BITE user comments - rainlight
Comments by rainlight
The Old Rectifying House, Worcester Bridge
Busy upstairs on a Saturday night but more relaxed downstairs and there is a pleasant garden out back. Good to find somewhere like this in the centre and so close to the river.
6 Aug 2019 09:54
Now reverted to its old name of the Alma (so now that the one on Droitwich Road has closed down there is still a pub called the Alma), a small fairly cosy space, no food by the look of it but takeaway menus. Didn't have long to stay in there but it was good.
6 Aug 2019 09:29
Currently in the news for homophobic abuse by customers. Sadly not surprised given the way 'spoons are these days.
1 Aug 2019 07:05
Survives off custom from the chain hotel behind it. GK pub by a main road, TBH I have 1,600 pubs on my visited list and would rather have been in most of the others than this one.
10 Jul 2019 18:25
Quite a good pub for a Wetherspoons. Which may be damning with faint praise but there you go. It is not too large nor cavernous, and being very central gets a lot of custom, not just Wethertramps. Beware the steps to the (gents') toilet and the way back - must be worse if inebriated (and why wouldn't you be?)
26 Jun 2019 18:30
The Kings Tun, Kingston Upon Thames
There seems increasingly little point to Wetherspoons. Competition in other places, a plethora of venues for your beer and your breakfast. The Kings Tun is an echoing chamber of a place on two floors, once the Empire Theatre and later a Reject Shop, and served as a pre-loading venue for the nightclub opposite.
Last time I went in there I ate a dry and unpalatable breakfast. A man at a nearby table sat sideways on his chair and watched me while I ate it. I do not think I will bother with Wetherspoons again.
10 Jun 2019 13:08
Oh dear, what have you done to this pub? Ripped out all the cosy little partitions and made it one huge cream space as echoing as a diner without the charm. There is a bigger beer choice it is true but that doesn't make up for the loss of its old cosiness.
2 Dec 2018 18:02
Sadly no longer the time capsule it was, but the new owners have at least kept it going unlike the nearby Queens Arms.
25 Feb 2018 10:59
Classic riverside pub on the Hammersmith Riverside. Now taken over by Hippo Inns -- we shall see how that goes as they have been good for pubs in other places, but nowhere so busy or well-frequented perhaps.
25 Feb 2018 10:48
Did come here on a Saturday though, no football or rugby on at that time so it may have been affected by that. Was ok, had a post-run breakfast there which was agreeable.
26 Aug 2017 12:54
The Moon on the Square, Feltham
Small and popular 'spoons with value for money ales and the usual Wetherspoons food offers etc. Has the advantage of a lot of open space on the pavement and town square (i.e. the side of a shopping centre) next to it so people congregate outside, cue gauntlet of smokers but never mind these things.
23 Jul 2017 06:32
Recently reopened, and has gone upmarket - cocktails and whiskies and craft beers, oh my! Eclectic design including a chandelier made of spirit bottles. Looks from the main drag as though it's still closed but it is in fact open. Clientele is varied and the atmosphere is friendly.
23 Jul 2017 06:29
Shillibeers Brasserie Bar, Holloway
Seemed good, a few beers on, not that bad an area - there would formerly have been several pubs around here e.g. the nearby Lamb, on the edges of the Metropolitan Cattle Market, but they have all gone I think and new pubs such as this (otherwise known as the Depot) have taken their place. I had two West Berkshire beers which were a bit too malty for my taste but others were available.
12 Jul 2017 22:23
A couple of trumans beers, reasonable range of food, watch yourself stepping off the benches outside or you may take a tumble, but apart from that it was fine.
8 Jul 2017 18:32
A cosy and fairly traditional pub. A small but reasonable range of beers.
28 Jun 2017 10:18
Disappointing. Was looking forward to this but it is a bit bleak.
28 Jun 2017 10:17
No real ale but at least there was an atmosphere in there. Very much a locals' local I think.
25 Jun 2017 18:40
Atmospheric and of course with a good situation, but expensive for what was a crab sandwich and a bottle of beer coming to over ten quid. Portland does have a lot of pubs and most of them seem to keep going.
24 Mar 2017 20:42
The Old Moot House, Kingston upon Thames
Shuttered as of 11 March. The plan to convert it into a hotel seems to be going ahead. This could actually be what the area needs (provided it really is a hotel, not a builders' hostel like the Six Bells - I know builders need a place to stay but a proper hotel would bring in trade to the area).
14 Mar 2017 07:17
The Live and Let Live, West Kensington
Closed down now, some time in 2016. Surprising it kept going so long considering the Cumberland is almost next door but I suppose they serve different customer bases.
5 Mar 2017 10:46
Now reopened as The Tides Inn, light and airy, two ales on including Timothy Taylors Boltmaker.
22 Oct 2016 22:12
The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
Now reopened by the Big Smoke Brewing Co. with a large range of beers, some of them Big Smoke's own but also Dark Star and others. The pub is cosy and similar in decor to the Antelope in Surbiton. It's about time this area had a decent pub (again, after the closure of the Newt and Ferret many years ago) and now it does.
4 Oct 2016 20:43
A Beefeater, not a pub. The only ale was London Pride and even that was off. At least it has wi-fi.
22 Aug 2016 09:25
Nicely refurbished and with some good beer (XPA), pizzas daily except Sunday when it's a Sunday roast. Garden is ok. Needs bicycle parking - perhaps that area round the side they haven't finished yet could have a bike rack in it?
22 Aug 2016 09:22
Still good, little pub on the hill up from Richmond where the art galleries (or graphic design shops as many of them are) are. Youngs Bitter was good, they also had Wainwrights on (not tried).
20 Aug 2016 18:20
The Black Horse Hotel, Northfield
Huge Wetherspoons pub, a Grade II* listed roadhouse pub built in 1929. Range of regular plus a few guest beers, Curry Club on Thursdays. Made a special visit on a day trip to Birmingham to see this and was not disappointed. Still a 'spoons though which means the front bar is full of old guys whistling.
18 Aug 2016 21:12
The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
You may have your wish Puppydog. The people who have the Antelope in Surbiton are taking it over, estimated opening date September.
15 Aug 2016 14:48
Good pub on three levels, basement can get a bit claustrophobic but the beer is good and there is an outside area to sit in. Far enough from KX itself not to get too inundated.
9 Jul 2016 20:30
The Flying Scotsman, Caledonian Road
Now the Scottish Stores, several beers on and a friendly welcome at time of visit from the lovely Taylor who does the barmaid thing with style. Landlord is a gent also as are the customers.
9 Jul 2016 20:26
Sorry meant "Now the Black Horse." This is the original name of the pub, rather than Kingston Gate which was misleading as it isn't even the nearest pub to the Kingston Gate of Richmond Park (that would be the Park Tavern).
6 Jul 2016 07:08
Now the Kingston Gate, very much improved, Gallows Gold and TFA Naked Ladies on. Burgers and chips (so it hasn't gone gastro) looked very nice. Outside seating area is much improved by having a fence to hide / mute the passing traffic. Is disabled accessible as we found when taking a temporarily wheelchair-bound friend there.
6 Jul 2016 07:08
A good locals pub, very much a music venue. Had a pint of London Pride (the only ale on but well kept). Friendly dogs in the garden on this occasion.
26 Jun 2016 15:27
Wood-panelled traditional pub reopened after a few years closed down. I had Trumans Zephyr and there were other options also. Worth a visit.
20 May 2016 21:43
And to follow on from the last comment, this too has closed down and there are now no pubs at all in Hanworth.
11 May 2016 19:56
Postcode for this place has to be wrong. Should be TQ12 2JR. It is certainly not in the Hampton area of SW London!
11 May 2016 19:55
Now refurbished as the Hampton, does ales such as Twickenham Naked Ladies (3.90 a pint) and pizzas, burgers etc. Two bars, one more aimed at dining and then you find the other bar which is more what the pub must have been like before - cosy, leather settees, a pool table. Gets used a fair bit by the locals by the look of it, as there aren't that many pubs around here (the Royal Oak or the two by the railway station are the only real competition).
11 May 2016 19:54
The Ashburnham Arms, Greenwich
Reasonable locals' pub, Shepherd Neame which is unusual around here, too far out of the centre of Greenwich and away from the park to be much other than a backstreet local I think but does all right at that.
3 May 2016 09:19
A bit restauranty, not sure it's really a pub, more a wine bar ticking over, no cask beers to be had . A small corner site doesn't help so it's kind of a squashed L-shape and there is some kind of semi-subterranean garden out the back.
3 May 2016 09:13
The Greenwich Union, Greenwich
A large range of beers to try and a nice garden to sit and drink them in. Not cheap but then it is a destination pub I suppose. Had some London IPA which was pleasant in the sun.
3 May 2016 09:11
Small Young's pub on a hill near the Park. Probably suffers from the competition from the trendier Grand Union next door (literally next door, two pubs right next to each other), but does all right notwithstanding.
3 May 2016 09:08
The Plume of Feathers, Greenwich
Excellent and friendly little local on a street bounding Greenwich Park. Nice tiling and decor as well as friendly staff and palatable beer, in my case "Endeavour" although others such as Harveys Sussex Best were offered.
3 May 2016 09:06
The Star and Garter, Greenwich
Local's pub very different to the touristy places nearer the river. Was okay although I didn't stop long.
3 May 2016 09:03
A riverside pub with an entrance up a sidestreet, may be overlooked by comparison with the Trafalgar but I found it a nice place to sit and look out at the river. Had a half of Purple Reign (second Prince reference of the day after something about Raspberry Beret in the Admiral Hardy).
3 May 2016 09:02
Overwhelmingly large pub rather similar to the White Cross in Richmond in its being a big place fronting the river and getting a lot of the lunch trade. Plenty of space to sit and look the tourist-rich environment.
3 May 2016 09:00
Sort of an adjunct to the trendy Greenwich Market behind it but this doesn't mean you're a bad pub, far from it. Even has an entrance off the Market which must be good for added trade.
3 May 2016 08:57
Very much modernised since the last time I went there (which admittedly was some time last century), tables outside and a large servery area. Had Sambrooks Pumphouse Pale Ale.
1 May 2016 20:43
A down to earth pub in an area you would no longer expect to find one - consider that the Mitre nearby has been completely refurbished to a trendy modern standard. Beer was Black Sheep Best which was good. Decor is oldfashioned and somehow nostalgic.
1 May 2016 20:41
The Cock and Bottle, Notting Hill
Formerly the Swan, and this motif shows up in the splendid mirrored bar-back decor. The rest of the pub is also unruined and is a cosy and proper pub. I had Portobello Spring Ale which was very palatable.
1 May 2016 20:38
Was very busy when I went there, not surprisingly as it was a sunny Sunday and this pub is just by Little Venice. Too busy for me so I had a half of TT Landlord in a plastic glass - you could get glass but only to use inside - and went out into the sun. Hard to tell how good a pub is when it is that busy really.
1 May 2016 20:35
The Coach and Horses, Isleworth
This was the one that had the Christmas tree up in mid October. A bit previous, as you might say. Beer was all right though and the pub is capacious.
29 Apr 2016 07:34
The Pig and Whistle, Earlsfield
Improved Ram Pub Co house with a good range of Youngs beers and nice decor.
20 Apr 2016 21:04
Very popular with people who like to watch football on the tv when they go to a pub. Beer is Gk including IPA which is never that exciting.
17 Apr 2016 18:29
Good large pub with three ales on, small bites such as black pudding sausage rolls and chorizo scotch eggs available as well as Sunday lunch. Mad Goose on which was nice.
17 Apr 2016 18:11
The Prince of Wales, Battersea
My review should refer to the Prince of Wales in SW15. This pub (the Prince of Wales in SW11) closed down in 2014.
17 Apr 2016 18:10
The Prince of Wales, Battersea
Good large pub with three ales on, better than it was a few years ago, small bites such as black pudding sausage rolls and chorizo scotch eggs available as well as Sunday lunch. Mad Goose on which was nice.
17 Apr 2016 17:30
Cosy and unruined little pub on the main drag between Wandsworth and Clapham Junction. Fullers beers including Seafarers Ale. Quiet on a Saturday aftenoon for some reason, it seemed like a pleasant pub to me.
17 Apr 2016 17:03
No ale in this excellent corner site backing on to the canal, I hope this oversight will be remedied in the near future because you are alienating a proportion of your clientele, and these days not only the older ones.
17 Apr 2016 16:58
Hidden away down a street leading to the river, a cosy locals' pub doing several Fullers and Gales beers. Worth making the detour for.
16 Apr 2016 17:24
The Waggon and Horses, Surbiton
They would like us to call it the Surbiton and Dragon, as in Norbiton and Dragon, but it is still the Waggon and Horses (I suppose the Waggon and Dragon would sound silly).
11 Apr 2016 21:52
Still a great community local, three or four good beers on, quirky and down to earth.
10 Apr 2016 21:34
The Hand In Hand, Wimbledon Common
A few doors from another Youngs pub, the Crooked Billet, another nice pub with a villagey air to it. Beer was Portobello Star which was, as people have said, quite costly. It and its neighbour are out of the way for all except locals and walkers on Wimbledon Common.
9 Apr 2016 09:37
The Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Common
Friendly enough pub, busy with mainly locals and their dogs and in some cases offspring - this is a well heeled area and the prices are corresponding. It's a Youngs pub and I had Youngs Ordinary which was ok, and sausage and mash which was very pleasant.
9 Apr 2016 09:35
Excellent pub and deservedly popular including with a younger crowd. Several beers on including Redemption Pale Ale. Quirky enough in a nice way to make it a pleasant end to the day's pub walk.
9 Apr 2016 09:33
It's all right but doesn't have the character of the other pubs nearby namely the Seven Stars and the Edgar Wallace. Beer was Taylor Walker: the barrel had just gone on so it may not have had time to settle.
9 Apr 2016 09:30
The Seven Stars, Chancery Lane
A survivor from pre-Great Fire days, this is a long narrow pub right in the middle of the Inns of Court area. Eclectic decor and surprisingly bohemian for such an area.
9 Apr 2016 09:28
Nice pub, a good range of beers on. Used to host Science Fiction fans meetings and so in honour of that our beer was Hammerton Life on Mars.
9 Apr 2016 09:25
Nice pub which manages to be friendly and welcoming despite being in one of the most tourist-overloaded places on the entire planet. Pleasant, old fashioned but popular.
9 Apr 2016 09:23
The Bloomsbury Tavern, Bloomsbury
Nice corner pub, Shepherd Neame away from their heartland, and the upstairs is lovely with a bow window like a captain's cabin with theatre posters all around it. Range of Shep beers included Early Bird for on that day I was one.
9 Apr 2016 09:21
The Porterhouse, Covent Garden
Odd place, very much not a typical pub, some of the beers are wicked expensive (but in fairness the barman did warn me). Labyrinthine and above all dark. Too dark for me.
9 Apr 2016 09:19
Recently refurbished, quite an airy feel to it and a couple of good beers. In competition with the Victoria opposite (which may be driving Young's need to refurbish that pub in turn). Certainly much improved over what it was before.
1 Apr 2016 11:07
The Old Moot House, Kingston upon Thames
Closed at 10 last night (on the last Thursday of the month!), what is going on here?
1 Apr 2016 11:01
A cosy (though reasonably large, with several rooms) traditional pub on Surbiton's main street. Beers included the usual Youngs range including Special, and also a couple of guest ales. Staff are nice.
Unfortunately I heard from a regular that Youngs plan to refurbish this pub, despite its popularity and the clear evidence that it doesn't need refurbishing. This is not encouraging, as Youngs track record since splitting off the brewing arm has been to turn their pubs into bland hotel-like establishments. The tenanted pubs (now branded as the Ram Pub Company - such as the Black Lion round the corner from the Victoria) may escape this but the managed houses are another matter.
1 Apr 2016 10:59
More of a grill bar restaurant than a pub really but has three ales on and a reasonable atmosphere inside. Run by the Flaming Grill Co which tells you what you need to know - reminiscent of Ember Inns' offerings also, e.g. the Queen Adelaide in Ewell or the North Star in Hook.
29 Mar 2016 18:18
Friendly local pub with a couple of nice beers on and amiable bar staff. Customers ok as well, jukebox, people in with their children in tow, that kind of thing. A proper pub doing what they are supposed to do I thought.
23 Mar 2016 16:56
Nice two-bar local pub, friendly landlord and a small but interesting range of beers including Betty Stogs which I had. This was very nice and obviously well kept (may have gone on recently). There was a good atmosphere in this pub which always helps.
23 Mar 2016 16:54
The Botanist On The Green, Kew
Large multi roomed pub that used to be a brewpub, one of four pubs around Kew Green. Several beers on including Castle Rock Midnight Owl. Not enough people serving - bar servers seem to also have to deliver food to tables - so there was a bit of a wait.
27 Feb 2016 15:00
The Park Tavern, Kingston Upon Thames
Improved recently, still an out of the way backstreet pub with a few good beers on. Very close to the park gates so worth calling in at after a walk in Richmond Park.
26 Feb 2016 09:37
Has been a building site for a while, was going to be reopened by something called Bluezone Connections but their website is now empty.
13 Feb 2016 10:31
The Old Moot House, Kingston upon Thames
So disappointing, they need to sort the beer out, this pub has a prime location (not exactly in the centre but on a major road) and could do very well, the more so as it is one of the few pubs remaining in this area.
