Lord John Russell

You're in Bloomsbury proper here, just off the British Museum's orbit, but the Lord John Russell doesn't trade on tourism—it's the kind of pub where people know the staff's names and the staff know their drinks. The place has that lived-in feel of somewhere that's been serving the same crowd for years, with dark wood and the sort of lighting that makes you want to linger over a pint. It's genuinely neighbourhood rather than destination, which is precisely why locals rate it so highly.