It’s a vulture, but no wait... it’s George Bush. It’s the face of George Bush! But he’s a vulture... ahhhh... No. It’s not a politically satirical pub 5 minutes walk from Old St tube station. It’s just a normal pub with another seemingly (I hate to use the word, even though I am doing so correctly, and it’s all thanks to you... you people. You know who you are) random name.

The George & Vulture sits on a corner of Pitfield St, a short walk off Old St on the centre edge of the East of the city. As I understand it, the place has recently seen a bit of a makeover. I’d liken the experience to being invited to a neighbour’s house after a visit from Changing Rooms. Only to get there and find the pictures falling down from the walls, the still wet paint sticking to your coat as you lean against the wall and wonder what went wrong. They’ve removed the pool table, and the TVs. Both normal pub items you get in good pub experiences as well as bad ones. So that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But what have they replaced them with? A Baby Grand Piano? No I’m serious, a Baby Grand Piano!

It sounds great. It sounds like a 1920’s black and white photograph come to life. But it’s not. You imagine the piano set in the corner, next to a roaring fire. With a lively (70% likely Irish) punter sat down banging away (on the piano) playing old folk tunes and the rest of the jolly revellers joining in, splashing high quality beer over the dirty floor. Well that’s not what you get. What you get, is the piano stoically propped up by three bar stools, hidden away from the world behind a high table and high stools, poor thing. What they’ve done is replaced the pool table with an expensive and space consuming coat stand.

What about the TV? New-age hippies are constantly complaining about the dumbing down of the country, and TV is the culprit, their own Public Enemy No. 1. They’ve got a piano for more cultural entertainment, but it’s not being played so what’s the point. With no TV they come to a dilemma, what happens when there’s a lull in conversation? No one wants to think they’re not talking because they actually having nothing to say to eachother. People have to be able to blame it on watching TV... so how do they make people feel safe from conversational sandstorms? Answer, play music so loud that no one can hold a proper conversation for more than 2 minutes without straining their throat so much that they need another drink.

Apparently the place has some good quiz and open-mic nights. Presumably the piano comes in handy here. But if you ask me, a constantly standing pool table offers some extra entertainment, and is eternally more suitable to a pub’s lifestyle than a piano, kept in it’s box 6 days a week. I don’t mind if you don’t have a TV. In fact the best thing about places with TVs, is the fact that they can’t play music too loud for you not to hear it. If you can hear the TV, you can hear each other and you can have a natural, reasonable conversation. We’re not all 22. Some of us don’t want to shout every word into each other’s face (I didn’t want to when I was 22). It’s just possible to have a one to one conversation, but if you’ve got more than one friend, forget about it.

There are good things about the place... little things, the food menu is Italian and quite nice. Pizzas, pastas, salads and such. They have high quality lagers and wines, it’s in a friendly area of town so you’re unlikely to get glassed, and the men’s toilets cubicle is wallpapered with pages from old comics (the best thing about it). But frankly, it’s not enough.

BEER SELECTION: Good quality lagers, beers (whatever the difference is), and wines. Speciality: Jäger Bombs. ****

COST OF A ROUND: Breaching on trendy wine bar with its high tables and leather sofas. Trendy wine bar prices £3-4 a drink. Over £10 a round. **

STAFF: I was there on a Saturday night. Two staff members (one not serving drinks). **

FOOD: Italian menu. I hear it’s good quality stuff. Surprisingly fair prices too. But whatever happened to good old-fashioned English Pub Food? ****

SKIRT RATIO: You won’t leave with a bottle in your face if you try and talk to someone like I say, but you probably will be ignored. **

Overall: Has its good points: Food and Beer. I’d return to try the quiz night maybe, but not on a normal Fri/Sat. Good Company makes any evening. But this place stops you from enjoying whatever company you have. **

The George & Vulture - Old St - Brought to you by James Wormald -