12 Feb 2016 13:26
Closed down on 1 Feb. Ironically the problem seems to have been Barnes going upmarket -- so more gastro-pubs and restaurants opening in the area.
10 Feb 2016 13:10
Good bar in an excellent venue that puts on some cracking acts.
25 Jan 2016 12:05
The Jolly Marshman, Abbey Wood
Looks like closed, demolished, replaced with housing.
19 Jan 2016 12:13
O'Neills, Kingston Upon Thames
Went into this pub for only the second time ever (the first being a few days over ten years ago) because it, unlike practically everywhere else in Kingston, was open on Boxing Day evening. Not too bad, lagers better than bitter and no bar snacks at all so we were forced to make a detour on our way home. Butcombe Chris Moose ale and Brewdog Punk IPA. This used to be the Apple Market Inn but not for a while.
27 Dec 2015 18:39
Good music, reasonable as a pub - London Pride and Doom Bar plus Wimbledon Common Pale Ale. Mostly a music venue I suppose and the more important now the Grey Horse and the Peel are gone.
12 Dec 2015 19:06
Boarded up at present, as is the Wellington (not on BITE) at the other end of Haldane Road.
12 Dec 2015 18:53
Duke of Clarence, Hampton Hill
Could do well if they sorted the beer range out however.
6 Dec 2015 22:00
A bit of a restaurant - all tables laid for dining on a Sunday. A nice pint of Proper Job IPA though. Staff nice as well. Good atmosphere also.
6 Dec 2015 18:59
Astonished in a nice way that there is at least one good pub in this area. A regular and very relaxed locals' pub with several good beers on including one from the Park Brewery. Reminded me of the Old Moseley Arms in a (good) way.
6 Dec 2015 16:24
I got a metaphysical hangover even walking into this pub. The amount of mismatched furniture and other shit meant I felt slightly queasy even before having any beer of which there wasn't much.
6 Dec 2015 16:22
Duke of Clarence, Hampton Hill
Looks nice and an improvement on the blandness of the area but they do not seem to have a clue really.
6 Dec 2015 16:20
A 19th century pub which has a lot of traditional back-street-boozer character (and characters!). One real ale on, well kept. The guvnor used to run a couple of pubs in Kingston and is enthusiastic about his new venue. Open Mic nights on alternate Thursdays.
4 Dec 2015 08:43
Big Wetherspoons, beer range good if not that large. Ciders from behind the bar as well.
29 Nov 2015 18:33
Reasonable small locals' pub with two or three ales on. No food apart from filled rolls. Friendly enough.
29 Nov 2015 18:31
Better than some of the reviews have been saying as it was cheerful enough considering it's a town centre kind of boozer. TFA Yakima was an unusual beer to find on. Bar staff nice.
22 Nov 2015 21:19
Unfortunately still clearly an All Bar One place as witness the timorous staff and lack of any real drinking atmosphere. TFA Grandstand was on as it should be being a local ale.
22 Nov 2015 21:18
Stokes and Moncreiff, Twickenham
Very rugby-oriented, it is all around the place, but beer though a narrow choice was ok.
22 Nov 2015 21:16
Now a good beer-driven pub with darkish decor but comfortable seating.
22 Nov 2015 21:15
The Grey Horse, Kingston Upon Thames
Just reopened. The refurb has not done it too much of a disservice - subdued decor, three ales on and another one coming shortly, the atmosphere of a street-corner local. That would be all well and good if you didn't know it was once a classic music pub attracting audiences from far afield. The back room which used to be the main space for bands to play in is now a 'restaurant' (the side area looks like it's going to be the kitchen eventually) and at the end a huge picture of Jimi Hendrix gazes forlornly down as if in memory of what this used to be. I do not know what has happened to the Ram Jam Club that used to be out the back past that big back room. KIngston needs pubs - heaven knows there are fewer of them than there ought to be and fewer than there were just a few years ago (literally half the pubs around the Fairfield area have been lost since the early 2000s). And so I hope this thrives. But it isn't what it was.
14 Nov 2015 19:46
William Stanley, South Norwood
A small 'spoons (i.e. the size of most other pubs) which is a shop conversion and since the demise of the Ship one of very few extant pubs around here. Had the Monday Mexican special and a pint of Nøgne oatmeal stout. It was ok. Proudly exhibits its 5-out-of-5 hygiene rating (which is more than some of my local pubs have).
2 Nov 2015 15:51
The Joiners Arms, South Norwood
Fine traditional pub that features in the current Good Beer Guide and the previous one. Four real ales including Mad Goose, Doom Bar, London Pride and eclectic decor including a fish tank and a stuffed fox. This is the most southerly pub with a London postcode - as the landlady says, Surrey starts just down the road. Recommended.
2 Nov 2015 15:47
Small pub on the road out of town with one ale (Greene King IPA) and quite sparse.
2 Nov 2015 15:45
Closed in 2010 and demolished in 2013. Replaced by shops with overpriced flats above them.
1 Nov 2015 14:55
The Swan Tavern, West Wimbledon
Sports-oriented but that may just have been the Rugby World Cup drawing to a close . On Ridgway on the 200 bus route as it rises out of Wimbledon towards Raynes Park. Can't remember what beer I had here as I was watching out for the time of the next 200 (every 15 minutes), but it was palatable whatever it was.
31 Oct 2015 14:43
The Horse and Groom, Wimbledon
Smart and popular pub off the beaten track a little (a Sainsburys opposite and on the 200 bus route which goes back through Wimbledon to Raynes Park) .Two ales on including Tribute for 4.00 a pint, but specialises more in bottled beers. Table tennis and petanque are advertised; petanque (or boules) may be an odd choice but in many ways it is an ideal pub game and used to be played at the lamented Newt and Ferret in Kingston. The new name "The Garden Shed" makes me wonder if it should diversify into a submarine habitat but apart from that it was ok.
31 Oct 2015 14:40
The Nelson Arms, South Wimbledon/Colliers Wood
Has been opened up and freshly decorated by the look of things including Warholesque Lord Nelson pictures at the far end where I didn't go. Fairly basic (perhaps because of the opening up) locals' pub. Overcold Doom Bar was 3.60 a pint but 2.00 for a half, which is a creeping practice and discriminatory against people who prefer to drink a half.
31 Oct 2015 14:36
Nice locals pub by a main road and not far from South Wimbledon station. Youngs pictures, Fullers clock; Wimbledon Common Pale Ale on the pump. Wooden floorboards and has been opened up at some time possibly recently. Food menu is pizza, fish and chips, etc. Nice bar staff and friendly atmosphere.
31 Oct 2015 14:33
Trafalgar Freehouse, South Wimbledon
Excellent small pub off the beaten track and having several ales, other kinds of beer, pork pies, and live music, all in a tiny space smaller than most bars in larger pubs. Downton Quadhop did it for me. Several customers in on a Friday evening. I saw 'High Path' and remembered there was something down there. Like Alice, I followed. 'Drink me'? I did indeed.
30 Oct 2015 23:34
The Spring Grove, Kingston Upon Thames
It's gone a bit dove-grey and minimalist recently although I like the collage with its picture of vanished Kingston riverside on one wall. The beer was ok but it is a bit pricey nowadays. However the pub has not been that much changed about in its latest incarnation and it is still very serviceable.
22 Oct 2015 08:02
Nice little pub, good range of beers and of course a good situation between Hampton Court and the river. However I question the value of 6 pounds 45 for what was essentially one slice of toast with cheese and crab spread on it and a bit of salad. Full meals may be better value. BUT! This is Beerintheevening, not Foodintheafternoon (ISTR there was originally a Cheeseintheafternoon, or was that the original BITE slogan?) and the beer range is fine and the pub is comfortable.
16 Oct 2015 14:56
Local beers in bottles (but not on draught) and lagers, ciders etc. Has a hard time overcoming its almost total lack of atmosphere unfortunately as they do seem to be making an effort.
13 Oct 2015 23:00
Formerly the Dorset Arms. Became a Portuguese restaurant in 2011 so I don't know which pub the previous review refers to.
10 Oct 2015 16:09
A small bar with no cask ale but a selection of lagers and bottled beers. A pool table in the back out of the way of the main bar. TV screens are unobtrusive as well which is good - this is not a 'sports bar'. Has karaoke on Thursday nights which was fun and attracted some good singers. I will go back for the Karaoke.
9 Oct 2015 07:41
Now called the Brook after the Beverley Brook, a minor London river which flows under the centre of Worcester Park nearby. The pub has been refurbished as a pub-restaurant, comfortable enough but largely set up for eating. Cask beer was Adnams Ghost Ship (pleasant) and the ubiquitous Doom Bar.
9 Oct 2015 07:37
The Plough (Harvester), Worcester Park
Banksy needn't have bothered, he could just have organised tours to this place. Dismaland indeed. What makes it worse is that it's a historic building.
7 Oct 2015 16:53
The Cocoanut, Kingston Upon Thames
Practically deserted last night but good food was to be had even after 9pm. Cask beer choice is limited to London Pride - three pumps but only one ale. What with the Swan having closed down and the Castle long gone, and the Cricketers doing double duty for the now-vanished Fairfield Tavern, you would think that a pub here would thrive and perhaps it does sometimes.
7 Oct 2015 16:28
OK somewhat blokey pub (I think the only women in there were staff) with big screens for sports but several ales on. Not too bad early evening.
1 Oct 2015 11:05
Ye Olde Swan Inn, Thames Ditton
Lovely situation, ,pretty nice pub also, by an arm of the river and with several good beers. And decent bike parking! Though like the front entrance you have to go round the side (towards the river frontage) to find it.
28 Sep 2015 19:59
The Junction Tavern, Raynes Park
Became the Rock and then the Railhouse and now looks closed again.
27 Sep 2015 16:42
The Leather Bottle, Wimbledon Chase
Large pub that seems to be a mix of family and locals, beer I had was Wimbledon Brewery Tower which was very nice. Does Sunday roasts and bowls of chips, that kind of thing.
27 Sep 2015 16:11
The Sun on the Hill, Birmingham
Quite busy although there are other pubs very close to, comfortable and with good Enville Ale on. Cheerful menu of favorites - burgers and sandwiches Feature largely. Subdued music and a TV showing the news. Nice bar staff. Unfairly overlooked.
15 Sep 2015 14:11
Old Orleans, Kingston Upon Thames
Now the Cornerstone, a Greene King Hungry Horse 'family restaurant' and pub.
11 Sep 2015 10:30
Friendly little community local which has several beers, a jukebox (unusual these days), locals hanging out there with their kids and dogs etcetera, copies of London Drinker on the windowsill, and it all hangs together very nicely. Quite out of the way and I'm still not sure where it is - I saw it from the 337 bus and jumped off at the next stop, hoping to try it because I'd probably not pass that way very often. Several hours later I staggered out and caught the bus to Richmond. It's that kind of place.
7 Sep 2015 07:43
GBP 2.75 for a half of Camden Pale Ale is quite a lot and you are drinking in a cavernous place that probably does good food and an old bank interior.
7 Sep 2015 07:40
From a design brief by MC Escher the Goat is an odd hangar of a place with Sambrook's Junction on and a strangely subterranean feel. Not unfriendly behind the bar however.
7 Sep 2015 07:38
Excellent and friendly local pub not that close to Clapham Junction but worth the walk. A variety of beers and also of pork pies from the cellar. The sort of pub that keeps going (I hope) on local trade and also reputation without being close enough to the centre that it could be made over into something trendy and vile.
7 Sep 2015 07:36
With its Daily Draft both fresh and good value, the sort of innovative place that I didn't realise this area was up for - you'd associate it with East Dulwich or Moseley or somewhere like that. Battersea is improving no end. Beware sitting on or at beer barrels outside as some are not that stable. Good apart from that.
7 Sep 2015 07:33
Catford Constitutional Club, Catford
A great old building, if Neil Jordan ran a pub it would look like this. Good beer as well and a mix of punters. Shabby but comfortable.
2 Sep 2015 19:28
A nice comfortable pub considering it's right on the main drag. Must be popular at weekends. Worth a visit.
1 Sep 2015 09:01
The Prince Blucher, Twickenham
Nice traditional-ish pub a little way out of the centre - it's on the other corner of the Green from where the buses go. Had a pleasant drink here.
1 Sep 2015 09:00
Cosy little pub between the centre and the river. Beer was good, a comfortable place to have a drink.
1 Sep 2015 08:57
Currently closed for refurbishment, "opening soon" apparently.
1 Sep 2015 08:56
The location is great and the staff are nice but the range of Greene King beer is not brilliant and more could be made of the pub.
1 Sep 2015 08:55
Well managed pub selling food and Shepherd Neame beer. Also very close to the railway station (along the line a bit reached by a path).
1 Sep 2015 08:54
Sunday roast was excellent, range of beers was good once again. Having the new Eastside City Park next to it makes it even more accessible from the city centre. Recommended.
31 Aug 2015 08:28
Large and echoey Lloyds No 1 (i.e. Wetherspoons with piped music).
30 Aug 2015 19:42
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
What has happened to this place? No decent beer for a while. Sort it out please.
28 Aug 2015 22:12
Nice enough if that isn't damning with faint praise, but the beer was adequate and the pub was reasonably well frequented by a friendly enough crowd.
27 Aug 2015 18:28
The Waldegrave Arms, Teddington
Says 'closed' on this website but as John Wayne once put it, The hell I am. The revived Waldegrave (or Waldy) is a lively pub in a pleasant area of Teddington away from the centre. Sharps beers and Quins Ale were on. Food menu. Barstaff nice.
27 Aug 2015 18:26
Quiet Youngs pub on a sidestreet, not too bad, nicely decorated, Youngs beers plus Twickenham Summer Sun as a special.
27 Aug 2015 18:25
Reasonable pub which has aspirations to being a restaurant and may yet match them. Not to be confused (as I did) with the Red Lion in Twickenham, a former jazz pub which is now no longer a pub at all.
27 Aug 2015 18:22
Low-ceilinged traditional pub which served the traditional range of, er, Cornish ales. Time for a half before going for the train (though the pub isn't that close to the station). Seemed to be busy although there was hardly anyone in the front of the pub - maybe most of the action goes on in the rear.
19 Aug 2015 16:29
Nice villagey pub which is clearly a destination pub for Surrey families. Beer was good. Food is pricey but there are sandwiches which look like good value to me.
19 Aug 2015 16:26
A long-derelict pub on the edge of Digbeth, opposite the enigmatic bulk of Curzon Street station and near Millennium Point As well as Ciry University. Reopened recently with a sensitive hand to the revamped decor - colourful Victorian tiling and red ceilings. Several beers and ciders on and pork pies for £1.50. Several little rooms give the feel of the better type of 19th-century boozer.
16 Aug 2015 21:54
Comfortable pub with the full range of Titanic Beers and reasonable food. Slightly out of the centre of Stafford and worth finding.
16 Aug 2015 15:41
The Prince of Wales, Twickenham
Large and traditional pub not far from Twickenham Green. A nice range of beers on - Ringwood 3.60 a pint - and also a good food menu (not tried). Garden is very pleasant.
13 Aug 2015 08:48
Fullers pub in the middle of Teddington. Fullers now offer three ales as a matter of course and I had good old London Pride. Decor is fairly stark but not unpleasant. Secluded outside area out the back is good to sit in. At least Fullers haven't gone the upmarket route like a certain south of the river former brewery.
13 Aug 2015 08:44
Buffalo's Head Ale House, Gravesend
Now a modern bar called "Bar Fifty 9." Why has Bertrand apparently copied Lee's review for this pub and spooged it in two other places as well?
7 Aug 2015 16:57
Very pleasant and oldfashioned pub which had three ales on at the time of visit. I also had a cheese ploughmans. The interior of the pub is cosy but you can't beat the terrace on a sunny day, to watch the ships go by on this wide reach of the lower Thames.
7 Aug 2015 16:51
Back here for the first time in years, and it's been ten years since I was a regular here. Even so the restaurant manager remembered me. I had Fullers Pride, which you do in this area; this is Fullers country. Had some Thai food which was more than palatable. Latymers keeps going on the office-worker trade I suppose, and hasn't changed that much in the intervening decade; the huge ceiling mirror left over from its life as an American-style bar, all cream sofas and red motifs on the wall, is still there, easier to leave it in situ I expect. Its past as the Red Cow is long behind it but never quite forgotten.
6 Aug 2015 10:33
Riverside Studios Bar, Hammersmith
Riverside Studios has been demolished. A new Studios will, we are promised, rise from the ashes.
6 Aug 2015 10:25
Despite all the pubs upstream of Hammersmith Bridge, on Fulham Reach there has only been the Crabtree. Until now that is, a former waterworks site converted into a waterside development very similar to those at Brentford, Putney and Vauxhall. The Hammersmith example has a Fullers pub called the Blue Boat. This is Fullers country (just as south of the river is Youngs territory. I imagine bitter turf wars fought across the bridges). The Blue Boat's decor is a curious mix of ultramodern (industrial gothic is a Hammersmith thing, or a fin-de-siecle one, or both) and a small clubland-like lounge which on the night in question was reserved so I couldn't sit in it. Beer was London Pride, Olivers Island, and Beachcomber, all passable. There is an extensive food menu (not tried; prices what you'd expect although 4 pound 50 for a pork pie is a little dear). There is also a terrace where you can get a good view of Hammersmith Bridge, or the Bridge at sunset even.
