90 St. Martin’s Lane
Charing Cross
London
WC2N 4AP
020 7836 5863
The Salisbury is a Victorian showpiece in the heart of London’s theatreland. It was rebuilt in 1892 with a gloriously extravagant interior. There are wonderful cut glass screens (photo 3), ornate mirrors, elaborate brasswork and wood panelling. The highlights, though, are the brass nymph lamps dividing the seating areas (photo 2). The exterior is pretty impressive too with winged golden cherubs flanking a coat of arms at both entrances (photos 1 & 4).
The pub featured in the influential 1960 film Victim, staring Dirk Bogarde, and also in 1960, The Entertainer with Laurence Olivier. It was seen too in the 1972 film of Graham Greene’s Travels with my Aunt with Maggie Smith as the eponymous aunt who lives above the pub. And in 2009 it featured in The Boat that Rocked, the Richard Curtis comedy about a 1960s pirate radio ship.
The Salisbury is in the heart of theatreland and was once popular with actors and stagehands, though now the majority of the customers are tourists. The pub is also close to Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and Covent Garden.
It has a traditional pub main-meal menu and also a range of pies and burgers. There’s a great selection of up to 10 cask beers plus a good choice of gins.
