If you’re walking around the general Soho area, and find yourself a bit parched, chances are you won’t waste time considering your options. There’s so many of them (just take a glance through the back catalogue of My 2 Pints), it’s too easy just to walk into whichever’s closest. It’s liberating, just not thinking about it. Like spinning in a circle until you fall down. Why think about it so much? They’re all the same. The faults are the same – overcrowded, grime, lack of a proper beer garden, as are the benefits – price, atmosphere, and location.

Personally I don’t mind the occasional bit of dirt, I even enjoy it. A perfect way to explain the difference between good dirt and bad dirt (fearing I’m sounding like some nerd in an advert – Hey it’s not all bad, at least that dweeb got the girl!), is to spend a couple of pints’ worth in The White Horse on Newburgh St. Walking in, you’re hit be the scent. It’s not ASBOS, midday vomit, or even booze stained Giros, but a rather nice ‘pub’ smell. A mixture of everything, ale, sweat, wood from the bar, wafts of fish, meat, or vinegar (whatever’s cooking at the time) emanating from the kitchen, and occasionally when the toilet door swings out a bit too far you’ll get what Mixologists refer to as the ‘Float’ (stale piss / hot piss / urinal cakes), smack bang in your face. The pub smell makes you feel good to be alive! You don’t leave feeling dirty or violated in any way. The molecular make up makes it homely, cosy, and friendly.

The White Horse, has this illustrious pub smell, and is a joy to impregnate because of it. But the real essence of the place, the bit that makes me walk those few extra yards, past The Shakespeare’s Head, the Red Lion, or the John Snow (all nearby), is the exact location. Yes it’s in Soho, and yes it’s just as easily reachable as all of those imitators, but it’s also far enough out the way to remain majorly unnoticed. Newburgh St runs parallel to Carnaby St (a hugely populated shopping Mecca for Trendistas), but Trendistas as a species aren’t a terribly exploratory bunch. Tending not to budge from what they know. This means at times when the other pubs are all packed out, leaving you pushing and shoving just for the elbow room to put your coat on, The White Horse will simply be, ‘a bit busy’.

Since it’s Summer, who wants to drink inside anyway? And this is one of the best places (in a heavily concreted area) for outside drinking you’re gonna find. Its outside tables (of which there are 4) sit in the discouraging side alley. Both warm and cool in opposing seasons, you won’t freeze your manly tits off, having a homeless man argue with you because you won’t buy him a drink. If you can’t secure a table, or actually want to stand, it’s easy and relaxing to do so. Newburgh St. receives but a fraction of foot-traffic, so you won’t be shoved out of any moody bastards way every 5 seconds.

BEER SELECTION: Large range of real ales, bitters, ciders, and spirits. Good for everyone. *****

COST OF A ROUND: Most of the ales run less than £3. Everything else: Sliding scale of good value. ****

STAFF: Never kept waiting for long, plus the Landlord’s a Northern! *****

FOOD: Fish Finger Sandwich is legendary in these parts. ****

SKIRT RATIO: You’ve got the outside-drinking after work crowd mostly, but on weekends you’ll find a tourist or two to have a crack at. **

Overall: Great pub. Favourite place to have a rest in between shops. Or welcome in a warm evening if an outdoor table can be garnered. Just doesn’t ‘feel’ like a 5 star. ****

The White Horse - Soho - Brought to you by James Wormald -