6 Aug 2015 10:06
Excellent little beer cellar in an unlikely location but hopefully it will attract trade by word of mouth (or keyboard). A variety of beers and also an appetizing looking variety of food. Richmond, like Surbiton and unlike Kingston, has had an upmarket tendency for a while and so should make good use of places like this.
4 Aug 2015 10:34
Friendly small pub doing surprising Thai cuisine out of the back kitchen. Beer is Youngs but also guest ales for example from Twickenham Fine Ales. Hardly seems large enough to have two bars but it does.
Writing West London has been having meets here for several months and the landlord and staff have been friendly and helpful. We are now moving on to a new venue but that is no failing of the pub.
31 Jul 2015 11:18
This is a modern and airy pub which sells several beers and has its own 'house' brew. Quite expensive and I wonder how much demand there is for somewhere like this in Colliers Wood. Build it and they will come perhaps.
30 Jul 2015 17:24
Friendly enough, German lady behind the bar is nice and the food is not just standard stuff (served until 9 I just got in in time).
29 Jul 2015 23:28
The George, Great Portland Street
Classic rather than just traditional, the George is a real pub serving several beers and with its very own brew which I had and which went down well. Deservedly popular also.
29 Jul 2015 23:25
This is not, repeat not, the One Tun where Science Fiction fans used to meet for their monthly pissup, er, learned discussion. That was in Farringdon. However. it has proper beer and apparently good burgers. I had some Truman Lazarus. It did not come forth later for which relief much thanks.
29 Jul 2015 23:22
Lovely dark seawood fed with copper. Served with Tintagel Ale and the barmaid offered a topup even before I could ask for such a thing. Upstairs is now a restaurant and this their opening night. Cornish by theme. I wanted to put on a terrible accent and call people 'my loverrrrr,' fortunately I did not. Much recommended and worth looking for in the maze of streets behind Charlotte Street where the Villa Carlotta used to be.
29 Jul 2015 23:17
A Taylor Walker pub. Sat outside and drew the Russian shop and sex aids shop opposite. Staff seem busy, not surprised.
29 Jul 2015 23:12
Pub opposite Colliers Wood tube station.
There was a man standing in the alleyway.
I wouldn't go in there if I were you, he said.
I'll be the judge of that, I said.
I went in there. It was a large space in the currently fashionable dark grey scheme lit by large subtle windows giving onto a back area that is a garden filled with plants of many kinds. I had a pint of admittedly quite good beer which is the local brew and I was charged the appropriate amount for it.
Good God, I said.
I went outside.
The same man was standing in the alleyway.
I said I wouldn't go in there, he said. Now what are you a judge of?
I left.
29 Jul 2015 23:04
The Kings Tun, Kingston Upon Thames
Like drinking in a Beryl Cook painting. Now Beryl Cook was an excellent artist and looking at her work brings a smile, which is by and large more than you get sitting in this barn of a pub and knocking back the beer. However the presence of surging masses of people (not many of them, just masses) and solitary drinkers suggests her work. Not the best Wetherspoons. Not even the best in the Kingston area (that may be the Coronation Hall). It serves a purpose and will continue to do so.
28 Jul 2015 09:20
The Express Tavern, Kew Bridge
The Express Tavern has been recently refurbished and has lots of different beers on and the garden has been opened up. It is a modern take on a real classic pub and being close to the river and on good public transport routes is well worth a visit.
28 Jul 2015 08:48
A nice pub with a good welcome and a very pleasant and secluded garden out the back. Beer was a choice including Summer Lightning. Seems to be quite big on food especially burgers.
18 Jul 2015 15:28
A traditional pub with all that implies. Unruined interior decor and also a very nice garden. Sort of reminds me of the Wych Elm in Kingston. Courage Best was palatable. Two other ales on.
18 Jul 2015 15:26
The Golden Lion, Putney Bridge
The oldest and most historic pub in Fulham with, according to rumour, a tunnel leading to the Bishops' Palace. I believe this to be untrue. My review from nearly 12 years ago says "Very much a locals' pub, unchanged for several decades, whether this is good or bad depends on your viewpoint. Fullers Pride £2 a pint." I don't know about the Pride but I suspect if there was any it would be a lot dearer than that. Unfortunately there did not seem to be any and it looked like some of the locals have been propping up the bar since the days the tunnel was dug. Assuming it existed which I don't think it does.
12 Jul 2015 08:30
Cavernous pub originally a temperance billiard hall (hence the name) and there are still pool tables to be had. Unfortunately the upstairs area which I wanted to visit was closed for a private function so I couldn't go and see it. Instead sat downstairs in the tables centred on the island bar which is staffed by cheerful barstaff. Beer range small but beer good.
12 Jul 2015 08:27
The Eight Bells, Putney Bridge
My review from nigh on 12 years ago says "A trad family-friendly place with an esoteric food menu, a limited range of Real Ales, and a nautical/river theme to the decorations. Packed when others in the area were half-empty so it must be doing something right." The Eight Bells, I was pleased to see, hasn't changed a lot except that the nautical theme I don't think was as prevalent. Practically next door to a chain hotel so it probably gets the custom from there. Bar staff were nice. I had London Pride which seemed the most authentic choice- the others were a couple of 'Cornish' import beers. The name 'Eight Bells' is supposed to refer to the church nearby but I wonder if it also refers to the pub's being a stop-off point for sailors heading from Portsmouth to London or vice versa. Just a historical point there.
12 Jul 2015 08:19
The interior is a bit hotel-like but that is the price you pay for being in a modern block. However the service is good and the beer is an ever changing range as usual with Wetherspoons. What sells this pub for me however is the river view. Sit outside and look across the water or at the trains going by. You are not however allowed to go to the benches by the wall with your drink - a very polite fellow asked me to go back 'behind the ropes' so I did. Putney is so busy these days but at least that means it allows many pubs and bars to flourish.
12 Jul 2015 08:15
Nearly confusing in its architecture but this is a cosy real ale-focussed pub which is a sister gig to the Antelope in Surbiton - whence cometh my beer, in this case Big Smoke Electric Eye. Tiling and the rest of it is a decorative marvel although I was quite content to sit on the leather counches and have my beer while people wandered in over the long afternoon in the part of Twickenham that is away from the centre with its 'spoons and for all I know Arsenal fans. The bar staff are a double act. There was a dog which was made a fuss of by everyone. This is good for in a bad pub the dog makes threatening gestures at you instead, and that on this particular afternoon was only the purlieu of a gentleman (I use the term very loosely) near the Goat who made monkey gestures at me to force me off the pavement. When I reached the Sussex Arms I found what I had suspected, that not everypony in Twickenham is aggressive and some are actually knowledgeable about the beer.
16 Jun 2015 21:10
Very traditional small pub with a lovely and aromatic garden out the back. Doesn't open until 2pm weekdays - I was nearly caught out by this. Several beers on pump, of which I had Ringwood Bitter. For whatever reason several reviewers have a down on this pub but I don't know why. Sat in the garden and had a pint which was nice.
16 Jun 2015 21:04
This is very much a real ale pub. The regulars have almost certainly been drinking the real stuff since before the bar staff were born - though the youngsters in question were enthusiastic and probably quite knowledgeable. It is a very nice pub is the Hope with many good beers and a connection with the local community though I despair of the future for local communities in somewhere so obviously well heeled. I hope (aha!) they come through it.
7 Jun 2015 16:43
We need to talk about Young's.
We need to say that their pubs, since divesting themselves of their brewery arm, are no longer so much pubs as hotel-restaurants. I am sure the hardworking staff of this gaff as others are blameless but this is not a pub with a welcoming atmosphere. Levity was only achieved by a lady pronouncing Wells and Youngs Bombardier as though it was the name of the Canadian aerospace company. And why not?
7 Jun 2015 16:39
In the Marina but I doubt the yacht fraternity go there, and at the other end of the Volks Railway; you can sit and have your beer and chips overlooking the water. The people at one table abandoned all their chips (ye who enter here) so I wonder if that said something about the quality of same. Two or three beers which went down all right.
31 May 2015 13:59
Intriguing pub that is more like a shop without a traditional bar as such - bringing back the old serving hatch style of service cf. the Doctors Orders in Nottingham which has a very similar layout. An ever changing range of beers and knowledgeable people working there. Not enough seats - I had to perch - but this is testimony to its growing popularity. Near enough to Hove station that it should get passing trade as well.
31 May 2015 13:56
Pub-cafe-bar kind of place that has resurrected the old station pub in its own way with some nice beer and the food looked very palatable. Airy decor and couches where they will leave you alone.
31 May 2015 13:54
An odd pub with the decor of a gastro pub but three pool tables dominate the pub and the clientele is rather not the gastro pub kind of clientele. I can imagine it was a supporters' pub in the days when Albion's ground was nearby, but no longer.
31 May 2015 13:52
Popular little pub even on an afternoon, very near the sea although it faces inland. A nice range of local beers and it also clearly has a lot of community spirit.
31 May 2015 13:50
Really this is practically a restaurant, although the bar area to the left as you go in is more of a pub. Food was good but this isn't a food reviewing website. Beer was good also. Gastro style inside, cream and pale green walls and light wood, that kind of thing.
31 May 2015 13:48
The Basketmakers Arms, Brighton
Busy Fullers pub in an area which has many pubs and as others have said this does slightly count against it, though it's not their fault. A decent range of Fullers and the former Gales beers (this used to be a Gales pub before Fullers took that brewery over).
31 May 2015 13:46
Reinvented tradition in a little corner pub now a bright colour so it is visible from space. Locally brewed beer and a convivial atmosphere.
31 May 2015 13:41
A cosy and of course very popular pub trading on its riverside location and that terrace, similar to those at the Prospect of Whitby or Hammersmith's Dove. Several good ales including one by Dark Star which I had some of. Nice staff and apparently good food too (not tried on this occasion).
28 May 2015 10:21
Community owned pub, a large place with several good-sized drinking rooms clustered around a central bar area. Trumans Brewery panelling is still intact which gives it a good atmosphere. There is a garden (not seen) and a piano near the garden entrance if anyone is bold enough. A small but interesting range of ales (rather than have too many or run of the mill ones on) and the food was good also. Recommended.
24 May 2015 16:38
A white room near the station. You can fall down the hill out of this pub and be in New Street in no time. Beer was good, why complain, at least central Birmingham isn't a joke place with joke prices.
11 May 2015 23:05
Could be better given that it is a huge pub with lots of light and lots of bar space and also right in the middle of Birmingham's Courts and legal area - I found it pleasant to go to the cafe across the street (where your barista is probably even so not a barrister) and then to this pub. My sole brush with the Law around here has been the result of an RTA so I am not the person to be rubbing wigs with the legal profession but I should think there are worse bars to be called to than this one and surely the phrase 'sober as a judge' doesn't apply to the whole profession all the time? Indeed not.
11 May 2015 22:57
The Kingston Mill, Kingston Upon Thames
Much improved, is no longer just a 'student bar' and has a variety of beers.
11 May 2015 08:26
Only time for a one-pint visit but the pub is atmospheric and the staff are friendly, also the beer was good. Sadly hardly any people in on a Friday evening - a sign of the times where in former years it would have been crowded.
4 May 2015 14:39
Pleasant gastro-y sort of pub which as they say on their website is not _too_ child-friendly - it is a pub after all. Beers including Little Haka, tried. Pub garden is nice as is the location near the riverside.
6 Apr 2015 17:37
Has music and quizzes, a bit far out of the centre of Worcester Park (a home town of prolific SF writer and shagger HG Wells, hence the name). Used to be called the Queen Victoria I think going by the name of the bus stop next to it. Beer was good.
25 Mar 2015 21:47
Interesting and friendly local pub up the hill from Cheam, a couple of good beers on. Glad to find it as I toiled up the hill.
25 Mar 2015 21:44
Liked it, very well kept beer, chips ok though they should really give you sauce with it and a napkin.
25 Mar 2015 21:42
Newish Wetherspoons, had a breakfast which was tasty, don't know about the beer unfortunately.
22 Mar 2015 12:40
Old Moseley Arms, Balsall Heath
A true classic. Old-school pub with a variety of ales, friendly atmosphere and good food (curries), it was also the original home of the Tindal Street Fiction Group. It is a bit hard to find or at least I found it so, although not very far from my flat so I was cursing myself for not having gone there sooner.
I have to give this pub a rarely-awarded 9 out of 10.
21 Mar 2015 18:48
Decent enough, choice of beers, food reasonable. A bit like a Wetherspoons really.
13 Mar 2015 19:47
Kings Head Bar and Grill, Worcester
More of a restaurant than a pub but doing three good ales on the time of visit.
16 Feb 2015 11:45
Inexpensive beer but good - Moorhouse White Witch in this case. A large, traditional pub in the centre, probably gets mostly an after-work crowd.
11 Feb 2015 22:07
Rose runs a good local pub here. I like the decor. Comfortable.
28 Jan 2015 22:50
The Gunmakers Arms, Birmingham
Underappreciated corner pub between the Gun Quarter of Birmingham and the main road. Two good beers on (at least). Cosy.
28 Jan 2015 22:49
The Victoria and Albert, Marylebone Station
Four ales on, GK St Edmunds was good enough for a quick pint before a train, especially as I couldn't see any pubs in the near vicinity of the station (no doubt there are some but you never know how far you might have to walk before you find one and the train co. won't hold the train).
7 Dec 2014 21:10
A large carvery place attached to a chain hotel. Food was palatable although the beer was not all that good - a bit stale I thought, perhaps having four ales on is too many outside the holidays / half terms etc. Mostly used by diners although you can get a drink separately in the bar area.
17 Nov 2014 21:18
An excellent and very atmospheric Skipton pub. A great range of beer, cosy and very much a traditional and locals' pub in the best way.
29 Oct 2014 06:50
Superb range of ales well kept, small and cosy pub with knowledgeable guvnors.
29 Oct 2014 06:48
The Black Country Arms, Walsall
Huge choice of beers, welcoming and truly pubby environment, worth a visit. Crowded on a Saturday afternoon as it should be.
31 Aug 2014 09:51
A very innovative beer shop (although mildly disconcerting for the newbie: a kindly local explained the ordering system to me as it is nothing like what you get normally). The range of beers changes all the time including over an evening. It is of course rammed. It is of course very popular.
25 Aug 2014 15:20
A range of ales from the Backyard Brewery at the moment, very pleasant. A down to earth pub -- like others of its nature, "it's a pub. It sells beer." Not many people in on a Bank Holiday Monday but it was raining.
25 Aug 2014 15:07
A pleasant pint of Ubu which on a day like this was your only man. Also an Irish breakfast - must include potato farl and white pudding and this did. Bar staff nice as well. Refreshing.
25 Aug 2014 15:04
Friendly local pub which sells Banks' bitter among other varying choices. It's the sort of pub that would be your local if you were (local, that is). There are whole towns that don't even have pubs like this any more.
9 Aug 2014 07:47
The Blythe Hill Tavern, Forest Hill
Lovely down-to-Earth Irish pub which serves a couple of good real ales. A draught of the warm South (London) indeed.
28 Jul 2014 06:35
Despite the silly name this is a good if non-traditional pub with several real ales, lovely staff and good food. The South (of London) will rise again, as they say. Going on current evidence it already has.
28 Jul 2014 06:31
Big locals' Irish pub, Irish flags, televisions showing GAA sport, copies of "Craic", that kind of thing. No real ale therefore though there was John Smith's, it's mostly Guinness and Carling.
It was ok.
29 Jun 2014 07:45
A good social club / pub sort of place with (at time of review) Fullers Two Halves on and also doing tasty food e.g. steak sandwich, all day breakfast, Sunday roast. Like the rooftop terrace. It's like being abroad on holiday only with decent beer.
22 Jun 2014 18:24
A nice little pub not too touristy and selling Wandle and other local beers although they really ought to turn around the pump clip if a beer isn't on. Also hard-enforced the no-under-18s rule re a young lad who was behaving himself and TBQH looked 18 to me. Still, a nice pub for all that.
21 Jun 2014 23:57
The Robert Peel, Kingston Upon Thames
The Bricklayers Arms is still going but that's not exactly on the estate.
30 May 2014 07:51
The Robert Peel, Kingston Upon Thames
Has now closed down. After many years of being a local pub, and then a leading prog rock venue, the last of the pubs around the Cambridge Road estates is no more. The new gentrified Kingston upon Thames doesn't have room for places like that, it seems.
30 May 2014 07:17
Comfortable pub near the station, two real ales at time of visit - GK IPA (unusual around here) and a cherry beer. Also does food.
29 May 2014 08:04
Really more of a music club than a pub, no real ale (uniquely around Moseley Village) and the Krusovice lager was GBP4.50 a pint (ouch).
Run by the same people as the excellent Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath but not at the same level in my view. No real ale situation is because they don't have room for barrels down below.
12 May 2014 07:14
This used to be a very good pub which served as a brewery tap for Two Towers. However when I dared stick my nose in there more recently there was a hostile atmosphere, a huge dog on the floor by the bar (I love dogs but not in this context) and no real ale.
How are the mighty fallen, as one of our teachers used to say when some otherwise promising kid fell foul of one of the many and probably unwritten laws at the school - it was like a cross between "Another Brick in the Wall" (more correctly "Best Days of our Lives," I know) and "Piranha Brothers."
