New Year's Day is not typically associated with drinking, but for Richard and me it was, as I was staying with Avril in the Amba Hotel at Charing Cross. Avril had had some drinks the previous day and did not feel like coming out so Richard and I decided to get a few swift ones done, and met at the Amba where I gave Richard some access to the free bar whilst I had a recuperating cup of coffee (and a beer chaser).

Then it was on our way to try and find something open. The Sussex at Leicester Square, visited quite recently before, was the first port of call. Unchanged then although at the time of writing it appears to be closed, it was a basic, lively boozer selling a decent selection of hand pull beers. Solid enough, nothing special and a bit rough round the edges.

I had not been to the nearby De Hems for some time, perhaps the mid 1990s, and having been to Dutch pubs in Holland, this does a pretty good job, at least with the beer though the building itself which is on two levels is in a distinctly British space. Nevertheless it was nice to get a comfortable booth type seat upstairs where admittedly the service was slower and beer selection lesser but pleasingly there were less human beings around. Selection of beers is excellent and pretty expensive, but perhaps not eye-wateringly so as one might expect for imported bottles in central London. There is enough on tap and enough of reasonable price to suit most tastes though perhaps not one to stay in for ages, but good for a slow quiet pint or three.

Best pub of the day was the Coach and Horses on Greek Street in Soho. This is a very down at heel, salt of the earth pub frequented by strange literary types such as Jeffrey Bernard. Rather spartan inside, we had to perch by some cramped toilets, yet it still oozed character, and also had a very good selection of beer that was kept very well. Worth a repeat visit. Largely devoid of character on the other hand was the Two Sportsmen, also closed at the time of writing, and perhaps no surprise. This place was the usual formulaic vacuum filled with lager, TV screens and twats. Making my evening even less palatable was that fact that QPR were on the TV, losing at home to Hull, throwing it away having scored an equaliser just minutes before.

Waxy O’Connor’s is a pub deeply entrenched in the mid 1990s, another cavernous place, but this time with oirish character albeit most of it faux. Still, a pretty interesting if packed place with a number of bars and a variety of nooks and crannies to sit in. It's the sort of place where a large group of you (some of whom you wouldn't know very well or wouldn't have seen for a long time and on meeting them you'd remember why) would choose to meet, people would arrive in dribs and drabs, some would drink slowly and the rounds would get out of synch, so you'd never leave, and you'd get more and more annoyed as the night went on. Probably refers to itself as a 'venue'.

Not much to be said about the Chandos - typical Sam Smith's pub with lots of dark wood, own brand beers, a few of which are extremely cheap. It was quiet when we went there and we sat upstairs. Final stop before Rich got his train was the Amba Hotel itself that we were staying in at Charing Cross. As one might expect, a swish hotel bar with attentive service but not over the top, nor was the price outrageous. We sat at the bar rather than overlooking the Strand, and had a couple of very nice lagers plus complimentary nibbles.