please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
We popped in here after visiting the vastly superior Churchill Arms at the other end of the street. We were welcomed, eventually, by a Kevin Pietersen lookalike barman. I aked for a pint of Timothy Taylor. At £4.45 (!) I expected a well poured, fresh, clear pint of beer. I recieved a cloudy, frothy excuse for what should have been an excellent pint. When I asked for this to be changed for a pint of Harveys there was no hint of an apology, just a 'this customer is a nuisance' attitude. The next stage of 'service' beggered belief. He emptied the 'Tim Taylor' into the sink, then poured the Harveys into the same glass. When I then asked for a clean glass, he transferred the Harveys which he had already poured into a clean glass. I was not offerd any refund of the difference in price between the Tim Taylor and the Harveys (maybe the Harveys was also £4.45!). The whole attitude of this perticular barman stank, and his policy of pouring already tainted beer into a clean glass to save money has caused me to write this comment, and recommend others not to visit this pub.
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Popped in here with my sister as we were heading to the Royal Albert Hall for a concert.......wished we hadn't.
I had the misfortune to be served by the very rude ETHAN. Asked for 2 large glasses of wine with ice, he put ice in first then poured the wine to the line before adding more ice. When I remarked that that was a bit naughty his reply was " thank you for telling me off I feel so much better now" never have I been spoken to like that as a customer!!!!!! How down right rude!!!!!! He sarcastically put an extra drop in before muttering something under his breath. At the end of the day if I am paying for a 250ml glass then that is what I expect to get.....
If that is how they treat their customers then it is no surprise they were fairly quiet at 7pm.
Needless to say I will not be going back there again.
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On my way back to Ken High Street from the Churchill up the road I popped in here. You could describe this as a mistake. Two of the real ales were off, including the ubiquitous Black Sheep. 'But we do have another excellent Yorkshire beer, Tim Taylor's Landlord'. OK, I'll have one of them.
�4.25. Yes that's right, �4.25. Read that and weep............
It's a disgrace that is. Sorry, but it is.
The pub doesn't really have much to recommend it despite the promise of a rather charming exterior. In particular the front bit is about the most ridiculously furnished section you could come across in a pub. It's just a load of tables and chairs, of varying heights, jammed in there. As other have noted, likely a transient place. Certainly was for me; I'll not be back to be fleeced of the best part of a fiver for a pretty average pint of Landlord
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Popped in for a bite to eat at 4pm on a Friday, leured by the sign outside advertising fish & chips.
Nice little pub, reasonable selection of Fullers and Youngs and a fine portion of food, served quickly by very nice staff.
I'm working in London for a few weeks and staying in the Copthorn Tara and I can see this becoming my temporary local till I find somthing better.
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I read the reviews before visiting this pub after a shopping trip into the high street. I was shocked to see how different everything was, they have had a refurbishment and a new menu.
The outside looks nice however is quite hard to notice from the high street, lucky my wife was shopping everywhere.
The staff were really nice and spoke to us for a while even thou the pub was quite busy, our food was really good. I am use to paying and getting acceptable food but this was really good. I had a few pints, the beer choice is simple but its a small pub, what do you expect. It seems the lines are cleaned often, I had a really good pint of STAR.
I shall visit again when I return to london, overall deff a 9!
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The Prince of Wales is a very narrow fronted pub on Kensington Church St a few yards off the High St itself. Although the frontage is tiny the interior is wedge shaped - widening gradually as you go past the bar into a more spacious rear area.
The interior is ok but a little run down and rather like the Bunch of Grapes in Knightsbridge it seems mainly to be used as a refuge from the retail horrors of the High St. There were 5 ales on pump - Youngs Ordinary and London Gold, Spitfire, Pride and Bombardier.
The pub has a bit of a transient feel to it and whilst perfectly acceptable for a quick Saturday afternoon pint I couldn't recommend it as somewhere for a long session.
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Rather like so many of the capital's pubs (those that manage to remain in business at least), this is attractive on the outside, and has character, but once within, the experience is rather more anodyne and even an extended visit probably struggle to embed much of the Prince of Wales's features in your memory with any permanence.
