I will be in London next week and am looking for some good pubs around Victoria Station. Also any suggestions on good eats around Brick Lane and Brixton not necessarily pubs.

Certainly adventurous in your choice of less than choice areas of London.

You may find the following site useful for pubs, especially as you can search by tube stop:

www.fancyapint.com

Cafe Naz, 46-48 Brick Lane, is wonderful.

We enjoyed lunch at the Albert near Victoria Station.

St.Georges behind Victoria station is a mixture of a few tourist and lotsa locals. Great fish and chips.
Shakespeares across from Victoria station is also good for fish and chips and sausage & mash.
Enjoy

Echoing John's comment about Shakespeares.

Keith

I must have been there on a bad day - I had the very worst fish and chips I've ever had at the Shakespeare . . . . .

I also had wonderful fish and chips at the Shakespeare pub, but that was 5 years ago.

I thought this was the thread that mentioned Bag 'o Nails Pub, which is great. It's on Buckingham Palace Road. They have an upstairs there which is more of a dining room. Good food.

And I'll second Cafe Naz on Brick Lane. We have gone the past couple years for a buffet lunch on Sunday, which is really wonderful. I really enjoy buffets for Indian (or Bangledesh) as you can get a lot more variety. Everything I've tasted there has been wonderful. I think they only do the buffet lunch on Sunday -- then you can go to Petticoat Lane and Brick Lane markets.

In Brixton, exit the tube station and take a left. Walk along the pavement past the Iceland. Take the second turning on the left (the first is called Electric Avenue) which is called Coldharbour Lane. Walk down this for a few minutes. There are some traffic lights at the end and a railway bridge crosses over the road. A little before this is a pub called The DogStar. Almost opposite but just before there is an Ethiopian restaurant which is very good value and serves very tasty food. The DogStar is a lively bar. Also there is a square ahead of you when you take a left onto Coldharbour Lane. Under the church in this square is a nice bar called The BugBar.

Brixton is not a particularly dangerous place but you should be careful. Keep yourself to yourself and don't look like an American tourist too much and you will be fine. Have fun.

Is Brixton really that dangerous? I live in Dallas so I am used to some unfavorable areas. I have also been to places such as Detroit. Is it dangerous or just a run down part of town? I was only thinking about going there for good ethnic fare, or should I avoid this area?

Going to Brixton is perhaps a bit like going to Harlem - ie, it is fine. But you need to realise there is a lot of poverty and there are a lot of desperate people living in the area.

In terms of ethnic food Brixton is good for Ethiopian and Eritrean food. It (and also nearby Stockwell and Vauxhall) is also good for Portuguese food. Brixton is perhaps best for Jamaican food, however, I think you can get better Jamaican food in Peckham.

Brixton isn't that dangerous, but will always be considered one of the least favourable areas of London. Why a tourist, or anybody would visit unless they had to is beyond me, quite simply it is a dump.

M_K

So would you visit Harlem in NYC?

I did and thought it fascinating.

I even visited the south Bronx!

My dear, I gave up visiting NYC years ago.

I live in Brixton and it's absolutely fine! It's wonderfully cosmopolitan and has a great atmosphere! Do visit, it's fun!