please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I don't know this area well and came across this pretty street-corner boozer while finding my way to Waterloo East. It was clearly popular as there were several people enjoying drinks outside in the road. There's a cosy front bar with a larger room at the back which looked like it was intended for dining. Thai menu available. The Bombadier was good but I agree with rpadam that £3.15 is a tad steep! There were three other ales - Pride/GKIPA/etc - but nothing special. The staff were chatty and service was good.
DholeMoney will be pleased that the toilets were clean and stank of fresh paint. Clearly the management have read your review!
Nice pub - I will stop off here again.
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A lovely pub in a good location with a decent choice of beer and agreeable Thai food. Can get very busy after work but the service is usually quick (if sullen). Let down slightly by the toilets, which are truly awful.
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Has all the makings of a good pub - nice beers, proper pub atmosphere, of the beaten track and not full of the idiots you find in many Waterloo pubs - but with only one surely member of staff for much of a busy Saturday evening and an abrupt kick out at closing I was left disappointed. May just have been a bad night though so may try my luck again if in the area.
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In many respects this should be a highly-rated pub, if it were not for the prices (£3.15 for a pint of Bombardier and an incredible £1 for a packet of crisps). Still, it was packed with people presumably happy to pay up, so what do I know?
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Well I like it - but then I had just come from the Fire Station which is one of my all-time detest places. Beer was good, staff not bad at all and pub packed. Nice to have a pub not full of panhandling Jocks and Scousers close to a major London station
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OK pub but nothing special. Adnams average. Bar staff rude.
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Nice boozer in a perfect location - good pints of Green King IPA and a plesant atmosphere.
Great loacation down a very quaint street. Well worth a visit...
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Excellent London pub, serving good beer consistently over the many years I have travelled through Waterloo. Just far enough away from the station to retain some soul. Can get crowded on Thursday/Friday evening, but the staff can cope.
RB
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Nice pub tucked away from the general dross that is Waterloo, standing outside with your pint you could think your in a Lowry painting.
The Adnams was ok in both price and quality (£2.90)but you can get better in the Lord Clyde or Market Porter.
Worth at least one visit.
mrse1 - 15 Oct 2007 09:37 |
Beer quality very variable. Took a French visitor there recently and we were told they had no beer at all, real ale anyway. The pint of Adnams that I had there this week was awful and expensive;got it changed without too much fuss, but the IPA replacement while somewhat better could not be described as 'in condition' Pity, because otherwise I like the place. Thai food was OK
mally - 23 Jun 2007 12:42 |
Very handy for Waterloo Station - hence quite popular with after work "suits". This pub has had a couple of minor refurbishments over the years, nothing too drastic fortunately and the pub is still worth visiting.
Note the old Taylor Walker logo on the pub sign - thankfully the real ales are good, if not cheap. Adnams - £ 2.90p
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Very tasty London Pride, one of the best i've had for ages.
Perfectly situated for sloping away from work for a wee cheeky one while i'm filling out my time-sheet!
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A bustling corner local, featuring four fairly mainstream ales (though Bass is probably not that mainstream these days). Ticks a few heritage boxes as well.
Tucked away down a classic Olde London street, weekend drinkers (who appeared to be art and philosophy students in my admittedly inebriated state) regularly spill out onto the street to enjoy their tipple, where a rather lovely view of the not-so-Olde-London Millennium Wheel can be had.
Though not as classy as the Lord Clyde, or as eclectic as the Royal Oak, I'd certainly recommend a visit if you're crawling this fine drinking area of London.
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Very handy for Waterloo but tucked away, up a quiet residential street. Excellent meeting point to avoid the horrors of Waterloo itself. Fair beer choice, all well kept.
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Great little boozer. Best used during quieter periods. Doesn't get friendlier when busy, just territorial. Also E. European staff not labouring under misapprehension that smiling is punishable by death, for a change.