"Private Eye" mode: I made my excuses and left.
5 May 2014 08:49
This pub is not closed, I don't know who supplied that information.
4 May 2014 22:17
I'd often passed this pub and never gone in as I had it down as just one of the many small Irish pubs dotted around Digbeth. However a word about the beer I was drinking in another pub way up in Aston sent me hotfoot to this tiny hostelry no distance at all from the industrial units of inner South Birmingham and the flats of Highgate. A friendly welcome ensued. And they brew their own beer! In a brewery on the roof! I am amazed that so many little pubs do persist in this area, although as many have closed down or been demolished. I hope they continue to do so for a long time and that the very palatable ale I drank here will continue to flow.
4 May 2014 22:01
Excellent pub as renowned for its regular beer festivals and range of ales as its OTT gothic architecture and sumptuous tiling in a largely unruined interior. Did not stay long as I was heading for another pub in Digbeth where the half pint I had in the Bartons Arms was made.
4 May 2014 21:56
Large and warren-like pub serving a couple of real ales and doing food during the week and Sunday roasts. Very quiet of a Sunday evening so much so that they closed early because there was (almost) nobody in there. Must be nice when it's busier though.
2 May 2014 08:28
Good traditional pub in a Birmingham backstreet but not too far from the centre or from Broad Street. A wide range of beers and also cider. Doesn't do food - it's a traditional pub after all - but does allow and even encourage the punter to bring their own.
Well preserved tiling and interior as well.
27 Mar 2014 22:41
This pub is very close to the Doctors Orders which is a real ale mecca in the form of a beer cafe in a former chemists shop (hence the name).
10 Nov 2013 20:19
Was ok, cheerful barstaff, quite popular pub with rugby on tv screens but did food anyway. Beer might not have been the best choice but I didn't have time for a second one.
10 Nov 2013 20:17
Advertises cask ales but did not have any on. Everyone seems to be Polish in there.
10 Nov 2013 20:15
Very good revitalised pub which serves several Everards ales (do you remember the Radnor Arms? Too long ago and too far away). Its splendid guvnors are friendly and knowledgeable. Its chips are chunky and fresh. It'll sell you porter in the Jewellery Quarter and it is really rather spesh.
21 Oct 2013 20:54
Excellent Irish pub with a range of ales and a mild (only one cider).
Will return. Yes I will yes.
19 Oct 2013 10:56
Since its refurbishment this has picked up nicely as a local pub - beer was Shere Drop, TEA and Cornish Coaster (plus others, I forget) and it is also something of a destination restaurant - it was certainly full on a Thursday lunchtime which is unheard of in many places. Staff nice also.
19 Sep 2013 22:15
As good as ever last weekend. Does cake and coffee as well as beer, which can be a plus for some. the beer, which is supplied by the Twickenham Fine Ales brewery, is also very palatable.
There are very few decent places to get a drink in Kingston these days. They're mostly corporate bars or dwindling backstreet boozers. I said 'mostly', not all, but it is true. Woody's bucks the trend and does it very cheerfully. Smiling really does make the day go quicker.
If you look on HeteronormativeTraveller i.e. TripeAdvisor you will find a whole host of people complaining that this place isn't child-friendly. Well (i) it is, in as much as a pub should be child-friendly, given that there really isn't room for the Maus Panzer-sized baby buggies that Kingston parents go in for; and (ii) in the words of the great Michael Pearson, THIS IS A PUB NOT A CRECHE.
6 Sep 2013 09:46
The Red Lion, Hockley,jewellry quarter
I have a new favourite Birmingham pub. Four ales on and a series of cosy little spaces that reminded me of nothing so much as my old house (although that didn't have a bar nor pleasant barstaff such as are here).
Some pork was being roasted out the back and I had some which was v. pleasant.
25 Aug 2013 18:56
Nice country pub which did pub food (which includes a very hot balti, nice).
21 Aug 2013 23:44
Crowded canalside bar with the usual chain-pub (lack of) character and too many beers on -- for which you will pay, e.g. for Sierra Nevada GBP5.10 a pint. How. Fucking. Much??? This is Birmingham, get over yourselves.
13 Jul 2013 13:13
Pleasant enough bar which does do beer on pump (Oakleaf Hole Hearted at present). Good music as well. Decor is faintly 80s but that is what you might expect in that part of town. We had a good time.
22 Jun 2013 16:12
Not so bad since its refit -- still no real ale so make do with Boddingtons on keg. Dj and Karaoke which was entertaining - one or two quite good singers really.
3 Jun 2013 19:58
It's a reasonably good pub really, more of a pub than the 'bars' around here (there is also the huge 'spoons down the road for it to compete with). Did have proper beer also.
6 May 2013 13:51
A historic pub apparently, near New Street which in common with much of Birmingham's centre is undergoing an upgrade. Has never had real ale when I have been there which admittedly is limited to two visits, both on karaoke nights. Pub seems friendly enough and in many ways more like a street-corner local than a city centre pub.
Items on the walls inexplicably include a rainbow-coloured picture of David Mach's sculpture "Out of Order" which is to be found 120 miles away in Kingston. This next to a notice about a regular who sadly passed away recently, which suggests that this is a pub which has regulars and where people care about them. Beer was Mitchell and Butler's Brew XI which used to be the beer of custom around Brum before all the pubs, it seems, went over to Mad Goose. They can't all have done. This one hasn't.
1 May 2013 16:27
I agree re the positioning of the ale pumps and also the prices of everything in here. It's a shame because it has a good location (make sure you don't walk into the canal while texting, honestly...) and a good choice of beers.
12 Feb 2013 19:08
The Wellington Hotel, Birmingham
Reasonable pub, Birmingham's 'other' Wellington is opposite a music venue so serves as a pre-gig pub for it but does lagers and one real ale (at time of visit) and is quite relaxed and has a decent atmosphere at other times.
6 Feb 2013 21:02
Busy enough pub with a mix of people, only drawback for me is no beer on pump, had Star which was ok as a fallback. I don't give more than 6 for pubs with no cask beer unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. specialising in foreign bottled beers) but there aren't really here.
3 Feb 2013 17:12
A surprisingly good oldfashioned corner pub near the coach station and opposite a bike shop.A range of real ales but not so many that they go off. Definitely worth a visit especially as it is not that far from the City Centre.
7 Jan 2013 19:43
Pleasant little Fullers pub which has much of the atmosphere of a country pub, two bars (of which one is the smallest in Britain) and at the time of visit a good range of beers including Black Cab stout and Seafarer (a good new choice between Pride and the often cloying ESB). Food was not tried as it looked expensive and we were on a budget.
Years ago I used to climb the stairs to the little 'upper terrace' and sit there of an evening. I hope you still can.
I do have some sympathy with the people who have said this is now aimed only at diners; tables did seem to be laid out for dinner (this was a Friday at 7pm i.e. dinnertime), but we did not have a problem just having beer.
Re whether this is the oldest pub in the area: it is likely the oldest building in use as a pub, but a relative newcomer pub-wise as it didn't open as such until the late 18th century.
31 Dec 2012 13:13
Oh god, does that Mariachi band stil trot up and down outside? I remember it from years ago. But I agree that despite the refurbishment which lost the Blue Anchor its boats on the ceiling and moved the unusual pewter-topped bar to a new position at the back of the pub instead of the side, this is still a good pub with a great location. There were several beers on including their own Blue Anchor Ale (which isn't brewed nearby as it happens).
Also the upstairs room, which years ago wasn't generally open to the public, is now, and is a fine place to sit, whether Gustav Holst, while music master of the nearby St Paul's Girls School, really composed his "Hammersmith Suite" here or not.
31 Dec 2012 13:02
I don't think this has real ale any more which is a shame as it is a nonthreatening gay pub in south Birmingham frequeneted by a variety of people.
22 Dec 2012 02:45
Down to earth and cosy pub nestled by the canal, one of very few places in Birmingham I've found which sell the beers you get in London (Fullers Pride, W&Y Bombardier - there is also TT Landlord). Cheap too, £2.80 a pint. A good place.
28 Nov 2012 20:24
Reasonably good 'spoons which I had avoided previously given its apparent reputation of an evening, but it was ok to go with family for lunch on a Saturday. Although the upper floor is not very accessible for an infirm person and the downstairs was full. Food was good and came very quickly (suspiciously so?). Beer was some pleasant dark beer.
20 Oct 2012 20:43
Fairly standard Wetherspoons on the edge of Chinatown hence the name and a Chinese touch or two to the decor though nothing OTT.
Gets an extra point from me for being open at 8.30 on a Saturday morning for breakfast.
13 Oct 2012 12:48
The Actress and Bishop, Birmingham
The leather-jacketed and jeans-wearing counterpart of the posh pubs nearby, I liked this pub for its DJ's music selection, its cheerful atmosphere, its encouragement to people to get up and dance. I liked it less for having three handpumps but no ale on at all - come on guys, it was a Friday night. I know we used to drink my old local dry but that was in a backstreet and this is in the smart destination area of St Paul's.
13 Oct 2012 12:44
Rather too smart given where it is although this is a destination pub kind of thing where people pay by card and rounds take a long time because there are so many different kinds of drink to be bought. Bar snacks include chunky chips which were good. The only ale is Mad Goose wihich is �3.75 a pint. How much? Where is this, central London? No, it's Birmingham, and Birmingham doesn't do posh, or it shouldn't. Not a bad pub though.
13 Oct 2012 12:38
Jewel Of The Severn, Bridgnorth
Reasonable 'spoons in the pleasant centre of Bridgnorth. Very well situated for somewhere to come during shopping. There do seem to be a lot of pubs in this town though so if you were there for the pubs this is just one of many. Still, above average for a Wetherspoons probably because of its situation. You get barflies in any 'spoons, it is a sad fact of life and not one that should stop you from going in.
8 Oct 2012 07:24
The Catford Bridge Tavern, Catford
This is now a very good pub with a range of sometimes obscure ales. The food was also good even if the menu looks a little complicated. We went into the back room. There was a quiz. We did not win the quiz. We did not lose the quiz either. I believe it takes cojones to open a good pub in a rundown area like this. I do not know, said Santiago, but if there were going to be cojones on the menu anywhere they would be here. I understand what you say, said Nick, but if they were cojones they would be criadillas, for this is the word for the testicles of a bull. I stand by the word I originally used, said Santiago.
12 Sep 2012 22:53
Nice old building that in a way feels slightly institutional, within which there is a Chef and Brewer pub which means you are going to get two or three ales (including Two Towers brewery which is local to this area) and it is going to be safe enough. Which sometimes as for the current social meetup is what you want.
5 Sep 2012 22:59
The Victoria Inn, Balsall Heath
Definitely closed. Looks like it's being converted into housing.
27 Aug 2012 16:47
Good enough, three ales on tap, cocktails - though a few old faves are missing in favour of some that are more recent or obscure. Food sounded ok though we didn't have any. Outside space is decent. Near several interesting parts of central Birmingham.
2 Aug 2012 23:39
Good range of beers in this locals' pub by the church. Seaford is admittedly not a very noisy place - they leave that for Brighton - but it serves.
25 Jul 2012 22:10
Pleasant pub which is the only one (or one of very few) on this road between Lewes and Newhaven.
25 Jul 2012 22:07
Food was ok even for a large table of us including visitors from North America and Canada who didn't complain. However there were hardly any bar staff on (on a Sunday lunchtime) and as a result it took a very long time to get served. There was also the curious incident of the strong smell of weed coming from outside - was someone smoking by the wall?
4 Jul 2012 15:19
Quite a pleasant pub with a varied mix of people in there especially during the week. Pub quiz on Wednesday (they had to move the other one to Sunday from Monday) is popular. Three cask ales. It is an Ember Inn which means it is essentially similar to the Selly Park Tavern at the other extremity of Selly Park (i.e. on the other side of the Pershore Road), but this is not a bad thing considering the alternatives q.v. shuddersome pubs such as the Dogpoo(l).
11 Jun 2012 08:27
Not as bad as I thought it was going to be, certainly not a Walkabout clone full of wanken drunkers. Even has cask ale which was palatable (I had Purity Ubu).Also has a huge area outside and pub quizzes on a Sunday.
11 Jun 2012 08:23
Three fairly standard real ales (Adnams, London Pride, Spitfire) but very expensive, close to �4 a pint. Went in there because the Bree Louise was full and this was a bit more tucked away round the back. OK but it does have the enviable position of being very close to Drummond Street with its excellent Asian and African food.
9 Jun 2012 00:25
Pleasant pub with plenty of real ales and a canal nearby. Guvnor is knowledgeable and the pub is rightly popular with canal-boating people.
5 Jun 2012 22:25
Food for buffet was pretty dire and there is only one real ale on (Pride) which actually was quite good. As everyone and his husband has said this is a superb location but pissed up the wall by the way the pub actually is.
31 May 2012 22:33
Large multi-bar pub with interesting 1930s ish decor in some rooms and an area out the back. Also specialises in cider from the barrel which had an effect far beyond its - in this case - 6.5%.
25 May 2012 23:28
The Canalside Cafe, Birmingham
Small canalside place which is a pub despite the name, in a good situation especially as the Tap and Spile seems to be shut. Narrow interior which is actually more caf�-like and not a lot of a view of the canal. Several beers on including Black Cat and a dark Wells and Youngs one.
20 May 2012 17:09
The Crescent Champagne Bar, West Kensington
Now closed down for good and will not be reopened as a bar or pub - is going to be a supermarket.
17 May 2012 22:21
Multi real ale pub with a wide range of clientele as well as beers. On every Brum centre crawl as a well deservedly renowned central Birmingham pub.
28 Apr 2012 22:06
Large Wetherspoons with a reasonable range of real ales, luckily not too far from the Wellington and also practically next door to another pub. Had steak and kidney pie that was manageable.
28 Apr 2012 22:05
Bath Ales beer on pump at the moment, a comfortable pub. One of two real ale-selling pubs practically next to each other on what seems to have been the Market Place (signage opposite indicates that), which may explain the proximity of the Selly Oak (SOAK) and Goose at the OVT a.k.a. Old Varsity Tavern.
26 Apr 2012 11:07
The Goose At The OVT, Selly Oak
Has a Spring Ale festival at the moment until 5 May. Otherwise for those going in during the morning, coffee and a bacon butty for �1.79. Formerly the Old Varsity Tavern, tiling outside says Holt's Bournbrook.
26 Apr 2012 11:05
and I agree about the people standing in the doorway smoking. There is even a sign asking people not to. Why they do I do not know.
1 Apr 2012 21:22
OK but not brilliant - Wetherspoons vary and I don't have such a down on the 'Spread Eagle' as others seem to.
However I had breakfast here on Saturday morning and it was quite passable. I did not have any beer, though some were and I'm sure they weren't all night shift workers coming off shift or market porters finishing for the day. But why is it my business anyhow?
1 Apr 2012 21:21
Ornate Fuller's pub on a quiet corner near Paddington station. One smallish bar downstairs and two rooms upstairs. Beer is a good Fuller's range - we had Bengal Lancer which is a nice IPA situated between London Pride and the often oily ESB so should find its niche quite well. Food - I had bangers and mash which was ok but the sausages weren't very meaty, the only criticism. The atmosphere of the pub is pleasant and not too crowded although busy on a Saturday evening. The staff are nice. I must have been into most of the good pubs in central London but it is always a pleasant surprise to find one I haven't. This pub is deservedly in the Good Beer Guide.
12 Feb 2012 11:16
Seems quite a nice pub really although yes, another chain. Ale range was limited to just one (Marstons? I do not remember). Has a pub quiz on Thursday nights.
19 Jan 2012 22:49
The Barnt Green Inn, Barnt Green
Food-oriented but for all that the food was variable in quality. Lasagne was cold and had to be reheated; other dishes were very good particularly the side dish of curried vegetables. Beer, Purity Pure Ubu was in very good condition.
10 Dec 2011 23:43
The Old Joint Stock, Birmingham
Large pub with a range of local ales (gets a 'LocAle' pump clip!). I would like to go back when it isn't so busy.
5 Dec 2011 08:17
A small but cosy and beer-loving pub near Euston. Had a beer festival on the other day which was the dogs'. As it were.
Apparently the pub is also well known for its pies (not tried, but do).
10 Nov 2011 22:47
The Victoria Inn, Balsall Heath
Is this still going? It was dark and closed when I passed at 8 on a Friday evening.
4 Nov 2011 22:13
Reasonable for an O'Neills, one of quite a few pubs in central Moseley really. How do they all keep going? Not sure, but it seems to work.
4 Nov 2011 22:11
Fairly stark - in a fashionable, cream-walled sort of way - local pub not far from the centre of Moseley. The near-ubiquitous Pure Ubu on pump which was nice.
4 Nov 2011 22:09
Remarkably small for a Wetherspoons and only boasting three or four real ales, but for a non-'spoons pub that would be normal. �1.75 for a pint of real ale at the moment which is good value as well.
4 Nov 2011 22:07
Reasonable down to earth locals' pub with one real ale, staff ok, usual mix of locals, dog was allowed in provided it behaved itself (although they often won't in a strange place). The pub has a Moseley postcode but the address is given - accurately - as Moor Green, which is a very small (and mostly parkland) area between Moseley, Kings Heath, and Selly Park
24 Oct 2011 16:42
Nice enough local pub, two real ales, the beer garden seems some distance away, but it's in a nice spot between Kings Heath and Moseley and has a comfortable atmosphere.