Happily, unlike the last reviewer, I did not receive a poorly-kept pint, and that sampled was in reasonable condition - though I should say not outstanding in any sense. A large number of pumps sit on the bar, but only about 3 or 4 choices are on; several pumps were "doubled-up" and none of the offerings deviated from the standards one finds in numerous pubs across the city and beyond.
Definitely worthy on inclusion on a crawl, although I would imagine most would struggle to mount a case for remaining in this pub for an all-night sesh. Depends on what you're in the market for, I suppose.
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Visited here for the first time in yeats and was really dissappointed. The pint of Broadside I had was like vinegar and I had to reject it. To his credit the barman agreed and took it off. My replacement Landlord was not a great deal better but I persevered for about two thirds of a pint then left. Has potential but if the beers are always like this they will struggle.
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Not as hovelish as some posters have made out. the Ritz it ain't but reasonable decor for a London pub and the chalkborads and bottle-displays help alleviate the lack of windows. The scarlet pimpernel & I had 4 different pints between us and they were all good. Could do with more staff on in the evening but those that were on, were just busy not rude. 0/10 to whoever trains our security forces these days, the working-class tory, politically articulate Scots emigre was so obviously fake that even a septic tank wouldn't have been taken in.
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For some reason, I rarely ventured into the P.O.W. despite working 20 yards away from it. My memories were therefore quite cloudy when I revisited it recently after an approximate 15 year absence. The attractive entrance gives the impression that the pub is tiny but it does open up into a larger wedge shaped interior with the bar running down one side. In a nutshell, the pub is a fairly ordinary place but with a good (but pretty safe) beer count. Bombardier, Pride, Spitfire, Pedigree, Landlord and Youngs all available and prices weren�t as bad as one would expect in this area. Unlike the previous poster, I found the lighting suitably subdued (maybe the staff read Bite) but the lack of any windows does detract. There is a screened off area to the rear for a bit of intimacy and the d�cor is safe enough with a few nice touches like the personalised mirror behind the bar and a few old photos of the area but there isn�t a great deal that particularly stands out. The music is unobtrusive and there is a decent enough plasma TV and the usual assortment of Quiz / fruit machines. I would rank it as slightly above average and it is worth a visit if in the area but ultimately it just lacks any real character.
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Truly, lifeless guest ale. typical overpriced Kensington pub. Avoid at all costs.
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Really bright unkempt pub. Beer was flat and tasteless somehow when I visited but not off enough to send it back. Seems to engender a feeling of general miserableness, which is not good for a pub. Will be avoiding I've decided.
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Long, narrow pub just off Kensington High Street. I don't know how they manage it, but they do the same thing to Timothy Taylor Landlord that Nicholsons pubs do (and that's not good).
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Only went here once during my three-week stay in London, but had a great time. The atmosphere was very friendly, boistrous, and fun. Don't really remember the prices all that much, but I do remember the people being great.
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Good things come to those who wait says the Guinness advert. Not at the Prince of Wales. Guinness is consistently poured in one foul swoop,and the glass placed on the bar with the stout running down the sides(even when it's not busy). When it finally settles you're left with a 1-2 inch head. On one occasion when i expressed my dissatisfaction to the manager, i was rudely told that it was meant to be served that way. Been using this pub since 2001 but not anymore.
anonymous - 18 Apr 2007 03:42 |
Located opposite the church on the corner of the High St and Kensington Church St. A small but decorative frontage leads into a long narrow pub with comfortable seating and a no smoking area. Five cask beers available of the standard Broadside, Youngs variety and I had a nice pint of Landlord. Two continental lagers also on draught. It�s not been that busy on either of my visits but I suspect it is quite a popular pub.
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I have recently discovered this pub, and I have to tell you that some of the reviews I have read are a lot of gentlemen's genitals. On each occasion I have visited this pub, the service has been prompt and attentive. On each occasion I have opted for the Adnam's Broadside, which has been very well cellared. I did observe that the staff had to put up with a bunch of drunks who complained about everything. Perhaps these were some of the people who have complained about allegedly bad service? I must say that I admired the patience and restraint of the staff with these people.
By the way, does anyone not agree that Simona must surely be the most beautiful barmaid in London? Why is she working in a bar, for heaven's sake? I would like to give her modelling agency a good kick up the backside.
