Joe Allen

About

We've been eating at Joe Allen for the better part of twenty years, sometimes late after a show, sometimes in the middle of an afternoon with jetlagged visitors, sometimes for lunch with the kids. It is famous forattracting actors from the West End stage, especially between the matinee and the evening shows. You go down the teensy pavement in Exeter Street, make a sharp turn into a very discreetly signed door, and you're immediately in theatre memorabilia land. Down the stairs you'll be greeted by a bar long enough to practically disappear into the distance, often packed. Thetwo-room dining room is big, noisy, and fun, with jillions of theatre posters, programmes, and photos jammed onto the exposed brick walls. It used to be that the menu was chalked up on the blackboard above the kitchen door, but now there are proper ones. The cuisine is all-American withinfluences from everywhere, just like America. We like the eggs Benedict very much, the Caesar salad, and the burger, which isn't on the menu, but you can get it anyway. Every now and then the piano plinks into life and that's fun, too. We can't say we've never had a bad meal there or an offday, but then everyone corpses sometime. This show will run.

Map

Nearest

Accomodation	Strand Palace Hotel (0.05 miles) Kingsway Hall (0.28 miles) Swissotel The Howard London (0.32 miles) St Martins Lane (0.33 miles) Charing Cross-A Guoman Hotel (Formerly Thistle) (0.33 miles)
Attractions	Theatre Museum (0.04 miles) London Transport Museum (0.05 miles) Somerset House (0.19 miles) Gilbert Collection (0.19 miles) Courtauld Gallery (0.19 miles)
Pubs	Ivy House The (0.45 miles) Imperial The (0.57 miles) Intrepid Fox (0.72 miles) Union Jack The (1.11 miles) Union Tavern (1.11 miles)
Train Stations	London Charing Cross (0.34 miles) London Waterloo East (0.81 miles) London Waterloo (0.84 miles) City Thameslink (0.90 miles) London Blackfriars (0.90 miles)