21 Oct 2011 22:36
Ye Olde Chequers Inn, Tonbridge
Nice enough pub and better than anything between in and the station if you ask me. Friendly staff and decent beer.
21 Oct 2011 22:33
Large and clean Wetherspoons in a leafy area of Coventry directly opposite a Methodist church and who knows how well that would go down?
Several ales on pump as well as a couple of ciderse.
21 Sep 2011 23:44
The Pottery, Kingston-Upon-Thames
You're right it really is a restaurant. You don't expect when you go into a -pub- to be asked,
"Have you booked?"
No, I haven't, it's a public house not a restaurant.
From the p.o.v. of someone who values the pub fabric of a town - which should after all be for all its inhabitants, not just the well-heeled surrey moms and their cohorts - the removal of pubs such as the admittedly vile Royal Borough Arms is a kind of cultural cleansing (cf. ethnic cleansing) - "we don't want those kind of nasty people around here, they'll lower the value of our property and frighten the au pair."
19 Sep 2011 15:21
Goose At The Fighting Cocks, Moseley
Nice enough but crowded and it's more expensive than the Prince of Wales up the road - �3.35 for a pint of Pure Ubu vis-�-vis �3.10. It also has doormen though they hardly seem necessary as it closes every night at 11 - even the quiet Village (a traditional pub, not a bar as many are) can manage to hold its own past that hour on a Friday.
17 Sep 2011 23:51
The Selly Park Tavern, Selly Oak
Reasonable (if very busy on a Sunday, so they must be doing something right) - range of beers including of course some from M&B (who own Ember Inns) - food is usual Ember Inns level although Sunday roast untried. Certainly better than the pub down the road (although it would have to be).
11 Sep 2011 15:05
More traditional pub than the others in the centre of Moseley, quiet by comparison with all the noise and youthful vigour (or something) in that area. Beer reasonably priced as well.
10 Sep 2011 13:15
Allegedly trendy local bar with a higher f-to-m ratio than in many places nearby (we got talking to two Central European girls who were nice). Having negotiated our way past the doormen, thought the woman standing near the door was actually a working girl on the lookout for clients but she turned out not to be (not that we made the mistake of asking her or anything) - it's just that kind of place.
10 Sep 2011 13:13
Refused entry on a Friday night because I was wearing (clean) trainers. Get a clue, people - this is Moseley not the West End. Or maybe it was just the doorman referred to earlier, I don't know.
10 Sep 2011 12:01
Social centre and real ale pub as well as meeting point for young and old this pub is as others have said one of the best if not the best in Moseley.
10 Sep 2011 00:56
Quite good considering it is a chain pub - Skipton Copper Dragon and Purity Pure Ubu on, the pub attracts all ages and staff are good. There is a head on your beer, you are in the Midlands now.
1 Sep 2011 21:17
The Wheatsheaf on the Green, Esher
Countryfied multi room pub selling Doom Bar, Youngs Bitter and London Pride; has a good food menu.
8 Aug 2011 18:12
Surprisingly good considering it is Greene King and looks like a suburban roadhouse pub (well it is really). Several beers on and the atmosphere was ok.
8 Aug 2011 11:38
This is a pleasant local pub though by no means a 'locals pub for local people'. There was a range of beers incl Surrey Hills Greensand, Jennings Cocky Blonde, Dark Star Hophead, and Triple fff Moondance. Local CAMRA's co-Pub of the Year as a previous poster said.
22 Jul 2011 08:25
I must say I don't recognise the pub from the bad reviews posted heretofore. I accept that the Cricketers - which is by a pond and a cricket green - had a bad rep before, however the new manager - who is from Inverness - has sorted the place out and put on a range of beers of which we were invited to try the Marstons Pedigree which was newly on and in good condition. The pub has a large outside area with jumbrellas which are like large umbrellas with heaters built in.
22 Jul 2011 08:20
Oh it's the art school mob that drinks in there is it? I thought it had to be someone like that, all very chiselled they were. Only one real ale (London Pride) but when you consider the range of lagers and certainly not the bog standard cooking lagers either, request for which would be met with a raised eyebrow a la Gromit, this is perh not surprising.
22 Jul 2011 08:17
Not sure about the spit, but sawdust there does seem to be at least in the feel of the place. No doubt it is a locals' pub for local people as the saying goes. Beer (that's to say ale) was restr. to Doom Bar. To add to the growing surreality of the occasion, on entering we were regaled with - over some unseen jukebox - the strains the 'Pie Jesu' from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem", so you could say in a way we were Pied. I prefer to follow the lyrics of Roger Waters' "It's a miracle" in which he proffers the following tidbit:
Lloyd-Webber's awful stuff
Runs for years and years and years
An earthquake hits the theatre
But the operetta lingers
Then the piano lid comes down
And breaks his f***ing fingers
It's a miracle
22 Jul 2011 08:11
This is a large 'Spoons which could be quirky and indeed probably is some times. w/r/t beer it only had on three standard ales (apart from lagers of which I know not) but that was because they are currently running a cider festival, which is unusual though I wonder how many of the usual 'Spoons clientele are going to go for cider.
22 Jul 2011 08:04
The Swan Inn and Lodge, Claygate
Large if fairly bland pub that does Doom Bar and Black Sheep, passable, at the moment.
18 Jul 2011 17:44
Reasonable Fullers pub, understandably bustling on a summer afternoon. Usual Fullers beers plus Seafarers Ale. There was much to ing and fro ing with food. Outside area is pleasant even if it is by the road between the pub and the park.
16 Jul 2011 07:47
The Bricklayers Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Down to earth and friendly locals' pub offering only GK IPA rather than try to have several bitters which will go off because they won't sell fast enough (a certain other local pub please take note).
14 Jul 2011 22:29
Slightly surreal place with all the coming and going up and down stairs and shouting of people getting into and out of boats. Doom Bar, Twick. Naked Ladies, Sambrooks Wandle. �3.60 a pint for the Sambrooks Wandle which is lot of money.
It was not difficult for me to get a glass glass and sit outside, no plastic was required (exc that a lot of people pay with plastic; bar staff now seem to have got the trick, or the good ones have, of approaching the next customer for their order while the plastic fantastic is going through on the previous one).
2 Jul 2011 19:10
I liked this pub. By the road through Marble Hill, it is a Young's establishment by the look of it but pleasingly also offers a Sambrooks Junction. The staff were busy but friendly.
2 Jul 2011 19:06
A gastro-y sort of place with a long counter to the front. Twickenham Hornet and Doom Bar and Pride.
A couple came in after me and asked for peanuts.
Said the barmaid,
"We don't do peanuts. We have smoked almonds, wasabi peas ..."
Hilarity ensued.
It also has a large car park and a shortage of places to tie up the bike.
2 Jul 2011 19:02
Good local pub, friendly and down to earth, a real street corner kind of place. Twickenham ale was on tap.
2 Jul 2011 19:00
The Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath
Music pub that has kept much of its traditional tiled decor and serves equally well as an everyday pub. On visit there was Purity Mad Goose and Purity Pure Ubu. As previously stated however there is a wide mix of people in here from diehard music fans to locals.
27 Jun 2011 17:41
The Hog in the Pound, Bond Street
Closing down to become shops on 2 July. Karaoke on 17 June and for one final time on 1 July.
14 Jun 2011 19:13
A smallish Shepherd Neame pub with an extensive food menu as well as four Shep beers including a seasonal. Pleasant staff as others have said also.
28 May 2011 09:27
Has that classic combination of traditional decor (although recently updated and refreshed, who says it has to be fusty? Not me) and a nice range of beers including at the moment a pleasant dark mild. Capacious also which means there is plenty of room even for your pub-crawling (ahem, touring) groups.
28 May 2011 09:25
The Duke of Buckingham, Kingston Upon Thames
It now has real ale and is still a down to earth locals' pub.
27 May 2011 18:24
The Honest Cabbage, Kingston Upon Thames
Due to reopen Thursday 14 April with a Belgian air to it - waffles, Belgian beer etc.
11 Apr 2011 08:45
Small bar selling three real ales including two of Tottenham's Redemption Brewery at the moment. You take your drink and sit in the courtyard which is one of several within this converted Gothic school, a building whose atmosphere I found unnerving - partly because I have been aware of this edifice for decades yet until now never got closer than seeing it from the train - so I was not able to stay very long.
7 Apr 2011 15:36
Two-bar pub whose decor is probably fairly unchanged and which sells London Pride. Does Thai food as well. Back bar had a little problem with unruly behaviour but one individual was asked to leave (and did so), which suggests that the barstaff do have some control.
13 Feb 2011 20:45
Large pub with music upstairs - glam nights some Saturdays! to get your fix of The Sweet, etc, which attracts a varied fanbase. Clearly very crowded downstairs - you kind of develop crowd navigation skills. At least people are polite if you are.
Beer is various foreign beers but also some Sambrook's ales in cask, which was pleasant and �3.50 a pint - yes I know, but that's London prices and considering the place doubles as a club, not too bad at all. Apparently the massproduced cider available upstairs is a lot more than that.
6 Feb 2011 11:35
Some proper beer as well, full of people, recession? what recession?
31 Jan 2011 17:56
The Florence Tavern, Islington
At least this one has decent beer. Seemed a friendlier place than the others around there as well.
31 Jan 2011 17:55
Traditional locals' pub in the northern parts of Chiswick (i.e. north of the High Road). Has London Pride - well, didn't when I was in there but they'd probably run out. Pool table, TV, etc. Not a very London kind of pub any more but only because this kind of pub is becoming rarer and rarer.
27 Dec 2010 10:25
Really quite ok, one real ale on (London Pride), plenty of people about. Walked past it on the way to the Mariners but found the Mariners had shut down so came here instead. Not horribly cheap (�3.20 for Pride if I remember correctly) but not expensive either and pleasantly down to earth.
14 Dec 2010 09:24
The Pottery, Kingston-Upon-Thames
Used to be the diabolical Royal Borough Arms but now is a very smart little pub although the 'pub' aspect of it is not overstated - just one ale on (Bombardier) when the Canbury Arms, which is in some ways similar, can manage three or four including local brews? Not everybody wants to drink wine you know.
Still, having passed it many a time and now finally gone in, I'm pleased I did.
8 Dec 2010 08:30
Great location, quirky and comfortable decor (reminds me of a now-lost pub near my house!), nice staff, Twickenham ales.
6 Nov 2010 09:29
A barrel of Pure Ubu on the counter at the mo as well as Purity Mad Goose and an Adnams ale on tap. Modern decor and a friendly place attracting a wide range of people.
17 Oct 2010 10:24
Now 'Oak 98 Suburban bar and kitchen' to go with 'Acorn 20 Urban bar and kitchen' I suppose. At least the Oak is its original name. Doesn't look too bad actually.
19 Sep 2010 18:31
That name is just showing off but I did like this pub. A range of ales and knowledgeable staff, a nice place if a bit of a restaurant. Didn't have a very long visit (even if it was, technically, a first date...) but I liked the place a lot.
15 Sep 2010 18:03
The Teddington Arms, Teddington
Three or four local or regional beers on, but the place is not very 'pubby'; moreover the two main spaces are design-wise nothing like each other. Who had the idea of black walls with stars and silvery animal heads on them? And a gold foil ceiling? At least it won't need repainting. But the back room is good for music, now hosting the Sunday Service to get people, well, serviced with music ready for Monday morning. Which was just what was needed.
5 Sep 2010 23:10
The Merrymoor Inn, Mawgan Porth
It's ok, certainly all right for an evening drive out and a meal with some Dartmoor Cornish Legend - but as a pub person I know that sounds like a driving of the nails into whatever pubbishness remains of this place. I don't object to diners but Kernow is now such a place of tourists that it is hard to discern the old pub drivers in such a place as Porth. The misses was driving. Which says a lot, but then with a small population of locals and a large population of grockles, what else to do?
21 Aug 2010 22:27
Pleasant local pub dropped into on a walk from Amersham - beer seemed ok. Pub garden is fine.
1 Aug 2010 19:58
Still good, two ales, the outside has been extended to a proper seating area with barbeque. Worth a visit.
30 Jul 2010 18:49
Well I have been there, a shame in a way it's closed down. It was pretty dreadful though but did have nice tiling.
21 Jul 2010 22:38
Pleasant smart pub near Battersea Park, has two real ales including Sambrook's Wandle (v.g.). Similar to the Westbridge nearby but not the same place. Can't say I noticed the service (which by and large means the service is ok) but we weren't eating, just having some beer from the brewery which is very nearby. Garden out the back pleasant if almost too hot on a warm summer's day like today.
11 Jul 2010 18:37
@w4drinker: today I asked for the Meantime IPA but was told it might be the end of the barrel, it was proferred but I declined and had the Adnams instead. A professional approach by those in charge.
It is a bit of a restaurant certainly but that for some reason seems to be the surest way to get a range of ales these days (with some exceptions).
Pork pie and chips, well, yes.
1 Jul 2010 20:18
The Railway Inn, Billingshurst
Nice relaxed atmosphere and a few ales on tap in this pub which is, yes, right by the railway station at Billingshurst. Better than the vast majority of 'station' pubs though.
26 Jun 2010 22:13
Pleasant pub with three ales on and a good sounding but expensive-ish food menu - it does seem to have gone the gastropub kind of route. Garden is small but pleasant. Not in an obvious place, round the back in the part of Chiswick towards Acton, but nice.
16 Jun 2010 21:11
It's ok, not over busy - one person on duty not really enough though. No real ale and not sure there was any beer at all although there seems to be from other reviews. Cider choice is v. limited
Go and eat pizza and watch people go by. Music (piped) was Frank S. - lounge bar style?
10 Jun 2010 10:20
Good Youngs pub with the usual range plus one or two others - St Austell Tribute (v.g.) and Hooky. Music in the front - which is a nice change as the Surbiton Flyer seems to have gone upmarket now. Bar staff nice as well.
30 May 2010 11:27
Basic Irish-run pub with no real ale, pub grub, surprisingly full on a wet Sunday afternoon, so must be doing something right.
16 May 2010 20:44
Upmarket pub/bar with very clean and minimal decor, replaces the old Pacific Bar but was once a pub called The Queen of England. Room upstairs used for various classes and functions. An example of the area going upmarket but for all that this is not far from Shepherds Bush which really, isn't.
7 May 2010 21:16
Not chavvy. A quirky local pub with three ales on including one from Twickenham Fine Ales, just on the edge of Bushy Park. Has bands on from time to time and is well liked locally.
7 May 2010 21:01
Good music pub near enough the centre of Camden. Gets full though, the upstairs isn't very big either.
25 Apr 2010 00:23
Pleasant country pub on the Moors in a former country house, has been a pub since 1788 - Black Sheep, Timothy Taylor and Theakstons XB are the ales. A nice place to stop off.
7 Apr 2010 07:45
A reasonable and airy pub with two ales on tap (Tribute and Broadside), even if they are on the dear side of usual prices. Given the previous review I am looking forward to going back there to try the food menu. A pleasant place to be.
7 Apr 2010 07:35
Music downstairs is good but the place has been stripped out and gone upmarket since the good old days of New Routes Acoustic and the times when Dylan played here. And the beer (and presumably all other drinks) are very expensive - something like �4.65 for a pint of lager. The pub next door must be coining it as a place to go for the drinks instead - and even it isn't that cheap.
7 Apr 2010 07:25
Not all that quite honestly. No real ale on visit which considering how many Whitby pubs do do it is really not on.
6 Apr 2010 03:57
Looks like a bit of a scary local's pub from the outside and there were certainly a few 'characters' in there around the pool table, but go to the left and find the food area and all is much improved. Good nosh for a reasonable price - nothing fancy but it does the job. Service ok - the waiter did ask me if everything was all right several times! Beer was London Pride (good) or another one which I think was Adnams but this wasn't on.
3 Apr 2010 09:08
Not closed at all. A good little venue for small bands like the one tonight - cosy around the bar. Fullers London Pride, a bit stale, but never mind. Here we are now, entertain us. Very near to the New Prince but there is room for two pubs along this pleasant road between Surbiton and Kingston.
28 Mar 2010 00:34
Well, it will get a redecoration when it's turned into a hotel. I hope it keeps being a pub (unlike for example the former George and Dragon in Kingston which is now just a hotel).
22 Mar 2010 21:03
Prince of Wales, Hampton Court
OK in a modern cool kind of way. Not really very publike but no objections. In Hampton Court's 'street of a hundred pubs', well actually there are two or three but it has the busy feel of somewhere with much more throughput. It's the evening economy, is what it is.
20 Mar 2010 08:45
The Bull and Bush, Kingston Upon Thames
Closed down mid 2009. Of the four pubs that were previously in or around the Cambridge Road estates - the Cambridge Arms, the Duke, this and the Peel - only the Peel remains.
19 Mar 2010 11:21
Seemed a good place to me. Greene King, yes, but three ales on. Sunday roasts - and although they only start doing the roasts at 1, the chef was willing to start early when a group of 20 of us arrived (by bike) at 1230 or so. A nice pub decor also. I was very well surprised by this considering it is practically next door to Heathrow. Hoping this isn't one of the places that would be bulldozed if the ill-advised Terminal 6 and Third Runway are built.