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Something is seriously wrong here. Went in for a pint with friends last night, ordered a Landlord, found it undrinkable, took it back and was convinced to try another pint of the same by the bartender, which again was awful. The taste was cider vinegar but is it possibly from the glasses? Could their rinse water be that infected? Went to another pub where the beer was fine so it wasnt me. Knowing the damage that this pub is doing the cause of real ale, I have to give it a zero. Avoid at all costs.
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Used to drink here 20 years ago, read all the negative comments so checked it out. The staff were ok, apart from a Polish(?) 'manager' who couldn't even manage to speak English. Clearly a pub geared towards tourists, or anyone else who thinks that a hovel selling beer at extortionate prices constitues a pub.
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I have to say I'm quite surprised by the negative comments on here. I went there on Friday evening for a couple of drinks and have to say I thought it was quite a pleasant wee place, good quiz machine, a range of bevvies, and a few tables to spare (although the place was pretty busy) I don't know Kensington well and thought I would only be able to find somewhere populated by sloanes but that didn't seem to be the case at all. Service was fine - maybe I was just lucky. That said, if I'm in the area again I'd be happy to go back.
anonymous - 15 Oct 2006 15:02 |
September 2006: I can only warn anyone who is looking to have a pint in a pleasant atmosphere - the service is incredibly unfriendly up to a degree I have never experienced before. Me and my friends were actually shouted at and told to **** off. Ok, we are Germans. But we were nowhere near drunk or loud or anything and very well capable of communicating as you may be able to tell. So DO NOT GO THERE THE PLACE STINKS. There. Needed to do this. I still love London, though!
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Good choice of beers, but when I took back a blatantly off (as my stomach will agree) pint, the bar girl told me that I was wrong, and that I couldn't exchange my Deuchars for another pint.
I was particularly disgruntled by the service, considering the surprisingly good choice on tap.
Great beer. Appalling service. I was pleased to find similar comments when I logged in to write this review.
5/10. Those 5 points are all dedicated to the choice of beers. The service would score 0/10.
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Horrible, definetely an old man's pub as suggested but has none of the character (or characters!) that can easily make a dingy, old drinking den fantastic!The staff are poorly trained, especially with regards to customer service where, unprovoked, they can be incredibly rude to some of the younger (read: studenty, young touristy) clientele I've seen in there. Seriously, only go there is every other pub within 15 minutes burns down or runs out of beer. Food same uninspired, lazy garbage as nearly always in the area. However, it does scrape a 2 seeing how it (at least attempts) to do that most crucial things for a public house: sell alcohol. That withstanding, you're better off in a dark alley with Vinny Jones on crack.
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Decent ale selection. Not a session boozer, but suitable for two after-work pints. Food is okay. Is currently undergoing some sort of refurbishment... perhaps it's already re-opened, actually.
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Good selection of beer, and a nice cosy pub.
The grub took a little while to arrive, but it was Saturday lunchtime, so a bit of a wait is to be expected.
The service at the bar isn't as bad as has been written. If there's a problem here, it's the middle-class types who grumble at the bar because they don't like waiting their turn to be served.
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Used to pop in here after my jaunts around Ken market (RIP) and it hasn't changed a bit.
True, it does take ages to get served when busy but the food is as good as ever and I was lucky enough recently to be in there on a quiet night - and received table service from the landlord, well impressive!
Yes, I recomend this pub when you find yourself on the high street. Old men, maybe, but feels very homely on those cold winter nights.
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its ok nothing to write home about staff freindly enough once we got served whats more to say
anonymous - 26 Jun 2005 15:01 |
old man's pub! very small and takes an age to get served when busy. avoid
jon - 31 May 2004 13:15 |
this pub has the best staff. they are fantastic! maybe being an aussie myself i found it easy to chat with the aussie bar staff - particuarly kate. beer was great too. and top nosh!
Toni - 18 Jun 2003 11:41 |
I visited the Prince of Wales in March and found the food, especially the curries, to be delicious, the best meal I had in London! My husband loved the beer selection also.
Lisa - 12 Jun 2003 21:15 |
