23 Rathbone St, London, W1T 1NQ
It’s so tiny – but so clean. The Newman Arms is a lovely old pub just behind Tottenham Court Road. It’s a bit white, but then so is Fitzrovia darling, which is the official area of London you are in when you are drinking in the road outside the pub.
The toilet is also tiny but clean. The door is right next to the end of the bar – which is convenient – but launches you straight into the toilet cubicle, complete with rather two steps you have to go up in order to reach the bog itself – which is not. In fact it’s rather confusing and possibly downright dangerous if one was any more pissed than we were, which was not very.
As for the surroundings, well all the requisites were there including mirror, paper, white tiles, black and white convenience etc. But because of the confusion about how to lock the toilet door (on which step do you reach back down behind yourself to slip across the measly lock without falling drunkenly back out into the bar or braining yourself on the side posts of the door) the damage was already done.
Really the best thing about the place is that it’s located in Fitzrovia and the fact that you seem to be able to get a drink whenever you want. Minus points are collected by the toilet’s bizarre construction and the odd drainy smell, which the regulars seem to actually find comforting (we heard them discussing it, no word of a lie) . Perhaps all the ad men that frequent it see the smell of effluent as providing that ”home from home” feel…
4/10 – needs more room for manouvre
