The Square Pig is a swine bar. Quite why they’ve felt the need to throw in this cheap pun on the sign confuses you in time for your entrance and might be something to think about inside.

The Venue
The first thing you might notice about the Square Pig is its unfortunate location. On busy Proctor Street that unrelentingly feeds Holborn and the West with traffic, this pub finds itself sharing the noise and ugliness of the area.

Inside, it does fairly well. The polished black floor looks good with the brown walls and the furniture is a mix of old wooden chairs and large sociable tables. The bar is fairly large and the majority is exposed and gaping. The few intimate areas are cordoned off with hanging blinds, which works well to give depth to a space that would have otherwise just been a large room.

The Atmosphere
Groups gang up on the big tables, fresh from their latest team building exercises, ready to spill office tittle-tattle between one another. Lunchtimes and early evenings are particularly busy with this crowd. The size and close proximity of the Square Pig to busy working districts makes them flock here in their droves. The pub certainly has some issues with itself though, the ketchup bottles effectively litter the tables and, despite its good looks, it can feel a little like a student union bar at times, lacking vitality and edge.

The Food
The Square Pig is all about the lighter side of food. The menu is made up of a selection of small dishes like calamari with lemon grass and chilli, potato wedges, and hummus and tzatziki with pitta bread. There are salads and sandwiches, too, offering a range of gourmet fillings. If you’re looking for something bigger then there’s a small range from the oven - mainly burgers. A selection of pizzas is also served between 5pm-9pm.

The Drink
From the look of the place, you’d expect Square Pig to be all about the spirits and mixers, with doubles obviously coming as standard. With a good range to rival most, this isn’t strictly untrue but there are also a fair range of beers and ales.

Heineken, San Miguel, Fosters and Kronenbourg are all on tap along with a couple of ales - London Pride and Greene King IPA. Wine starts at around £12.50 a bottle and there’s a good range from such countries as New Zealand, Italy, Chile and South Africa.

The Last Word
Its shiny floors, classic furniture and swathing blinds all make good use of the space in the Square Pig but while it would be nice to finish by saying it’s hip to be square, in this particular instance it just falls short.

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