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Er, to anyone whose thinking of making a special excusrion to view the art deco loos (see previous contributor), let me save you a trip.
Certainly they're not what you'd consider state-of-the-art. But as for being a historic timepiece depicting the foregone glories of English pissoir engineering, forget it. Cramped, smelly, wet floors just about sum them up.
But hey, it's such a good pub, you can forgive them for the occasional oversight!
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My best pub in London is this one. The beer is so well keep and the women are lovely. The toilets are art deco too which is an amazing and differnt features. Ask for the guest ales. 10 / 10
anonymous - 24 Jan 2007 15:10 |
A good, but not great, pub. Four real ales when I visited - slightly uninspiringly Adnams, IPA, Bass and Pride. The IPA was in very good nick, though. As someone else said, the main body of the pub is very pleasant and well-preserved with two separate bars, but the back is a bit of a bolt on extension full of typical pub tat. Thai food on offer out the back, which is above average for pub Thai food, I'd say.
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Good pub. Bit busy though. Nice back bit.
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Haven't been in here for a little while, but used to be a regular watering hole when I travelled from Waterloo (like many others I suppose as thousands of rush-hour pedestrians pass by every weekday). Very much a pub of two halves - the front bar is typical of a traditional pub while the back bar reminds me of a Spanish bar. Nothing against Spanish bars, but I much prefer the front bar. If it does good Adnams then that is good enough for me. Must pop in again soon. But so many pubs, so little time.....
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Adnams bitter here is superb. Lovely Thai food at luntimes as well. Open all day. Really busy at lunchtime but emptys out in the afternoon. Free internet access.
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Bass, Adnams Bitter, I don't remember the third. Did I say three good real ales? (insert comment about GK IPA)
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When I went in here a few months ago, I thought it looked like a nice place but they had no ale on. Looking at the comments I saw mentioned GK IPA and Adnams - what is the usual beer situation here?
anonymous - 9 Dec 2006 14:02 |
A lovely little backstreet pub in an area of row houses probably unchanged for a century and a half - but only a few blocks from Waterloo Station. A paradox? Yes it is, and it has three good real ales on tap also.
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Pass this place twice a day on my walk between office and Waterloo Station. In the morning they're out watering the hanging baskets; in the evening, fabulous smells of garlic and Eastern cooking as I turn the corner behind the pub kitchen. Says a lot about the place even before you've stepped inside!
Once over the threshold, great selection of beers, decent chav-free ambience, no muzak. A good traditional pub, big on conviviality and devoid of ersatz trimmings. Very popular early evening, which adds to its atmosphere.
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Can't see how anyone who knows about pubs would regard this as an undiscovered gem. That is not to say it is not a gem, it is, but undiscovered!!!!!!!!
beer is good here even if the range is uninspiring. One word of caution however is watch your belongings. This place gets rammed in the evening and bag/purse/wallet snatches are (as with a lot of places near stations,) rife.
Provided you have your wits about you, this is a great pub.
anonymous - 3 Nov 2006 11:55 |
A great back-street pub. I thought I knew this area well but I have overlooked this one until now. It's a proper old-fashioned boozer and even has separate public and saloon bars, which is becoming increasingly rare these days. The outside even has one of those large semi-tubular signs that were probably put up in the fifties or sixties - good to see it hasn't been ripped down.
There were a couple of real laes available; my pint of Greene King IPA was in very good condition.
There is a large room at the back, a later add-on, and it does tasty Thai meals. But for purists (like me) you can pretend it isn't there and imagine you are sitting in a pub that has hardly changed in fifty years.
I will definitely be back.
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Another diamond of a pub to enjoy. Good cross section of customers; no Pikeys. Wonderful beers and very pleasant atmosphere.Very large and comfotable back bar to relax in too at the back. Highly recommended.
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The commuters flock here in the early evening and think they own it; the truth is, the Kings Arms belongs to some rock-hard locals - Irish OAPs.