14 Mar 2010 17:22
Sharps Doom Bar, Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Youngs Ordinary, in good condition. Pub is a bit of a restaurant in parts but no problem. Live music ("Genie in the Jukebox" + guest) last night was good.
13 Mar 2010 09:02
The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
Looks nice enough; but one real ale - and that's Greene King IPA - plus a generally dead atmosphere. Even with the Cricketers currently dead and the Honest Cabbage apparently flickering on the edge of extinction there are better pubs around the Fairfield area.
10 Mar 2010 17:41
Plans for redeveloping this site include flats but also a pub on the ground floor. May even be better than the one it replaces - wouldn't be hard.
10 Mar 2010 17:33
The Waggon and Horses, Surbiton
Good Youngs pub on the borders of Surbiton / Kingston, refurbed a couple of years ago now the only pub in the very near area after the closure of the Railway further up the hill. All the Youngs favourites plus St Austell Tribute, and Youngs London Gold as a spring seasonal beer (though given the weather lately we'd have been happy with Winter Warmer!). A dining area to the right as you go in, and a separate Green Room with a roaring fire to the left. Like the Spring Grove and unlike the Albert in Norbiton, it retains the pubbiness that some Youngs houses are rapidly losing.
10 Mar 2010 17:24
Didn't understand mfawkner's comment until I saw the place but yes, I did think 'there's some kind of community centre but it may have been a pub before'. No, it is still the Windmill. A good lineup last night, a shame the beer (Pedigree) wasn't that great - a bit musty. Still, you could always drink something else and the place is really about the music.
9 Mar 2010 08:12
Reasonable Young's corner pub, food was palatable and it wasn't too crowded, but then it was a Monday night. Beer was Young's Ordinary (or Special) which was ok.
9 Mar 2010 08:09
The Norbiton and Dragon, Norbiton
Thai food and two ales on including Old Speckled Hen. It was a Thursday, I was so very wet outside that I needed to get wet inside as well, and sat warming my bones beside the fire. It was the answer to my question of 'where can I find a pub that does food nearby?' Not very traditional however as people have said, but still better and more so than other places in town that have been stripped back. Now I am a minimalist by nature and would like to live with a minimum of furnishings and clutter, but pubs for some reason go the other way in my mind and should be places of event and cosiness.
26 Feb 2010 21:01
The Cocoanut, Kingston Upon Thames
Now has the Thai food from the Cricketers. Oh, and quality barstaff from another pub in the area. Only Pride on though, surely a pub as popular as this was last night could run to another ale? If they get HSB back I shall be pleased. At least Fullers having taken over Gale's they have that option, rather than just Pride / ESB (which may be giving way to HSB) and the occasional seasonal.
21 Feb 2010 20:02
The Park Lodge Hotel, Teddington
If it was properly a pub it would have more than just London Pride on, surely? Really a restaurant and one full of kids for that.
20 Feb 2010 15:36
Small pub but has five real ales on. A shame everyone has to crowd round the bar as this makes it harder to get in when there is still space further back, but still.
20 Feb 2010 15:32
Cosy little local with enthusiastic people running it and, yes, a wide selection of British artisanal cheeses. Two regular ales (Hobgoblin and Ringwood Bitter) and a changing guest ale. Aims to be a community pub also and seems to be fulfiling that aim.
17 Feb 2010 20:23
Quite a distance from Clapham Junction itself, round the back and keep going, with not a bad ale range but not huge, better than some Wetherspoons for a start. The area doesn't have that many pubs that do real ale to start with. Consider the midnight horror of the Prince's Head just up the road, with its branding that looks like a bargain-basement foodstore.
13 Feb 2010 16:32
Wilmington Arms, Exmouth Market
Pleasant pub near Exmouth Market - had only Abbot on when I visited (but it was Tuesday), pie also good. I imagine it could get very crowded. Events including the 'thinking person's comedy night' Bright Club happen in a separate space around the back.
20 Jan 2010 07:52
The Druid's Head, Kingston Upon Thames
Pleasant range of beers, interesting place internally, a range of people young and old in there. Goes some of the way to make up for the almost total lack of decent pubs in central Kingston.
9 Jan 2010 17:50
Bishop Out Of Residence, Kingston Upon Thames
Reasonable range of Youngs beers but the pub doesn't have a lot of character being a pretty well corporate brick building from the 1980s along what in Kingston passes for a riverfront.
9 Jan 2010 17:48
The Portobello Gold, Portobello Road
Food and drink pub on the Portobello, has its own special character and very nice staff.
26 Dec 2009 17:59
We fell off a canal boat and luckily ended up in this pub instead of the water. There was no food if I remember correctly but it was a good pub.
24 Dec 2009 18:09
Had some excellent mild in here. A nice place to spend some time.
24 Dec 2009 18:08
Had a couple of good pints of Black Sheep here. The pub in general endeared itself to me and my pal and not least by ahving a sign on the door saying essentially 'no chavs'.
24 Dec 2009 18:06
OK inside as the previous reviewer says, very close to another pub of the same name which may explain why it wasn't added - ? But as several local pubs are, it sits at the foot of an office block and weeps.
24 Dec 2009 18:00
Station bar, but you might as well go to the Wetherspoons. A bit crowded especially considering people are going to have large amounts of luggage.
24 Dec 2009 17:58
Worth the hike across snowy fields to get there. Was at least warmer than the nearby camping barn. I seem to recall the beer was good but we didn't try the food which it seems we should have done.
24 Dec 2009 17:53
Nice local pub which was welcoming to a bunch of cycling hostellers when we all piled in there one evening.
24 Dec 2009 17:46
Previous reviews sum this up, one of three boozers in a row on this side of the road (the Elm, this and the Clarence) and the Seven Stars opposite, no real ale or anything else much come to that.
24 Dec 2009 17:34
Very much changed in its current incarnation, which seems a shame.
24 Dec 2009 17:33
Large and sofa-y pub which was welcoming to a large reunion group. Steak and kidney pie I believe, and the beer was good.
24 Dec 2009 17:24
Nice local pub downhill from the youth hostel (as they so often are). Met a German who had ridden his motorbike there from Germany. It was a good place to be and by the sea.
24 Dec 2009 17:22
S-ut and legless as they all are. They did actually have a real ale on (Bombardier) even if they did manage to 'forget' the food for one of our party. The chips were ok and the pasta was reasonable though.
24 Dec 2009 17:07
Yet another O'Neills, looking forward to what it will be next - although O'Neills may keep going for all I know as they have ridden the fake-Oirish bubble to its end when others have said 'Slan go foill' and gone. I have no idea if they have real ale here or not. They did however have karaoke (thanx Sallie). Also not too far from the tube/railway station.
23 Dec 2009 08:42
The Brewery Tap, Wimbledon Village
I was trepidacious about this one but noticed the Cask Marque sign so thought it was worth a punt. Several hours later I left having had several pints and a long rambling conversation (well, only some of it was about rambling). Five real ales on including two 'specials', one being Adnams Extra which I felt duty bound to sample a reasonable amount of. At least an 8/10.
23 Dec 2009 08:37
The Dog and Fox, Wimbledon Village
Excessively stripped-out Youngs pub which does good enough beer but apart from that offers no real atmosphere except that which, like the proverbial Spanish tavern, you bring yourself. I suspect that some of the wellheeled Wimbledonians do precisely that, while others prefer to drink in proper pubs like the one over the road.
23 Dec 2009 08:31
The Rose and Crown, Wimbledon Village
One of the unruined Youngs pubs, though not especially characterful and rather busy - well it is at the end of Wimbledon's main drag if you can use such a phrase for wellheeled Wimbledon Village. Had Ordinary and a club sandwich which was OK if not outstanding. Still it's better than the other local Youngs pub which has been stripped out entirely.
23 Dec 2009 08:27
The Fox and Grapes, Wimbledon Common
See JohnBonser's review for a good description; this pub was certainly a welcome sight during a wintry walk across the Common. The dining area is a bit of a cavernous affair but I didn't venture into it, preferring to sit in the smaller (drinkers'!) bar with a fine pint of Harveys Sussex. Would have been tempted to try the food if there had been sandwiches, say, on the menu, but it is a bit too main-meal-oriented for that. A pleasant pub though and not at all like being in the middle of London.
23 Dec 2009 08:15
Pleasant little H&W pub now under new management and very near Mortlake station. The beer was good and although I didn't try the food there were several people in there eating and they seemed to be enjoying it.
20 Dec 2009 19:56
Pub nearest the station but not too shabby for all that. Fullers Seafarers Ale as well as Pride and Gales HSB if I remember correctly. Music of a Saturday night - Loudshirts were good. Also has karaoke on Wednesdays (after the football finished!). Why have they taken the sofas away from the window end, though?
20 Dec 2009 12:05
The Robin Hood and Little John, Camberwell
On the upside, it's a friendly locals' (read: estate) pub which was welcoming to a little band of outsiders when we went south of the river to support our friends who were playing there. But, the beer is great? What beer? There are a whole load of pumps for lager and guinness but no cask beer to be found. People who prefer ale aren't pretending, you know. We don't secretly crave lager or Magners. This place has slightly more excuse for not selling it than the pub in South Wimbledon I went to last Sunday, but still.
13 Dec 2009 09:44
Very busy and another traditional ex-Trumans pub not far from the brewery and at the end of Brick Lane. I don't think there are any pubs in Brick Lane proper any more with the Seven Stars vanishing but there are ones like this nearby. Old Ale was fine.
10 Dec 2009 08:11
Carpenters Arms, Bethnal Green
Quite a pleasant little pub with a small front room which surprisingly leads to a second room via a kind of corridor area. Beer was good, people seemed fine. A lot of pubs around here have closed down - note the Prince of Wales and the ?Queen Victoria opposite one another a few streets away, and it isn't far from the now-vanished and legendary Flying Scud, but the ones that are still there seem to be doing well.
10 Dec 2009 08:10
Extremely fashionable by the look of it corner pub at the end of the small up-market area (surrounded by housing estates) with a lot of old Trumans panelling, but absolutely full of people on a Wednesday evening. TT Landlord and Meantime LPA, but not cheap. In fact rather expensive.
10 Dec 2009 08:07
A lovely old exterior and an interior of astonishing tattiness, but in a very good way. Columns of different sizes, flyers posted to the walls, original glasswork towards the back, the whole gives the impression of an alt.pub or some kind of student hangout; and yet, considering this is London, we were pleasantly impressed that it does real ale, including Sambrook's Wandle.
I liked it.
10 Dec 2009 08:03
The Princess of Shoreditch, Old Street
Any good beer quality - and it was good, Meantime and Sambrook beers - very local - is negated by the chilly attitude of this pub. Hardly any of the old interior remains, a Trumans window above one door and some of the stained glass seems to be all. I went in there at six intending to eat and was told they didn't do food until 8.30. Returning to rejoin the group I was with, there were 25 of us and we put a considerable amount of money across the bar, but the management didn't seem overenthusiastic about us. The third beer is Tring Side Pocket for a Toad which is unusual to find in a pub in London, but this place is still really a restaurant.
10 Dec 2009 07:59
A bit quirky as people have said, which is better than the bland. Beer was Butcombe Bitter; food a burger which was ok. Upstairs area is nice with couches and small tables.
10 Dec 2009 07:54
More like a bar than a pub, dodgy lighting, a lot of lager taps along the bar but no real ale. I ask why not. "It didn't sell," the busty barmaid tells me. This is a surprise to me as it sells everywhere else. These days with all this recession, there is no excuse for alienating a large proportion of your potential customer base. Despite Sally's fine karaoke - refuging down the road from the Hog in the Pound - I don't think I'll be back.
7 Dec 2009 00:04
Reasonable big pub near Balham station, doing Brains SA at the time of visit, has all sorts of events. Would probably be my local if I lived in the area.
5 Dec 2009 15:26
Former Faith and Firkin, full of fecund fathered families, foaming flagons, food fine.
5 Dec 2009 15:23
Busy - but it was a Friday evening. Doom Bar was excellent if expensive. The wine list is good as is the menu but expense apart this is a good pub for drinking proper beer in, even if I don't get the impression that it really specialises in real ale - as you often find with the more 'gastro'-inclined pubs, the beer is part of the experience and is an option. But that is streets better than the attitude expressed in some pubs, that those who prefer cask ale are somehow pretending and will drink lager instead. The cask ale was going down nicely and not only with the older clients (who are also often the ones with more money so once again, why reduce their choice?) but the younger as well.
The Oxford seems very much part of the upward trend of this area - it was an odd juxtaposition to then go to a music venue and find no ale and be charged �3.80 for a pint of cider.
28 Nov 2009 11:59
The Cricketers, Kingston Upon Thames
Currently closed down. The sign on the door says 'for refurbishment' but if you go a little way along the street you will find a notice on a lamp-post that tells a different story. 'serious crime', eh? I wonder what they can mean.
When it was open I never found it that bad but I never stayed there late so can't say what it got up to later.
23 Nov 2009 08:28
Missing Bob's Goodtime Blues around here - a shame it's gone upmarket, although really given the other pubs nearby there has to be one where you could go without feeling you were going to be smacked one for not being local.
There may not be a station called North Kensington but the W10 / Golborne Road area is generally known as North Kensington. Latimer Road is, well, a road. And a tube station.
23 Nov 2009 07:56
The Honest Cabbage, Kingston Upon Thames
Nobody's commented on this pub very much. Hardly surprising as nobody goes in this pub very much. Indeed many have wondered how it still keeps going, as it is invariably empty when it bothers to trade at all; other times it remains closed and dark when other pubs are open. Now that the Bull and Bush on the Cambridge Road estate has closed down, possibly this pub and the Bricklayers will get an influx of people from the estate, but without this I can't see how it can survive on a handful of customers, appallingly bad beer (do they not realise it's off; badly off?) - which is a shame as it is a nice building and they have been known to have live music including jazz. A little band called Sunday's Child played there regularly in recent years, and recent refurbs have done away with the odd purple paint and given the place a small outside area to the side. Years ago it had much more character but it has unfortunately been refurbed in between times, to strip out much of what was there. Curiously the incumbents then were the mum and dad of the guvnor of one of the nearby pubs at the moment.
20 Nov 2009 22:51
Unfortunately my experience of this pub was similar to Strongers'. Waited at the bar for a while (more than a minute I'm sure) for either London Pride or Bombardier, but decided not to bother.
14 Nov 2009 09:04
Back Door / Burlington Arms, Mayfair
Small pub with a few real ales including Sambrook's Junction and Hogsback Autumn. Surprised it has such a low rating on here.
14 Nov 2009 09:01
I had passed this pub many times but never gone in as I was always in the company of my friend who lived near there and doesn't do pubs (she prefers cafes). So today being up there on my own - arranging the sale of her house so I'm not going to get that many more opportunities to pass it - I wandered in. It's a Fullers pub so I was expecting a decent standard, but considering the dodginess of pretty much all local pubs (and the area) I was well surprised. It's nice. Staff are good, it has the usual range of Fullers plus Gales HSB (Gales now being owned by Fullers in case there's anyone left who didn't know that). I found a little nook but it was unfortunately by the kitchens so moved. There does seem to be a TV room but it's off to one side. The decor is interesting and not too knocked about. Apart from the Fox down by the canal, this would be my pub of choice in the area.
31 Oct 2009 18:51
Nice corner pub which sells Bombardier among other beers, kept nicely, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is unpretentious. Downstairs is pubby and upstairs has leather couches but in a 'clubland' sort of way rather than 'gastropub' which it isn't. I'd go back for the beer and the little blonde barmaid. It's one of those pubs that are tucked away sufficiently far from the souk of Oxford Street that it doesn't get full of tourists.
31 Oct 2009 07:53
Nice old pub (once Richard II's hunting lodge) which serves a very pleasant drop of Shepherd Neame beer. Warm and friendly and relaxing, very suitable for a stop off on a walk. Ignore the old cove who sits at the bar complaining about hikers (who probably spend more in there in an afternoon than he ever has). Barmaid lovely also (see comments passim).
11 Oct 2009 17:42
The Conduit of Tybourne, Bond Street
Reasonable small corner pub with four real ales on. Very similar to the nearby 'Inn 1888' so that I thought for a moment they were the same pub but they aren't. Strange toilets - cabins for M and F, shared sinks with a mirror too far away.
10 Oct 2009 02:14
The Cocoanut, Kingston Upon Thames
A good start from this rejuvenated Fullers pub with enthusiastic people running it - but they must stop running out of beer!
6 Oct 2009 19:24
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
Now reopened as 'Number 88', a bit cleaner and less fussy, Tribute and London Pride on. We'll see.
1 Sep 2009 22:53
Not awfully pubby with its stripped back decor and huge tv screen, but the staff are nice and the beer is good.
23 Aug 2009 09:21
Pleasant small Fullers pub past the lower end of South Molton Street.
23 Aug 2009 09:20
No, it really doesn't seem much like a pub either. No real ale, high prices, all a bit chichi.
23 Aug 2009 09:18
Nice pub with almost cafe-like decor (tiles, tables) and Timothy Taylor Landlord on pump. New owners have been in almost a year now and have regular jazz and stage magic nights as well as producing a newsletter telling us all what's going on.
22 Aug 2009 12:06
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
It's being refurbed, I don't know into what though. There was some idea that it was going to become a Walkabout or something very like it, I sincerely hope not.
