The Champion

Everyone likes to drink in an old pub now and then and they don’t come much better looking than The Champion. It’s all in the name. None of that, ‘I could have been somebody, I could’ve been a contender’ talk, this pub is a straight-up champion of tradition and it knows it.

Located in the pub-heavy neighbourhood of Fitzrovia, an area of London where you’re likely to stumble on a pub on every other street, The Champion keeps the old boozer spirit alive. It is fancy only in its checkerboard-tiled floor, the ornate wood design and the dark sultriness of the interior. No cocktails, no craft beer; no gimmicks at all. As a Samuel Smith pub The Champion serves the usual mix of beers that come at an excellent price point. The Taddy is always a good bet but recently this writer has been enjoying the Wheat beer, finding its citrus notes that little bit more interesting than the rest of what’s on offer.

The Champion is built around the bar in the middle. There is dark wood everywhere. Even the small table/booths by the windows are divided by extra wooden partitions as if when they were building they bought too much wood and just had to use it all up. It is dark thanks to the presence of all this wood, however, that means that the decorative stained glass windows are thrown centre stage whenever the sun shines through at the best angle. This site is worth a visit alone. But if you need others beside that, the glorious wood, the tiled floor and the general old-worldliness of the pub, then just think, you’ll be drinking in a pub called… The Champion.