Once, after a particularly heavy session at the Grouse and Claret in Belgravia we pitched up here a-stumbling. I sent my pint flying over the table and floor. 'Clean that up', barked one of the old boys at the bar throwing a bar towel at me. I didn’t hesitate; you just don’t mess with authority like that.
The Kings Arms is exactly what a London pub should be – full of character, devoid of foul Fosters and just a touch on the threatening side. Apparently the food is good too. Not that anyone should go to a pub to eat.
anonymous - 1 Sep 2006 14:32 |
Being "renovated " at the time of my visit ( Saturday afternoon ). I think it's just being given a lick of paint - nothing drastic - as it was remaining open. Still a great pub and well worth visiting. I shall report further if there's any wanton vandalism or destruction to the interior - but I'm optimistic.
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Great old-school boozer. Lovely location on a picture postcard street near Waterloo. Good choice of ale and largers, pleasantly tatty. Nice Thai food and English bar snacks.
gnuts - 13 Jul 2006 16:38 |
A real gem of a pub in picturesque Roupell Street, well kept selection of ales, friendly service and good atmosphere. My only complaint is that my last visit was rather spoilt by the juke box being so loud; it really was deafening, it was early on a Saturday lunchtime and there was absolutely no escaping it. Why do pubs insist on piping this noise to every corner, don't they realise the value (and rarity, esp. in London!) of a little peace and quiet? Other than that highly recommended, will return in the hope that someone has cut the speaker wires to at least one of the bars!
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This is the place to head for for a first/last beer after/before Waterloo. Head and shoulders above anything else in the area, and if it wasn't so handy for the train it would still be worth seeking out in its own right. Unspoilt, good ale (best pint of Pride I've had in years).
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Nice pub, a lot quieter at lunchtimes and 17 years ago the scene of the great dalek battle (see Rememberance Of The Daleks if you don't believe me!)
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Great pub. Great beer. Great food.
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Beer mainly from large regionals or small national breweries. Quality so-so, but the staff and atmosphere in the pub are second-to-none. Particularly friendly was the Eastern European girl who served me and my friends on Tuesday 6/12/05. Had this been a Hopback, Dark Star or Milton pub, it would be just perfect.
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Great interior of this pub, vry busy, but still some space in the back, too bad about the ales though, not very well keept, The London Pride tasted awfull
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Marvellous. Loads of little rooms, and one big one that looks like it's been built into a conservatory out the back. Real fires and real ale. Long may it continue.
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Very busy, so very noisy - hard to have a group conversation here, let alone a mobile one. Also very warm, and bar staff a bit slow to serve.
So in every way a victim of its own success really! But you can see the attraction: nice pub, good venue, at least 3 real ales, and Thai cuisine.
Oh, avoid the loo - so cramped that it's a bit TOO intimate!
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What a smashing pub this is, hidden away in a back street near to Waterloo Station. The small front bar has real traditional atmosphere, the larger back bar is spacious and comfortable, and there is a great choice of beers. Got busy in the evening with people popping in after work, but there were plenty of efficient staff so getting served was no problem. Highly recommended. (Thanks to Jo H "Zone 1 Bird" and Rachel B "Posh Bird" for introducing me to this little gem.)
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After a smashing summer evening stroll down the South Bank you don't want to spoil it with a numbing chain pub experiance or a crap pint with the wannabees at the NFT. The Kings Arms is 'well proper', we loitered around in the evocative Windmill Walk and Roupell street just suppin' some ale and cursing the occasional driver who insisted on using the road (tut!). I had gone off Fullers London Pride in recent years but they serve an excellent pint here. Also available at the time was Adams Bitter, Spitfire and another guest ale I fail to recall. Before I shyed away from the Waterloo area fearing chattering tourists and sticky Wetherspoons but no more. PS Thanks to Elliot for showing us the way.
