The Dog and Duck is a small and relatively unspoilt Victorian pub in the heart of Soho, built in 1897 in an elegant cream glazed brick (photos 1 &  2). It replaced an older pub, also called the Dog and Duck, which dated back to at least 1734.

At 2nd floor level a window space is replaced by a carved stone plaque of a dog with an unfortunate duck (photo 3). There is another dog and duck inside the pub, this one a lovely tiled mosaic in the Frith Street doorway. And just a bit further inside are two old advertising mirrors on the wall.

George Orwell was a regular here in the 1940s, and he came here to celebrate the choice of Animal Farm as Book of the Month in an American literary magazine. The upstairs bar and function room is named after him. Famous clientele who visited the earlier version of the pub include Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre Raphaelite poet and painter, and landscape painter John Constable.

Traditional pub meals are served and like other Nicholson’s houses, pies are a speciality. There’s a good range of real ale and craft beers.

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