I've played at a few London casinos but most of my play was at Fox until it closed down.
Played 1/2 at the Hippo on Saturday - 2 Fish, 4 average/poor regs, 2 ok regs - standard I think.
The Empire is a similar level, I think the Vic is slightly tougher at 1/2 (having a 1/1 game means most of the fish will play that and the 1/2 game becomes slightly tougher). From limited experience, PLO at the Vic was much tougher than PLO at the Empire or Fox although there is a more regular game.
Live play is way softer than online, but it can be a bit deceptive. The guy who limps in frequently might not be as bad as you assume after playing online. Some of those guys are quite strong post-flop and limping isn't such a mistake once the stacks start getting 200bb deep.
It's also a bit of different game when flops are often 4+ ways, which is almost unheard of in the games I play online. Takes a bit of getting used to.
IMO 1/2 is roughly equivalent to Stars 10c/25c.
Wondering now which Poker Strategists I've sat down with!