The Albert

You're on Victoria Street, that slightly sterile stretch between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, when you spot The Albert's Victorian red-brick frontage. Inside, it's all dark wood panelling, brass fixtures and the kind of worn-in cosiness that comes from decades of regulars settling into corners with their newspapers. The crowd's a proper mix—suited-up MPs rubbing shoulders with tourists grateful to find an actual pub instead of another chain, and the odd local who's been coming here since the '80s. It's not trying to be cool, which is precisely why it works.