21 Aug 2009 17:25
Duke of Clarence, Hampton Hill
Didn't seem too bad but then I was going in at 7.30 on a Tuesday and sitting outside. Fullers beer, could probably be quite atmospheric as it's an old building. A shame.
18 Aug 2009 21:34
Nice local pub which has local beer including Sambrook's Wandle, good food - pollock and chips was good - and a pleasant atmosphere. There is even a pool table round the side as well as a dartboard though that seems to just be there for decoration. All sorts of people in there and friendly staff who were very eager to replace my drink because the barrel had gone on too recently - and concerned I might not like to have a handle jug! I went on as you may imagine to sample several more pints. 'It's like you're at a party' - well, I was actually as it was a friend's birthday, but I can see how it might be that way anyway.
The website is good too, a bit dark but there is no pointless Flash and it includes a beer list, not just wine! Too many of these sites ignore the beer.
Worth a top rating.
15 Aug 2009 09:33
The Arun View Inn, Littlehampton
Good little pub between the river and the railway. Shows the football, apparently, but you can sit outside and look over the river instead.
No idea about the food. It's a pub.
9 Aug 2009 21:41
You have to descend a gloomy staircase to this one, tucked out of the way (I leave you to ponder why this might be). Somewhere in the depths of Harrods, away from the OTT opulence of the Food Hall and the department store bits which are really no different from $LARGE_DEPARTMENT_STORE anywhere else, near the shrine to The Two Dead Rich People, lies a bar (not really a pub as it isn't a separate entity) where I spent �3 on some reasonable Hogsback TEA. �3 you cry? Not that expensive. But that was for a half, my dears. And 'dear' is the word. I wandered round the sushi bar, but could not let me be, one of sixteen happy shoppers, being stiffed for a snack, and although it's by a tube stop, I do not think I'll be back.
8 Aug 2009 08:34
Quiet locals' pub which is no doubt very nice for the local people as I doubt they would put up with chavvy behaviour. Beer was Shepherd Neame Spitfire.
2 Aug 2009 16:15
A maze of a place used for amusing theme nights and stuff like that. Not a pub any more, interested to hear it used to be the Swan.
1 Aug 2009 13:37
The Hog in the Pound, Bond Street
Karaoke's good though, Sallie and her pal running it. People dance too! I wouldn't eat here, there are plenty of good non-pub food places around here so why eat in a pub instead? Beer is Greene King which is not my favourite but in their defence they do have GK seasonal beers as well as the regular codswallop.
Gotta let the music play on ... though 'all night long' is perhaps pushing it a bit as ISTR that eleven o'clock closing is rigorously enforced, which is a shame in the West End.
23 Jul 2009 20:04
The Marlborough, Kingston Upon Thames
Some local beers, e.g. Surrey Hills or Wandle, would be a good idea.
20 Jul 2009 18:33
The Grove Tavern, South Wimbledon
Music pub but not really all that as a pub - no real ale.
18 Jul 2009 14:42
The Wibbas Down Inn, Wimbledon
Bog standard and not very good Wetherspoons. In fact 'bog' is the word that comes to mind when considering this pub.
18 Jul 2009 14:40
Staff are fine especially the tall blonde Kiwi girl. The pub however is increasingly restaurant-like as is Young's wont (wont what? Wont be anything like a pub). It's hard to remember what it was like when there was a small front 'snug' and a side bar and it was a proper boozer.
6 Jul 2009 22:02
Grim on the inside. Getting to it you think you're just heading for the lavvies, and arriving you think you probably were. Nobody in apart from one person behind the bar. That said, the range of beers changes regularly and the Sharps Honey Spice Wheat Beer was very pleasant.
1 Jul 2009 22:07
Cain's pub and former CAMRA Pub of the Year - another good atmosphere if possibly catering for a slightly older clientele than the nearby Fly in the Loaf. Cain's Mild on this occasion but a better choice might have been the guest IPA. (Hardings? Can't remember). Interesting and reasonably cosy interior.
1 Jul 2009 22:02
The Fly in the Loaf, Liverpool
Pleasant atmosphere and a small but good range of ales including Derventio Nero on this occasion. May suffer from the competition as there are other good pubs including the former CAMRA regional pub of the year the Grapes nearby.
1 Jul 2009 21:57
Spectacular interior as people have said, but the feel is slightly corporate and the beer while reasonably good (Cain's in this case) is not cheap. Worth going to at least to say you've been.
1 Jul 2009 21:55
The Marlborough, Kingston Upon Thames
Getting better as the Fairfield as it gets into its stride. The kitchens are due to open up again next week which will be even better. Deuchars and usually one other bitter on. There is still no sign up (unless it went up today)! More people than just the regulars turning up now which is good and broadens its appeal.
30 Jun 2009 20:50
The Walmer Castle, Notting Hill
Is there no real ale? I didn't see any certainly. Laksa was good if expensive, and therein lies the rub - it bills itself more as a restaurant than a pub. Not too busy at least not indoors. The website is nicelooking but an example of Pointless Flash - which says a lot about the pub really.
30 Jun 2009 20:42
The Prince Albert, Notting Hill
Very crowded, does real ale, the burgers are very small. Not a bad place however.
27 Jun 2009 00:47
Very much a locals' pub, by the canal, so no doubt in line for gentrification shortly. I went in while it was still a no-real-ale boozer and the Taylor Walker signage on the frontage was intact. Agreed, 'Westminster' may be its borough but it's Kensal Town, as are the Village Inn and Western Arms nearby.
27 Jun 2009 00:44
Now seems to be opening as something called Cask which promises foreign beers (good ones).
22 Jun 2009 21:05
The Kelly Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Sadly true. The guv'nor has moved to the Fairfield Arms and the Kelly is shut, apparently for good.
20 Jun 2009 21:06
Very large Wetherspoons with a lot of beers on offer although when we went most of them seemed to be off. Had some mild and some porter anyway. Food (fish and chips) was reasonable.
Little back room available for private functions.
16 Jun 2009 22:20
One of the best pubs in London: less quirky than the Wenlock, less crowded than the Harp, less touristy than the Lamb. A great range of beers including two milds, and the food was good (rabbit stew which was pretty much half a rabbit and some mashed spuds and veg!). A good and welcoming atmosphere too, open to all.
10 Jun 2009 08:27
I'd like to open a real ale pub in Barcelona, perhaps in the street I used to live in (not far from this one), but I doubt whether this is it.
8 Jun 2009 07:58
Now back to being called the Albert and Pearl, hosts a night called Decline and Fall among others. The website is another Pointless Flash one and the drinks list includes cocktails, wine, but not beer. Cocktail bars have their place (how about overlooking the Mediterranean on a warm summer evening?) but this doesn't sound like a pub.
8 Jun 2009 07:56
Not the same as it was four years ago. Its (former?) sister pub the Stonemasons (in Hammersmith) isn't as good as it was, and neither is the Masons. Each used to be a characterful and not too expensive pub which did, yes, gastro but in its own sweet style; but then they changed. The Masons is very expensive (�4.15 for a pint of Italian lager!) and no longer characterful enough. If I wanted to go to a restaurant I might go to the one along the road (which used to be a pub called something like the Coniston). Meanwhile the Fullers London Pride went off (admittedly the barmaid was nice enough about it) and so it was yet again No Real Ale. I wonder what the two pubs further along, under the railway and towards the looming pigless towers of Battersea Power Station are like.
5 Jun 2009 18:20
Nice and friendly small pub but maybe they are trying to have too many ales on at once. One apparently not very good. Still it was pleasant to be riding down that street and find a pub I'd heard of but never been in.
3 Jun 2009 23:29
Formerly on the CAMRA London Inventory until entirely gutted and refurbished. I wouldn't say it was one of my locals but it was one of those 'dark matter' pubs that it's in a way reassuring are still there.
31 May 2009 19:20
The Robert Peel, Kingston Upon Thames
A good drop of Adnams to wet the throat while listening to a band - Magenta especially good last night. Looks like a dive from the outside but inside it is sometimes the house of progression. The people there are friendly too. No, I haven't been to the Blue Bar ;)
31 May 2009 18:58
Sorry, my most recent comment about this place referred to the Queens Arms in Greyhound Road! (I think 'Zagreb' made the same confusion in his review). No, this pub was one of my locals back in my Hammersmith days - for some reason it never made the best use of its enviable location (considering it's so near the A4 and Hammersmith Broadway, you wouldn't know it). Please get food or beer sorted out, preferably both. Hopefully Fullers will.
31 May 2009 18:50
Interesting Fuller's pub now doing Gale's Seafarers Ale as well, very nice. Lots of cricketing memorabilia around the walls. Cosy small spaces - a real London pub of the sort that should prevail.
Upstairs hosts the monthly meetings of the British Science Fiction Association. A lot less expensive than places around Sloane Square nearby, for example the Royal Court's bar with its pleasant line in miniature expensive meat pies!
28 May 2009 22:13
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
Hardly ever seems to be anyone in here now. Cute barmaid but she doesn't make up for the lack of punters or (the other day) undrinkable beer. The pub has supposedly had a refit but it looks just the same to me.
26 May 2009 19:49
Nice old fashioned pub with some good interior decor. Youngs Bitter, Bombardier, and Badger Tanglefoot were on. Small paved area out the back which was pleasant as well as we had just cycled from Kingston.
20 May 2009 23:04
The most trad of the pubs visited in Shepherd Market. I did not try eating here, but a pub is really for drinking and a restaurant is for food, though if pubs do a valiant effort and provide quality nosh who am I to disagree? This is the first pub you come to in the Market area so it gets the passing trade, though there being so many pubs nearby, including the once bizarrely named (I am the only) Running Footman, why stop at just one? Indeed I believe the pub is very well set up for drinking halves instead of pints, as that is what one does on a pub crawl (or a bar hop, as my American pal in the Grenadier put it).
16 May 2009 08:32
Possibly the most traditional decor of the four pubs I visited in Shepherd Market, though at times it's awful hard to tell with the number of people who visit the Market on a spring Friday evening. However what made my day with this pub was the sight of Cain's Mild on handpump. Mild is not really a 'draught of the warm south' (warm?) and so it is pleasant to see it in a pub in London. Though the beer is not cheap, as a previous reviewer notes it was �3.50 a pint last July and up since. For when the �4 pint? Had I not given up ye trulls I would have to give them up if I wanted to keep drinking beer. And that 'ye' isn't pronounced as in 'come all ye', by the way, it's 'the', and the 'y' is the old letter 'thorn', so the inclusion of the Ye in the pub's name is superfluous.
16 May 2009 08:23
Now the Market Tavern, probably the trendiest of the four Shepherd Market pubs I went to - had bath ales' Golden Hare on, which is often a sign of upmarketness. bath ales seem to buck the trend for ale not being fashionable - though if it was. Just think. I would hope that if it were, it didn't entrain the kind of snobbiness that happens with wine.
Went outside because it was too full inside (and it was a nice evening until it started chucking it down). A gentleman in a fluoro jacket came along and told me to stand behind the line. I could not see the line and with several others agreed that it must be an imaginary line (though in fairness, it did result in people standing drinking in one street and not in the other round the corner, and chummy was not unpleasant about it).
I would return.
16 May 2009 08:16
Possibly the least satisfactory of the four Shepherd Market pubs I visited. Had some food there but the menu was baffling - if there is a 'sausage of the day' why is it not allowed to have it in a bun, eh? Shepherd Neame beer on (though this is not a Shep Neame pub as far as I know).
Average.
16 May 2009 08:12
I would very much like to like this little pub which is almost unfindable down a cobbled mews. However despite the ales on tap and the presence of a convivial American contingent there are too many strikes against it: plastic glasses for outside (you can see why, it would be hard to get broken glass out of the cobbles, but I am sure the Belgians and so on manage), no photography policy, too crowded around the bar area, and of course it is ironically too popular for its own good.
16 May 2009 08:10
The Canbury Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Good beer but still, as many people have said, set up more as a restaurant. How about some comfortable seating for people who just want a drink?
I have never actually eaten in here. Pubs' day to day trade has to be drink, not food, for which people are only going to come in once a fortnight or so.
13 May 2009 06:56
Pleasant local pub even though it is in the middle of town, a range of ales, straightforward and busy.
10 May 2009 05:34
A cosy little pub in a side street near Lambs Conduit Street, the beer is Shepherd Neame - I had Early Bird. Comfortable leather sofas at the back and more usual pub furniture elsewhere. Staff pleasant. No food before 5.30 pm on a weekday. This was all in all a pleasant pub experience and I would recommend this one.
7 May 2009 21:49
Reasonable pub on the promenade at Arnside with a good view over Morecambe Bay and the railway bridge. Thwaites Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber on among other beers and ciders. The siren sounds to warn people the tide is coming in, but by that point you would be in the pub.
4 May 2009 22:01
It's allright but crowded, there was bath ales gem on which is unusual in London, lots of Camden types of course which this is renowned for.
1 May 2009 07:16
Went in there before the Ultravox gig at the Roundhouse. They ran out of real ale as I got there (I blame my friends who were already in there...). It was ok despite this although surely the owners must have got an idea of how much beer will be needed without running out early in the evening. Quite likely there was nobody there who knew how to change a barrel.
Went by later though and they had this wretched Regulars Card policy which as someone else said makes it a private members club really. Nowhere else seemed to be being like this including the Hawley.
1 May 2009 07:08
Nice terrace, you don't need to go in through the hotel I found. Good for a stroll or a bike ride down by the river and then imbibe something sitting overlooking the Thames and watch the boats go by. I am allergic to speed. This is a good place to be.
19 Apr 2009 09:08
Small pub unruined by touristyness, once again there may only be one pub actually on Oxford Street but there are several off it and this is one of the better ones.
18 Apr 2009 00:18
Huge place, as big as any pub that isn't a 'spoons conversion, plenty of architectural glass and a surprising snug. Beers Adnams and a couple of others. Would like to come back here for one of their regular music gigs or when the football hasn't packed the place out!
16 Apr 2009 07:45
A proper local in Brixton, Young's beers (as well as Bombardier), a very popular little place even midweek. No sign of the pub downturn here - a mix of people young and old drinking and eating here. Comforting decor and really very much what a pub should be like, without it being 'forced'.
16 Apr 2009 07:43
The Duke of Edinburgh, Brixton
Surprisingly pleasant little pub fairly near the centre of Brixton. Ales by Wychwood (including Paddy's Tout), decor from the 1930s suburban style and it still has the 1970s-style 'Trumans' and stripes lettering on the outside. The beer garden is curious - not connected to the pub, it's down an alleyway to the back, but is well frequented.
16 Apr 2009 07:40
Pleasant view across the sea near the pier from the terrace of this little hotel bar, fully open to the public, which does real ales including Dark Star. In the current Good Beer Guide.
11 Apr 2009 20:13
The Filo (First In Last Out), Hastings
Splendid little real ale pub and microbrewery at the far end of Hastings - hence the name? Worth another visit as is the rest of the town. Beer festival over Easter was most welcome.
11 Apr 2009 20:10
The Chancery Bar & Kitchen, Fulham
Long ago it was a big tatty pub called the Halfway House, halfway between Fulham's old desperate self and the new smart upwardly-mobile image the suburb presents. Then it changed, cleaned up its act and became the Chancery, taking over the clientele of a nearby wine bar at the top of Munster Road that has, I suspect, vanished long since.
11 Apr 2009 00:51
Lots of wooden panelling in this small and out of the way pub glimpsed down a side turning from Oxford Street. Two ales on, a traditional sort of public house.
11 Apr 2009 00:42
Now a private members' club that has reverted to the old Black Bull name.
9 Apr 2009 23:18
A basic estate pub, not unfriendly but I suspect that might depend what time of day you walked in to it.
9 Apr 2009 23:05
Now called 'The Fulham Bar and Eating House', seems to be more a restaurant as it was closed early evening.
8 Apr 2009 23:09
I passed two fellas who looked like they wouldn't be out of place in 'Withnail and I'. They told me the old Finch's, beloved of Sean Treacy (also landlord of the Queen's Elm, at the other end of Fulham Road) was now the King's Arms. So I took me there. A strange place, tiles all along one wall, though I would not want to spend a night on those tiles. The decor and the muted quality though seem something out of Salonika in about 1870 but without the Turks and with funk on the (very unobtrusive) jukebox.
I used to ride past Finch's all the time, and am pleased to see it is still there, though with the change of name, Fulham Road is a lesser place. But will it stay forever Young's?
8 Apr 2009 21:35
Very pleasant local pub despite its in-town location near South Kensington Tube station. Surrey Hills Ranmore ale and Hogsback TEA make a mockery of the distance from leafy Surrey. Open-planned, perhaps a little trendy, but then around here the well-heeled probably pine for a real pub. Nice to sit outside in the streets you could never afford to live in; but such is the meaning of 'public house'.
8 Apr 2009 21:24
Busy pub on a pleasant little square with cafes and restaurants, lovely people, pub was OK, can't even remember what the beer was but it was no doubt OK.
4 Apr 2009 08:48
The Angel and Crown, Leicester Square
Another small pub in the Covent Garden area, similar to the others, actually more than tolerable, busy of course of an evening but surely that is a good thing. A bit more opened out than the one nearby. Had Batemans GHA and Thwaites Lancaster Bomber which you don't get everywhere.
