The Nags Head

They serve McMullen Ales here, and those are the best Ales I’ve found. They serve 4 different kinds of McMullen Ale, and my favorite is the IPA. This Ale is so smooth it hardly tastes like an IPA. Try to hit this place on a week day for lunch and enjoy the food and Ale. It gets very crowded in the evening. Even when they are packed the service is always fast and friendly.

This place doesn’t have much attraction accept that they sell McMullen beers, beers that you won’t find at many other pubs around town. The pub interior is all wood and old-​school like. Average prices. Average uncaring but efficient enough service. I honestly would only visit here to try a half pint and then leave.

Popular and packed with locals and tourists we stopped for a beer at Nags Head, a victorian traditional english pub in the heart of covent garden. Part of the McMullen brewery group.
Great beer pumped by some friendly bar ladies. We stood drinking our beer until a few seats at a table opened up.

This place is located in a real convenient location near the Covet Gardens tube station and boasts a happy mix of locals and tourists. Being in such a prime location I was prepared to be butt raped with tourist prices but to my surprise 2 pints only set me back 6 GBP. A very fair and standard price that was along the lines of every pub we drank out of. Since we visited on a Sunday it was as no brainer to order a traditional carvery dinner special. We both got the roast beef carvery special dinner (see pic for details), You could tell everything was homemade down to the dinner roll. The vegetables and jacket potato were very good however the roast beef was very dry and sucked up all of the gravy on the plate in a valiant effort to re-​hydrate itself. Needles to day I was disappointed with the meal. The only saving grace was the savory veggies and homemade gravy.
This place belongs somewhere in the middle in regards to the grip of pubs that I visited through my London journeys. It was great choice because of it’s prime location yet forgettable because of its mediocre food. Come for a quick pint and an escape from the mayhem that is Covet Gardens. Consider yourself lucky if you get a seat here as the crowd never died down the entire time we were here.
Cheers!

Cheap, but no wifi :(
Hard to handle the mass tourists at covent garden, but this was a quiet escape (not crowded, casual, one of the more low key and less cozy pubs i’ve been to — although we visited midday, so it sounds like other times can be a different story in terms of the crowds).
I’d come for the cheap prices, but not expect any frills. Still, next to such a touristy locale, surprisingly cheap (ok, i’ve said that about 10x now).
If you sit at one of the raised bar tables in the window and position your phone just right, you can catch another establishments wifi. I initially thought some guy was a total weirdo lurking in the window, but after catching wifi at the window of our table, assume that was his plan as well.

Good place to stop in for a quick drink!

Went there for a quick lunch on a Monday in winter, so not busy which was good. The usual choice of pub grub, at an inflated price & of poor quality. My steak was over done & full of gristle, there were 2 soggy onion rings, some shrivelled up tiny mushrooms, a tomato, peas & chips. The chips were ok, as were the frozen peas, but the rest was pretty dreadful. The burger my friend had was edible, but not fantastic either. The staff seemed ok & they have a range of beers on tap. I wouldnt be rushing back though.

It’s funny to me how almost all of the pubs in London are on the small scale and most come in to buy a pint and then drink it outside on the street corner/​sidewalks. The Nags Head is where I did just this. I wanted to try out a pub while I was in town and this place seemed to be somewhat popular. It was crowded and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I went in and ordered a pint of IPA… which was alright. It tasted a bit watery — but again, I’m from Portland, OR where we have more brew pubs per capita than Germany. Our beer is good, Very good.
Aside from all that, the Nags head was not a bad little spot. I got my beer and decided to stand outside with the rest of the crowd. It was a good spot to people watch. Nothing overly special about this place. The inside was way too hot so I’m glad I could actually go outside and enjoy myself.

Yes, it gets very crowded, buts in a very busy area, so what would you expect? I’m giving it 4 stars because no matter how busy it is, I’ve always managed to duck into this place and get a good pint in a reasonable amount of time. The bar staff are friendly, efficient, and pour a good drink. If during your travels you find yourself in Covent Garden, stop in for a pint or two, the pub across the street is nice as well…

Like most review here that mention the seating, they are absolutely correct, there just is not enough seating, even though it is quite a large pub.
I think if a bit of re organizing of the tables may help this, although i usually only have a couple of beers in here when i am in London, so don’t mind standing up, the service at the bar is very quick so your not too long, even if it’s busy.
good London Pub

Another pub in Covent Garden, the Nags Head doesn’t do much to stand out among the rest except for having the largest crowd outside of it. This pub is very loud and crowded inside but the music is good and the drinks are strong. I would definitely not recommend coming to the Nags Head is you want to have an intimate conversation with your date or anyone else, but it’s a great place for a rowdy group to have a pint or two. Make sure to stake out seats as soon as possible, they go fast here.

