Porters is supposedly one of the London institutions; situated smack in the middle of the West End, only a few paces from Coven Garden and Leicester Square, it promises "traditional English food at it's finest". Well, it only partly delivers.
One of the reasons I think you are better off with many pubs in the area is the selection of Real Ales. Although there are some interesting bottled ales, if you want draught you have the choice between Fuller's London Pride (which I actually like, although not my favourite) and... Fuller's London Pride! The menu looks reasonably appealing with a good choice of pies and some classics such as Lamb Shank, Fish & Chips, Steak & Kidney Pudding and traditional puddings (=desserts if you're from abroad) such as Spotted Dick (playfully dubbed as "not what you might think" on the menu) and Eton Mess.
When my Steak, Guinness and Mushroom Pie arrived I was impressed with the towering puff pastry covering the somewhat small bowl containing the dark brown stew. Appearances can of course be misleading and the pastry was big but not really all that special (the pastry covering my Steak & Ale pie I enjoyed at the pub right next to the Tilford Cricket Green the other day - the name escapes me right now - was much more delicate and "fluffy"). The stew was alright but not plentiful and with an overpowering almost mouldy undertone of old rosemary. My friend ordered the lamb shank which was massive and the meat pleasantly tender and nicely flavoured, but unfortunately the gravy was not unlike the thick Chocolate Custard that covered the Chocolate Pudding that my friend ordered to fill him up proper - in other words very rich and strangely sweet. The chips were average (even my local Chip Shop - The Big Fry in North Camp, Farnborough - can do better than that) and the veggies were plain and boring.
When we got there (8pm) the place was full and noisy (I would guess mostly pre-theatre guests if I had to wager a bet), then got rather empty and quiet only to get busy and noisy again around 9.30pm with what seemed to be predominantly Southern European tourist who made the best of the "kids eat for free" offer - I think there were more kids than adults in the group! Four of them actually shared a table between themselves and I was strangely haunted by images of "Lord of the Flies"... All kids only drank tap water, so you get the picture why I am saying that they made the most of the offer...
3/10 - You can do better than that in the West End, just pick almost any random restaurant in Chinatown...
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