I will have to be richer to drink at the pitcher (Pitcher & Piano)

Member Name: duskmaiden

Product:	Pitcher & Piano
Date:	08/11/06 (466 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tasty food, central location, good mocktails

Disadvantages: pricy, imagine it could get busy at peaktimes, unreadable bar pumps

I have very mixed opinions of chain bars and pubs. At their best there are ones like Weather spoons who actually do good real ale and have made use of some quite nice quirky converted buildings ( I am thinking of the Robert the Bruce in Dumfries which was rescued form the remains of the old Methodist church and done up wonderfully and the elegance of the Waterhouse in Manchester) . At their worst they are anonymous identikit places selling overpriced lager.

Pitcher and Piano is a chain of 27 bars. There is one in Manchester on Lower Mosley Street but I have never been in it and actually am not sure I have ever seen it (even though I worked around there for three moths). Thus my first experience of a Pitcher and Piano was a couple of weekends ago as the Trafalgar Square branch was the location for the wonderful Ciao Meet organised by Lizkempo.

The location of this bar is perfect. It is on King William IV street literally a minutes walk from Trafalgar Square. It can be easily reached from Embankment, Charing Cross, Leicester square and Covent Garden Tube stations. I can see this being a very popular place as it would attract tourists and theatre goers as well as office workers and shoppers. On the Saturday I visited it seemed to be a very popular place for larger prebooked groups. As well as the Ciao Meet there was some kind of Rugby Club (or other male activity do) and also a Spanish meet upstairs.

My first impressions of the bar were good. It was housed in a lovely old building and there seemed to be plenty of room in the bar. This might be different at 6pm on a Friday or 9pm on a Saturday night when it is heaving and you can not get a seat but at midday on a Saturday it looked large and quite sophisticated. I do not remember too much about the décor but I do remember there were plenty of comfy sofas and coffee tables to relax at. The venue is on two floors. The bottom one has an open area with smaller areas leading off it. Our meet was held in a fairly self contained area at the back of the venue. It was nice as it felt fairly private and the area was non smoking so as a non smoker I could fully relax.

The atmosphere and ambience was comfortable and relaxed. There was music playing in the background. I think it was general chart, maybe dance music but I could not say for sure. I liked the Pitcher and Piano for a Saturday afternoon drink at an organised event like the meet however I am not sure how much I would like it in a peak period on a weekend night. I imagine it would be very loud, crowded and smoky.

The range of drinks available at the bar is fairly good but it seems to cater for a younger trendier clientele. There was a wide range of bottled lagers and beers as well as a smaller selection of draughts. The beers on draught were the usual suspects of Stella, Guinness and so on. Luckily for me they did have Hoegarten on tap((£2 for a half pint). I was not that impressed with their beer pumps though. They looked very stylish being nice and silver but they did not have any pictures of the beer on the head of the pump. Instead the name of the beer was stylishly written vertically on the length of the pump. I found this particularly difficult de to my short sightedness but others in the party said that they had to ask what beers they had. They also had a decent wine and cocktail list. The wine starts at £3.40 for a glass or £13.40 for a bottle. I find this a bit pricy for my tastes. They even serve Dom Perignon at £95 a bottle. I was being careful not to drink too much so delighted in the mocktils that they offered. These non alcoholic cocktails were fun an tasty and contained a lot of fresh fruit purees and juices. I liked the look of the virgin moijito made with apple juice and mint leaves that either Olly Plimsoll or his girlfriend Filthyneon had. It looked refreshing and tasty. I myself plumped for a Tropical Colada that had mango pineapple and coconut milk if I remember rightly. These were around about £2.50 and I had fun watching the barman work his wonders with the cocktail shaker. I did not dare look at th alcoholic cocktail as they would be out of my price range. I thought about asking for a Long Vodka as they did do a non alcoholic version of it but again did not buy one just because of the prices.

I would defiantly not buy a hot drink here. The coffees are over 32 as are the teas. How can they justify chagrining £2 for a herbal infusion when all it is a bag which you can get 20 bags for £1 and some hot water. As you can gather I personally found the prices of some of the drinks quite expensive but I do realise this bar is in a prime position in the heart of London thus warranting premium prices.

I was quite impressed with the bar menu. There seemed to be something for everyone from nibbles, sandwiches, salads, burgers and mains. I liked the fact that it was quite adventurous with some of its choices. Alongside the traditional fish and chips and bangers and mash they had gnocchi, Mediterranean fish stew and Barbary duck. There really is something for everyone. I was impressed that they even did gluten free bread in their sandwiches and baguettes if it was requested. There is waiter service there but you had to ask at the bar and I found myself having to ask a few times then had to actually order at the bar. I plumped for a mozzarella and olive burger. It was nice as a semi veggie not to have to settle for the usual Quorn burger. Mozzarella and olive sounded slightly different. I did not have to wait long for my burger and I was impressed when I received it as it was really nicely presented on a white square plate with salad and a portion of decent chips. The burger was quite thick and had nice big chunks of olives. The highlight of my meal was the lovely tangy chunky relish/salsa. I paid £7 .95 for my burger. A start/;oghtr bite was in the region o0f £3-4. Amain courses were between £8 and £11. The food prices are perhaps a little bit more than I am used to paying for a bar meal but again I am willing to take the location of the venue into account. I think they are similar in price to somewhere like Hard Rock Café.

I have not ruled out returning to a Pitcher and Piano in the future. I had a good time there but I think that was due to the company. A big thanks and hugs all round to all those who made the meet as they were delightful company but the bar did contribute. The food was nice as were the mocktials. However I prefer my bars and pubs to be slightly cheaper and slightly more individual and quirky.

http://www.pitcherandpiano.com/

40-42 William IV St,
Trafalgar Square,
WC2N 4DD

020 7240 6180

Summary: A nice but average central London bar