Average selection of beers, average seating, but good location.

The Nag’s Head is always jammed whenever i visit and it usually takes a good 15 minutes at least to find a seat (infact you’re lucky if you ever get one!). People usually have to form a huddle in any space they can find. I always wonder how long the people who managed to get the good seats have been sitting there as I have never seen it any less than completely full. Considering how busy this place gets the service is always quick and friendly.
They have a good range of beers, ciders and spirits on but you have to expect the usual Covent Garden prices. The atmosphere is always buzzing but i really don’t enjoy the sardine like environment. When i have a drink i want to relax and chat to friends but in here i usually spend most of my time holding on to my bag and coat so no one tramples on it whilst trying to maintain my balance and avoid spilling my pint.

On a corner between Covent Garden tube and Covent Garden market, this pub is always packed with tourists, or theatre crowd, or after-​workers on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s location makes it a handy meeting-​place, but also curses it with these heaving crowds. Several of the tables are large, 10-​person-​accomodating, noise-​generating zones.
It’s dark, packed, with loud obnoxious top 40 music, too. The only saving grace: they have a decent choice of ales.
A much better choice is the White Lion (
), right across the street.

I walk into this pub and I am struck by how it doesn’t smell like a pub! It smells a bit like a clean greasy spoon café, no doubt owing to various sauces and food condiments found on every single table. I sat down at one of the sparsely available seating areas (the pub has a huge gulf/​space between the seats/​tables and the bar, and you wonder if they could slip some more seating in). The layout is slick though, a nice horseshoe shape bar with the rest of the pub shaped around it. Two walls are made up of huge windows so that the whole pub has an airy, well lit atmosphere. I would go as far as saying that this is more a restaurant then a pub. The food menu is decent, with some things overpriced (£7.50 for a breakfast) and some things about right (£7.95 for Pie and Mash). An interesting mix, an interesting place. Give it a visit, it’s well worth it. one of the first things you see when you walk out of Covent Garden station.

The Nag’s Head in Covent Garden is always jam packed and definitely lacks adequate seating, especially if you are in a group. However, apart from that it is generally a very pleasant place to enjoy a drink. I particularly like it on an afternoon for lunch as the food is great and very good value. I always have the tuna niscoise salad as it really is delicious!
Both the customers at the Nags Head seemed to be a mix of both tourists and locals, so there is always a good atmosphere and the crowd is generally very friendly and talkative. I always brace myself before stepping into London pub toilets, but the loos here are the cleanest I have ever seen!

Situated 30m from Leicester Square tube on the thoroughfare to Covent Garden, the crowd is as touristy as you’d expect. An in-​your-​face, boisterous Victorian pub with all the frills expected from a ‘traditional’ pub ensures it lives up to their expectations too.
Despite this (large) drawback, it is in a handy position for a quick pint before the journey home and a good meeting spot.
The beer on tap is McMullen’s and this is backed by a reasonable variety in the fridges. Don’t expect it to be cheap though.

This particular pub is a firm favourite with the locals of Covent Garden. Just a stone’s throw from the tube station it delivers an unpretentious, relaxed and very lively pub vibe enjoyed by all. You can mingle at the bar, the atmosphere and the tunes are superb, having been carefully selected for an harmonious ambience. If you want to enjoy yourself then do get in early because when the surrounding offices empty-​the venue gets very busy.
The pub has an excellent selection of Ales like Erdinger Weissbrau, Worthington Cream Flow and other favourites like Heineken, Guinness and Fosters.
When I joined my group of friends last week, between us we thought that the Spainish White Rioja was a great apéritif before we tore into some hearty pub fare. They do serve some very homey dishes like fish and chips, bangers and mash, steak and salad and tasty burgers absolutely ideal now that it is cold. Also checkout the SpecialsBoard because they have good grub on offer as well.
For an entrée we devoured a huge plate of Nachos served with all the usual toppings-​simple but very, very tasty; and the addictive Mediterranean dips and Pitta platter. The Hummous, Tzatziki and Tarasmalata were freshly prepared and very high quality. All
our main courses were large-​the most favourites being the Cajun Burger, Steak, Salad and Chunky Chips.