, Liefmans, the premium German Krombacher and a few others. The wine list, instead, counts on a dozen bottles (£13-£20), most of which are available by the glass (£3.55-£4.55 for a small one or £4.55-£6 for a large one), with new and old world equally represented.

The Last Word
Stylish, central, intimate and historical, The Marquis is a little gem of a pub, one that's bound to please visitors as well as locals.

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