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Hours
Sun
12:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Mon
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Tue
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Wed
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Thu
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Fri
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sat
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Ratings and reviews
4.5
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Details
Someone from this business manages this listing.
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Meals
Drinks
FEATURES
Seating, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Accepts Credit Cards
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Details
About
Located in London's famous Covent Garden, The Harp is a blissfully traditional place with great beer, ciders, perries and hearty conversation, it's a great example of a traditional British ale house.
Meals
Drinks
FEATURES
Seating, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Accepts Credit Cards
Contribute
4.5
588 reviews
Excellent
374
Very good
148
Average
33
Poor
13
Terrible
20
miniman2804
251 contributions
Feb 2020 • none
Forget Brewdog! Yes, the "craft beer" movement adds value and variety, but for me you can't beat proper draft beer. This place has an authentic wooden panelling look, wall to wall beermats, and a fine selection of various ales. The Dark Star Brewery range is, as it were, a resident, and many other guest beers cater for most tastes. No doubt there are other pubs locally and throughout Central London, but I thoroughly recommend this one, and it gets my custom as it is conveniently situated just off Trafalgar Square, between the west end and Waterloo!
Written February 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ferenc M
United Kingdom1105 contributions
May 2021 • none
A stone's throw from Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery a pub not to miss. So, so glad it's open again. Still the great range of beers, sunny day and windows open, as it's a Sunday afternoon not too busy and yes, you can go up to the bar and pick your beer.....Heaven is back...
Written May 31, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HarpTeam
Many thanks for visiting The Harp and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed our range of available beers on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Your grade 5 rating is very much appreciated and we look forward to welcoming you back again soon - Cheers!!!
Written June 4, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Idler
Wolverhampton2615 contributions
Jan 2022 • none
This pub remains an oasis of calm in the vicinity of Trafalgar Square, and it's a great place for a quiet drink (in the event that you can get a table). I don't know if they do food. The last time I was in, which was years ago not long after The Harp won the CAMRA best pub in Britain award, they did sausages, but I'm not sure now.
Written February 6, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dicky Nator
Crawley11 contributions
Apr 2022 • friends
Went there yesterday for a mates stag do. The beer is fine but I have no idea how it has been voted pub of the year 2019 and 2020.
Its website states it serves sausages, pies and pub snacks, but when we asked for some pork pies, the staff asked us what a pork pie was? So we asked what food they had we were just told 'crisps'. When I showed them their website, they just shrugged their shoulders and said the website needed updating.
I can only assume it has changed hands since winning its awards.
If you just want a pint in a pub, then go there, but it is just a standard pub, but if you are hungry, then avoid it.
Written April 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
imh515
Mandal66 contributions
Mar 2020 • friends
Really good beer and a nice bar, but the bartender that worked the last shift 29.02.20 was mad and rude! Because of him i wouldn't go there! He has no idea what customer service or standard maners is.. We and other customer reacted to the way he talked to everyone. 15 minutes before he was closing he Just screamed to everyone GET OUT. We tried to tell him that he could Just tell us in a normal way that we close in 15 minutes but then he Just answerd "no i cant"..
Written March 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Safari63280591114
1 contribution
Mar 2024 • friends
When I lived in London I used to love going to The Harp for an afternoon pint when the pub is quiet.
In town for a few days i agreed to meet a pal and fellow Harp customer of longstanding there this week.
I arrived while the bar manager was having a loud rant about his job to a customer. He studiously avoided serving me, the only customer at the bar, for five minutes. When he did deign to serve me, he was sullen and unfriendly.
He then spent much of his time staring at his phone and I observed when another customer tried to engage him in conversation he didn't want to know, and was more interested in his phone.
Buying a subsequent round, I again had to wait for service as he stared at his phone. And again, he was sullen and unfriendly when he did serve me and when I paid for my drinks.
I know we all have our off days but this was at a very basic level, unprofessional.
As always the beer at The Harp is decent and in years past the bar staff were knowledgeable, friendly and approachable. Good customer service as we all know is so important, especially at a time when the hospitality trade has taken such a huge hit post covid and during a cost of living crisis.
Clearly from what I hear, my experience this week wasn't a one off in terms of customer service.
Sadly I wont be rushing back to The Harp the next time I'm back in London.
It's still one of the best central London pubs to pop into for a pint...but my..the owners need to sort out the staffing/service.
I strongly suggest the current bar manager finds alternative employment that doesnt involve interacting with the public. Treating paying customers with borderline contempt and on sufferance is not a good look.
