The Hop Poles

…The Robin Hood: Smaller but great atmos. No outside seating but really solid selection of games to pick up and play at your table. Shakespeare's Head: Nice boozer with excellent selection of sausage and mash. Seriously good food. Nice outside seating out the front. The Hop Poles: Small pub with good drinks selection with a seating area out the back that is undercover. The Mucky Duck: Common all garden pub action but excellent atmos with good crowd and they run a really great quiz or two. The Setting Sun: Nice boozer, pretty standard but the garden and sun set view is just killer.

…North Laine - more small plates. Also excellent The Geese - delightful sausage and mash menu with a great selection of sausages, flavoured mashes and accompanying gravies The Thomas Kemp - not the most exciting pub in the world but their nachos are some of the best in town Hop Poles - thoroughly decent fish and chips here, amongst other classics Saint James Tavern - recently reopened with a new Lebanese menu. Delicious big meaty…

I'm not sure about activities but wrt drinking literally anywhere that isn't West Street. Head down some side streets and see what you find! There are some pretty cool pubs in the lanes (Hop Poles, the Globe - which are super close to each other) that have a really nice vibe, or those on or off Queens Road (Hope and Ruin, Earth and Stars). For the evening it depends what you want but you could check out Ricky Ticks, Sticky Mike's Frog Bar or the Green Door Store. Check their websites for what's on.…

Non snarky answer here: Pubs with decent covered and heated smoking areas include: * Sidewinder * Walrus * Lion and Lobster * Black Lion * Hop…