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Good beer and very cosy at the front. Big area at the back where you can get reasonable (although kind of pricey) Thai food. Nice to sit in the street in the summer and enjoy an evening pint there.
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Tucked away on the marvelously 'old London' Roupell Street, the Kings Arms represents a tradition of English public housing a far cry from the gaudy, brass-dripped chain pubs of the capital. The front bars are a wonderful place to stand and chat over a pint of Adnams, whether you're watching the quick-stepped commuters clashing with the architecture of the street outside as they bomb towards Waterloo, or the uniquely attractive, square-jawed barmaid.
The conservatory in the back is more tasteful than a West End theme bar, and the clientele are generally apres-office.
Definitely worth a visit (but not tonight because I'm going and I want a seat this time)
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Having now got their act together with beer quality The king's Arms is everything a back street local should be.
mally - 25 Mar 2005 13:21 |
Shhhhhhh ! Don't tell anybody about this gem.
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A pub of three parts. Out front it's pretty standard stuff with two sections joined by the bar in the middle. Decor is low key, verging on the traditional. Light are a bit bright maybe but the furnishings take the edge off it. To complete this triumvirate of drinking arenas we have what I suppose is a converted conservatory out back. Stone floor, open drains, some old fashioned hearth and a miscellany of old signs and antique furnishings make it seem more like a grotto.
The music was what one could lazily describe as 'post chill-out' and that worked well. Even a trip to the toliet beckoned ones attention as you struggle to establish your bearings in a pub full of visual vignettes.
Good for: It could serve a variety of purposes but I would hazard a guess that providing winter refuge could be it's strongest card.
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A friend introduced the Kings Arms to me a few months back and I instantly fell in love with the place. The street its on feels like a film set on a Sherlock Holmes movie and the character of the pub is tremendous, the beer was fine when I went the other night, highly recommended!
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I've spent many splendid evenings at this wonderful venue with my partner Len. However, we both recall the strange occasion when there was a kind of party going on in the conservatory at the rear of the pub. Between you and us we think it was a cult of some sort. They were molesting Elks and messing about with rusty spoons. To be honest, it wasn't nice...and at their age too!
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I went there for the first time last night (11 Nov) and thought it was a great pub - the likes of which you don't see enough of these days. A proper boozer!
Pieman - 12 Nov 2004 11:55 |
Pub is antiquated, traditional with a great atmosphere and the Thai food is fantastic. But as for "great beer", sorry but no. It was average at best.
Alfie Jones - 6 Sep 2004 13:27 |
Ha ha - I love the place, but the idea that they serve good beer is ludicrous. Their bitters are almost always 'off'.
There is often a really nasty pong coming from the drains, too.
John - 7 May 2004 09:23 |
A great local's pub, although used by commuters during the week. A bit smokey, but the service and locals are friendly. Good beer and extensive thai menu.
Mario - 18 Feb 2004 09:20 |
A wonderful pub in a brilliant, almost time warp location (like being back in the sixties). Service is fine and the beers OK. One of the best pubs south of the river.
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It is a good pub with a great atmosphere. It is very much improved since 1992 (or thereabouts) the staff are now very friendly and the beer's not bad either. I always have my "welcome back" session here after trips away on the eurostar. Great!
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Great beer. Great atmos. Crowded, but worth it, and you can spill out onto the street.
Martin - 13 Aug 2003 12:49 |
the kind of pub that I would rather not tell people about for fear of being ruined. People in the know guard it as a well kept secret. Great selection of beers, is a step back in time to how all pubs should be - and is the perfect antidote to bland new chain pubs such as slug etc. Good work Briony.
Andrew Thomson - 10 Jul 2003 17:32 |
Good beer, located in a beautiful street of terraced houses, decent food, friendly, nice atmosphere.
Sickboy - 28 Apr 2003 23:12 |
Friendly pub located in the back streets near Waterloo station. Do a nice pint of Adnams :)
Briony - 17 Feb 2003 10:20 |
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