Written March 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JohnnyB
1 contribution
Feb 2023 • friends
I used to love The Harp with its knowledgeable bar staff and relaxed attitude plus good ales, but my last couple of visits have been very disappointing. The ales are not kept well, the staff are disinterested at best and aggressive at worst...the ' drinking up time' is zealously enforced. It now appears to be an ersatz version of its previous self ... a tourist copy..with no charm or attributes. The refurbishment of the upstairs has also taken away the ' drawing room feel and replaced it with a ' how many can we cram in here on horrible plastic seats? feel.
There are still a few genuine pubs left in London, sadly The Harp is no longer one of them.
Written February 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Saint
London1 contribution
Aug 2022 • friends
Bar staff were unable to recognise the order of clients which led to my friend being ignored for far too long. When she was finally served another couple interjected saying they were first and were usurped.
I used to drink here often but the bar staff need training in hospitality, I will not be returning.
If you enjoy a fight for your drink then this place of food you.
Written August 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simon H
London43 contributions
Nov 2021 • solo
I’ve been drinking at the Harp for 20 years and have never had a bad pint once. The beer is always immaculate and there is always a fantastic, wide ranging choice of ale, craft beer and cider. It is a proper pub with tremendous tradition and history attached to it. Unfortunately the current staff seem slightly unaware of this - after years of the most friendly service in the West End, the current staff are abrupt and pretty uninterested. Worst of all is the jobsworth on the door, who will shout at you if you dare to stand even 3 inches over the boundary line on the pavement outside with your pint. I accept that they’ve probably been told to do this by the council, but there are ways to do this and an ounce of basic people skills wouldn’t go amiss when working in a pub whose history is built on friendly service.
Written November 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Montyf1
Reading1135 contributions
Aug 2022 • friends
Staff and welcome more like the glory days. Staff were able the multi task again!
However, one the other past attractions of the Harp was the reasonable prices for the location. Today £6.05 ... for a pint of cask ...
Written August 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Susanne S
Camberley138 contributions
Feb 2023 • friends
Started off quite well, before we left to eat. Then we came back and all drinks were being served in plastic glasses - not sure why, as no one drinking outside. I ordered a G&T and the bar person poured the whole bottle of tonic into the glass. I objected and she banged around making another, quite obviously annoyed, and still poured in the amount of tonic SHE decided, keeping the rest of the bottle. When we had another, my husband told her how much tonic to add, and the rest was put in the bin - despite the fact we'd paid for it. Then, our friend asked if the plastic glasses were reused and was told no, they're thrown away!
Written February 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patrick S
12 contributions
Oct 2023 • couples
It's a shame that me and my wife were met with racism on our first attempt at visiting a classic pub in London. There were two bartenders the night we went in around 6:00 p.m., a young white man and a young black man. I was served my first round by the white man with no problem but my second attempt at getting a drink from him he kept passing me over until another patron told him it was my turn.
Both my wife and I tried to get drinks from the side where the young black man was serving people and were completely ignored for at least 5 to 10 minutes before just giving up. He served everyone else around me out of turn and then when it was clearly my turn next he started washing dishes and then walked away. He refused to serve my wife multiple times until she just came back and told me I should go try.
I am a brown man who could be mistaken for either black, Hispanic or Middle Eastern. My wife is Asian. I don't know if these bartenders had something against Americans in general or if it was a racial issue to be honest. But since no one had heard us speak I don't know how they would know we were American.
I really just feel sad for the young black man who clearly has some self disdain as A person of color and who would choose to project the same racism that he's probably felt in his life onto other people of color. A really unfortunate start to an otherwise great trip.
Written October 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Montyf1
Reading1135 contributions
Dec 2022 • friends
Never again... for years this was our London "local". The staff had Ninja type skills to be friendly, efficient and acknowledge your presence if busy. Now its as souless as Aldi and I suspect they may introduce a serve yourself bench.
After years of top scores I feel the place is now overrated.
Went to the Marquis a few doors down, good beer and staff engaged instantly even though more busy ..
Written December 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gerard F
1 contribution
Nov 2023 • solo
This was once a great no nonsense drinking pub with a wonderful Irish landlady running the show. I sought it out aftet many years on a visit to London and it has turned into another souless english pub due primariky to the sraff and bad beer..staff just chat to each other and other off duty staff who seem to have no where else to go. It is basically a Weatherspoons Light. Very sad to see and at 5.30 for a terrible pint the name 'Harp Bar' should be removed . It is nkt the Harp my generation knes.
Written November 29, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard B
1 contribution
Oct 2023 • friends
I had a nice drink after a concert at St Martin in the Fields. It was a friendly and welcoming pub.
I foolishly left my coat behind when leaving on a train back to Bristol. I phoned the next day and the manager kindly packaged up and posted back my coat totally free of charge the next week. AMAZING SERVICE!!
Written October 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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