London Pub Tour 57 - St Pancras: O'Neills, Skinners' Arms, Scottish Stores and The Driver

It was time for a night out hitting the pubs in Kings Cross. My first stop was the ubiquitous O'Neills (NW1 2QS). The pub sits opposite British Library and was handy for a meeting point due to not being overly busy. There were tables outside under the canopy, and the entrance to the pub was on the corner. An open space greets you with a raised seating area to the right, the bar on the same level against the back wall, and a scattering of tables (small and large) in between. The floor is a highly polished wood floor with some decorative tiles on the floor. A large wooden barrel is available for resting pints on for those standing. Closer to the bar are high tables whereas the rest of the pub are low tables. A few columns break up the route to the bar. The walls have a grey and white wood panels whilst the higher half is painted dark grey. Clocks on the wall show different cities times.

I made my way to the bar and wasn't surprised to see the ales on offer were Pride, Tribute and Doombar. Keg wise there was Meantime, London Lager, Tiger, Guinness, Hop House 13, Peroni, Heineken and a few more. I went for a pint of London Lager at £5.20. I Managed to grab the last small table halfway between the bar and door. The pub was busy and noisy with a mixed young crowd. After quickly finishing up the beer I made my way to the Skinners Arms (WC1H 9NT).


The Skinners Arms are a Greene King pub just down a side road from Euston Road. The pub entrance is on the corner and leads into a darken pub with a carpet floor. Outside the pub there were some tables which were in full use. As a GK pub there of course hand pumps and yes GK IPA was on one of them. The other pumps offered up Sambrooks Session, TEA, Barnsley Bitter, Watneys Pale and something called plough (no idea).

Keg wise there were a few GK own drinks such as Yardbird, Over Easy and East Coast. Alongside these were the standards such as Guiness, Stella, Becks and the new boy on the screen, Bud Light. As I started on keg I decided to continue, so opted for a pint of Over Easy. The bar was quite busy but again was lucky to find the last available table, from where I was able to have a proper gander at the interior of the pub.

Photo from Skinners Arms Website

The pub has a very high ceiling and up towards the top there are some stained glass windows. Hanging to the side of these stain glass windows are some proper curtains. The bar sits on the side wall with a rai
sed seating area opposite. In front of the raised seating area are some stalls with a ledge for resting pints on. The tables in the pub either have seats or low stalls. The pub has wood panelling till waist height with a traditional looking patterned wallpaper above. Away from the main bar there is a little hidden side area with more tables. The whole colour scheme of the pub certainly makes it feel like an old boozer, and the carpet and wood furniture will keep it warm during the winter months, helped by the open wood fire.

I only stayed for the one before walking down Euston Road just past Kings Cross station to the Scottish Stores (N1 9DU). Unbelievable this was my first time in the Scottish Stores. The pub was quite busy at 9pm with people queuing either side of the island bar. Around the outside of the bar the floor was tiled with the remainder being wood. The main bar area completely wooden, with the colour being quite a light wood. There are partitions around the island bar with stools and tables available in some. There is no art work hanging on the walls and the layout and design feels much like a Sam Smiths. But unlike a Sam Smiths there is more than one choice of ale on. The Scottish Stores have 8 hand pumps, although only 6 were available on this visit. They stock as standard two ales from Ripple Steam Brewery which on this visit were the Best Bitter and Ripple Gold. I went for a pint of the Best Bitter which was lovely and smooth with a white creamy head atop.

The pub has an upstairs roof terrace, which I don't bother trying to find, and an additional room to the side which is more modern. The additional room to the side had more space and served food and also had a blackboard showing all the wines and keg beers available. At this stage seeing the offering of a different variety of Scotch Eggs was too tempting and I opted for a Black Pudding one and a Pork and Chorizo, which went perfectly with my second pint of Ripple Steam Best Bitter. The pub was starting to empty as it was nearly closing time, so doing what every beer person does, I looked up on WhatPub.com to see if there were any pubs still open.
My venture for one more drink led me up to The Driver (N1 9RY). There were only a few bouncers on the outside and upon walking inside the bar area was completely empty. The bar was on the back wall and was L shaped and two hand pumps offering up Box Steam Tunnel Vision and Portobello Star. Keg wise there was San Miguel, Guinness, Poretti, Mahou, Carlsberg, Tuborg, Grimbergen and Somersby Cider. For this last drink I stuck to lager and went for Poretti which I've had previously.

As stated before the bar was deserted and not a sole was to be found. But there was a lot of noise coming from upstairs, and the pub had four floors, so I decided to explore. Sadly all the floors above were for private parties, so the only place I got to explore was the roof top bar. There wasn't much of a view and it was mainly used as a smoking area or to grab some fresh air and a drink quicker. I went back down to the ground floor bar, and sat and relaxed in the quiet-ish environment. The decor of the pub was looking very nice in the dim lighting after quite a few drinks. It had soft sofas, pink pin striped chairs, and the biggest feature a stags head on the wall. I think I might have to revisit here during the daytime and perhaps not after so many drinks, so I can give it a proper review. I realised it was time to call it a night when the missus swung by, and I left without any hesitation.