4 Apr 2009 08:39
The Green Man and French Horn, Covent Garden
The usual Adnams and Batemans range you get a lot round here. A small narrow pub and good to sit in the front window watching people go past. Seemed ok to me, I would go back.
4 Apr 2009 08:36
As basic as a pub should be - the traditional pub was after all not known for its opulence but for its beer and the welcoming atmosphere (you would hope) - a range of beers including TT Landlord and a guest ale. Just spotted it by chance as I was on my way elsewhere and of course had to pay a visit. Which is the way it should sometimes be, with pubs. This area is also the former heart of the Italian quarter of London, but of that there is less sign.
2 Apr 2009 20:11
The Coach and Horses, Clerkenwell
This is very much a restaurant really, though it does do reasonable ales - Adnams Bitter and TT Landlord to name two. Also the building is pleasant and hasn't been mucked around with much. Besides, it's a better class of gastro and is linked with the local chapter of Slow Food. We all had a good time in their back room.
2 Apr 2009 20:07
A pub with comfortable sofas (so many in one place I have not seen outside a furniture showroom) and beers by Sam Smith's which means good value even if there is little range, and Smith's also have a habit of deleting real ale at all at the moment. It also has a good view over the river, though it is less popular than the Apprentice, possibly because fewer people know it is there - it hides itself away down an alley and does not particularly shout to the outside world along the river either, unlike the Apprentice which is on a busy bend in the road and the river too.
28 Mar 2009 18:57
A Fullers pub serving the usual range plus Gales HSB (now also owned by Fullers). Clearly a locals' pub unlike the destination pubs on the river, its interior works against it - purple walls and the whole opened out into one nearly-unbroken space (there is a vestige of its former division into two bars). To look like the ghost of a gastropub and at the same time want to attract locals who are better appealed to by warm and cosy surroundings - booths, as Strongers pointed out in an earlier comment - is not the wisest course and may yet force another change to what sounds like it was once a quirkier pub. The food was reasonable and the barstaff charming. I would hope it works out what it wants to be though.
28 Mar 2009 18:52
This place just keeps getting more and more like a restaurant. I used to come here in 2002-4 and at least it felt like a pub, but it doesn't really now.
22 Mar 2009 16:54
I concur with others on here that the pub's score is dragged down by scores given in its earlier incarnation - it has been much improved and is now quite a good pub, the building has been opened up without being damaged so you can go upstairs - there is an upstairs bar and a small outside area - and look across Lyric Square. Busy of course, but it is near Hammersmith Broadway with its offices.
21 Mar 2009 07:20
Mawson Arms/ Fox and Hounds, Chiswick
Good for a brewery tap - a range of Fullers beers including their 'Hock' mild which I tried and then had a pint of. A shame it has to be right by the A4!
21 Mar 2009 07:17
The George and Devonshire, Chiswick
Cosy pub even nearer the Fullers brewery and unfortunately also near the A4, a nice old building even if it isn't as traditional as, say, the Duke of York, it is still more so than the Devonshire and unlike the Feathers it is still standing (that was on the opposite side of the main road).
21 Mar 2009 07:14
As one of the regulars said, the last traditional pub around here. A very good drop of London Pride in a pub whose generally reddish decor brings to mind the Andover Arms in Hammersmith (unless that's gone gastro as well). The sort of pub that needs to be visited regularly and supported. TLC for alehouses!
21 Mar 2009 07:11
Not closed. The Devonshire, as stated previously is more like a restaurant, though it does have publike seating at the front and there is Deuchars as well as London Pride (which this being near the Fullers brewery is in every pub nearby). The bar staff are very nice but most of the place is still a restaurant.
21 Mar 2009 07:07
Relaxed and pleasantly non-trendy pub in central Brum, a few beers, food good, unfortunately I was there at lunchtime and had to work so no beer on this occasion, but it seemed good, also music and events going on.
19 Mar 2009 23:24
Two ales on (Youngs Ordinary and Wells Bombardier), decor a bit un-traditional; the website (which could do with a bit of TLC itself, though mercifully there is no Flash) describes it as a 'restaurant pub' which is a bit of a pointer to the kind of style there is within.
4 Mar 2009 22:39
The Magpie and Crown, Brentford
Good pub with a speciality in real ales, food, and it is now the official inspiration for the Flying Swan in Robert Rankin's novels.
4 Mar 2009 07:49
Interesting riverside pub, sells real ale and does food, riverine decor, one of the few pewter bar tops in England is a historic touch. Appears on a list of pubs compiled in 1722 so is at least that old, though the building's been rebuilt since.
4 Mar 2009 07:46
Bit of a suits' place, hardly surprising as it is very near Holborn tube, Fullers London Pride on, nice barmaids, might be better when it is less busy though I'm not sure when that would be.
26 Feb 2009 22:23
An ok pub, very much the Kilburn sort of mix but despite there being no beer at time of visit (there is usually) it was friendly enough and reasonably comfortable.
14 Feb 2009 09:34
The Bull and Gate, Kentish Town
Reasonably good pub with Bass and interesting decor, also a venue in its own right as well as being practically next door to the Forum.
14 Feb 2009 09:30
The Kelly Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
The new Kelly is a welcoming locals' pub with pizza on the menu, a jukebox, and Fullers London Pride and Wells Bombardier on the pumps - nothing unusual but it's well kept. I have absolutely no idea what the previous reviewer means, insinuating 'be careful' - I had a good night in there with good conversation, as I have had before.
7 Feb 2009 23:29
The Fighting Cocks, Kingston Upon Thames
Good music of varying kinds, comedy nights also, and now they do real ale (Hobgoblin, appropriately for the pub's atmosphere) although it wasn't brilliant the other night. Not somewhere I'd go just for a drink but for the music I definitely would. Nice people too - don't get the kind of insulted belligerence you do in some other places.
7 Feb 2009 10:39
Reasonable and unspoilt Young's pub with two linked bars and a smoking area out the back. Food was reasonable. Wine horribly expensive but the beer price was not too bad for Richmond.
3 Feb 2009 22:14
Ugly as sin from the outside but as much fun within. Beers are from the Greene King range: the usual 'cooking' IPA and also at the moment Olde Trip. Karaoke on a Sunday evening (unusual that) with a competent KJ and good equipment. Either a 6 or because of the events it hosts a 7.
26 Jan 2009 00:05
OK, but �6.95 for a plate of chips and yet if you ask for coffee they spoon powder from a jar.
25 Jan 2009 17:05
The Lillie Langtry, West Brompton
Did this one as part of my Hammersmith & Fulham pubs audit and it is really not very nice. There are a couple of good pubs nearby so you would be rather better off going to them.
24 Jan 2009 19:01
Large pub with a good situation on the hillside, good range of real ales puts it in the latest Good Beer Guide, popular for food also.
17 Jan 2009 16:44
The Stubbing Wharf, Hebden Bridge
Good food and good beer and cider. Nice atmosphere and very dog-friendly. Roaring fire in the winter and a pleasant situation on the canal for the summer. A good outside area for smokers.
16 Jan 2009 22:02
Gastro pub after having laboured for many years under other incarnations. There are one or two real ales on as well as a food menu. Should be busy as it has a prime site on Chiswick High Road, an area which has been driving itself steadily upmarket for ten or twenty years
12 Jan 2009 20:36
The no drinks unless eating rule must have been for new year's eve only, as I've been in here and had a pint without ever eating food there.
3 Jan 2009 18:38
Another good traditional pub, a range of real ales including one from Bath Ales (or as they style themselves, bath ales) and also food - beware the steak and kidney pie was huge - I couldn't finish mine but only because there was so much of it. The guvnor does as stated seem to be working very hard and could do with some barstaff on a Saturday lunchtime!
3 Jan 2009 15:49
Friendly and fairly dark traditional pub with Hall and Woodhouse ales including Pickled Partridge and Sussex Bitter. Food range includes the aforementioned Kobe beef burger (not tried). A little bit off the beaten track but this trad boozer, with its real fire burning, is a welcome sight and does not appear to be at all neglected.
3 Jan 2009 15:45
The The Old Monk Exchange, Westminster
Beefburger was not all that. Staff are nice. The being built into a cellar is another matter, if that is what cleans your clock then this will do it for you. Greene King beer and a couple of others, I could not tell what.
3 Jan 2009 00:16
The Bricklayers Arms, Brentford
But they're not because it's being turned into flats.
24 Dec 2008 18:22
I didn't think it was as bad as some people have made out but it is very much in the modern idiom and those who like food menus and unusual foreign drinks will be at home. Well, we all have to eat, so we may as well eat well; and there is still Sharps Doom Bar for those who prefer the traditional ales.
24 Dec 2008 09:33
The Triple Crown Inn, Richmond
A down to earth Rugby-loving pub round a side street in Richmond, very little beer range when I visited but as Maldenman's post shows this is not always the case - there were four hand pumps I think but only London Pride was on. A pleasant surprise to find somewhere so unpretentious and straightforward in this area.
24 Dec 2008 09:30
Good riverside pub a game of two halves, with the upper section closed for a private function at the time of visit (well, it is Christmas time I suppose). Hobgoblin on draught was tasty and the service was friendly.
24 Dec 2008 09:27
I don't understand the bad rating either. I was slightly alarmed by the sign on the door which suggested it is practically a restaurant, but inside it is most certainly a pub. A charming barmaid and a range of interesting beers as well as a warm ambience both literally (there is a log fire burning) and figuratively - this speaks of a proper pub to me. I rate this pub above the nearby City Barge both on its beer choice and the general atmosphere.
24 Dec 2008 09:25
Shame, it used to be a little local boozer with some features that weren't so much retro as had never been changed since the 1960s. It seems being in the CAMRA Regional Inventory doesn't stop a pub being turned into a restaurant.
14 Dec 2008 09:59
Traditional corner pub, see the previous entry for a detailed description, guvnor has been there for ages. Another surprisingly welcome survival given it is so close to the main area of Marylebone Road / Baker Street. Long may it be like it is.
11 Dec 2008 08:06
Shepherd Neame traditional pub in the centre of London, unspoiled as people have said and yet of course busy in the evening with the many afterworking it in London and also people up for the theatre.
11 Dec 2008 08:03
The Buckingham Arms, Shoreham by Sea
Surprisingly, a good pub opposite the railway station, if by good you mean somewhere that looks and feels like a CAMRA convention! Several real ales and several gentlemen savouring them at the bar. I will have to return to give Shoreham a proper going over.
9 Dec 2008 17:59
Looks far better than at least the Farmers and the Britannia - there are few pubs in Lancing (what a contrast to that miniature Brighton along the coast, Shoreham). Quiet but ok, had fish and chips for lunch.
9 Dec 2008 17:56
The Express Tavern, Kew Bridge
Well situated especially now that the Plough has been knocked down, its main rival is the Bell and Crown at Strand on the Green. What the Express Tavern lacks in riverside seating it nonetheless has in a pleasant interior and a relaxed feel to it. Proper beer as well.
8 Dec 2008 19:41
I went there in summer 2007 and found it as other people have said, like drinking in an airport terminal.
28 Nov 2008 10:48
The Royal Sovereign, Bexhill-on-sea
Shepherd Neame pub opposite the station, small and cosy, does not do food! Given the three good reviews here I am surprised the average rating is so low (4.2 at the time of writing). Good for a drink while waiting for the train back to London or Brighton.
27 Nov 2008 18:47
The Queen Adelaide, Shepherds Bush
4 December, should I say. The Coleherne is 5 December.
26 Nov 2008 14:27
Reopening 5 December as, as the previous poster has said, a straight (or at least not gay) venue.
26 Nov 2008 14:26
The Queen Adelaide, Shepherds Bush
Being renovated and reopening on 5 December. Apparently will be open plan like so many pubs these days.
26 Nov 2008 13:58
Downstairs is quite a good place for a gig as the room is a regular shape, improving the acoustics, and people are not likely to drift in off the street and hold loud conversations on their mobile phone while the band are trying to play. Bands heard include Twisted Trees and the Silver Wizard Project, both of whom can now say they have played the West End (well, under it in fact).
However �3.70 for a pint of lemonade and lime juice is rather steeper than the north face of the Eiger and stopped me having a second one. People tend to drink soft drinks more slowly than beer anyway so why not encourage the customer to drink more of them by charging less?
I can't say much about the upstairs except that it does coffee, which was ok and not too expensive either.
26 Nov 2008 00:58
The Robert Peel, Kingston Upon Thames
Closing? Permanently or just temporarily? These are not good times for pubs, especially in South Kingston.
24 Nov 2008 19:41
The Waldegrave Arms, Teddington
Still closed and boarded up. No sign of anything happening.
23 Nov 2008 15:03
Restauranty sort of place, the food was good, didn't try the beer but there was a reasonable range and it seemed ok. Pleasant service.
23 Nov 2008 14:32
The Crown and Anchor, Chiswick
Despite the name reversion still a kind of cafe'-bar rather than a pub, thouhg it does do beer on pump so it is a pub. Comfortable sofas at the back, dining tables at the front, a fave of the large-buggy-mum set. I have been there several times but only on weekend afternoons, I don't know what it would be like of an evening when the pub trade would focus on the Old Pack Horse a few blocks away.
22 Nov 2008 18:56
Music pub with a couple of ales on and lots of adverts for Jagermeister, music good, place serves for what it is.
22 Nov 2008 01:06
The Kings Tun, Kingston Upon Thames
Astonishing how different two nearby Wetherspoons can be. The Coronation Hall in Surbiton is far better than this place. But like many 'spoons the Tun is inhabited by the desperate and in its case being opposite a huge nightclub is also frequented by 'preloading' youths in the evenings. Do they drive away the Wethertramps? Not really, for the Wethertramp is an oblivious creature.
17 Nov 2008 09:52
Busy little pub on two levels, does a range of real ales and Belgian beers as well as food, and thankfully no background music. Fairly expensive it is true but not horrifyingly so. This is Hackney, after all, even if it is heading towards Hoxton.
9 Nov 2008 00:30
The William Web Ellis, Twickenham
OK Wetherspoons near the centre of Twickenham and also conveniently near a bus stop! Twickenham has quite a few good pubs (makes a change, doesn't it?) so this wouldn't really be one of your priorities, but for a half of Rev James while waiting for the bus it was quite adequate.
25 Oct 2008 17:02
A bit more crowded than others locally. Three ales on including Hobgoblin. Service ok, I don't agree with the 'awful' comment, maybe they've changed. Very near to Green Park station so unless you're a member of the Fox Club or want to go into the huge pub-cafe' on the corner, this could be your chance for a last pint before going in.
21 Oct 2008 20:46
A bit bland for Soho, really, neither grungy local nor alternative bar. Doom Bar and Deuchars on. Service was good though.
21 Oct 2008 20:44
Small pub without much in the way of comfortable seating but the beer is good and it is not full of tourists.
It is no longer yellow, but blue, on the outside.
21 Oct 2008 20:39
The Lord Nelson, Holloway Road
The Irish fellas were outside on the pavement. Inside it was a goth/80s night (third Friday of the month) - Club Distraction. Any night that can mix Tanz Mit Laibach and Love Will Tear Us Apart is ok by me. Even if the choice of good drinks was limited - we had Kronenbourg.
18 Oct 2008 14:02
Little local backstreet pub, very unlike the Holloway Road pubs themselves. Closed at 11.30 on a Friday night so perhaps not the liveliest place, but that isn't always what you want.
18 Oct 2008 13:55
Enormous Wetherspoons obviously a cinema conversion, not a great range of ales though the dark beer we had was good. Popular with students from the nearby uni, but they seem to be more the well behaved variety.
18 Oct 2008 13:51
The Bell And Compass, Charing Cross
Sorry anon, I read that as 'shit-house music' before realising what you meant. That must be Bog Blues as opposed to Swamp or Delta Blues.
17 Oct 2008 09:57
They could always rebrand if the Irish bit becomes unfashionable ;. It seemed more Aussie to me anyway. Grilled chicken sandwich on the way to a downstairs bar near Highbury & Islington. I wouldn't go out of my way to it but at least it had hot food at a time when other places nearby either didn't or wanted you to sit down for a whole set meal. Do wish they wouldn't let blokes wander about with no shirts on though. Puts you off your food.
12 Oct 2008 22:24
The best beer drinker's pub in Northampton no doubt. Plenty on and some unusual ones. The decor is good and the only qualifier I have is that there was no more food at 2.10 (I think it was) on a Saturday afternoon! Apart from that (and that is hardly terrible as there are plenty of places to eat in the town) it was excellent.
12 Oct 2008 13:31
Better than the touristy places round Covent Garden, this is a pleasant small pub with good beers and wines on. We had a bottle of wine and drank it outside among the rickshaws and tourists clattering along the cobbled streets. For all it is probably the nearest pub to the station it was not too crowded at seven thirty on a Saturday evening.
8 Oct 2008 16:02
El Metro II (that's a Roman 'two', not a double 'L', and number I is in Fulham) has been going since 1988 when it replaced a pub called the Doctor's Dilemma, and is literally a couple of metres from the ticket barrier at Hammersmith Metropolitan Line station. It is sometimes billed as a Spanish restaurant but it's really more a Spanish theme pub with Spanish beer, tapas, and used to have lambada dancing on a Friday night. I am not sure the staff are all Spanish-speaking however, quite probably Eastern European, not that there is anything wrong with that but (i) get an idea of what's on the menu and what the names sound like, and (ii) would it kill you to smile? The other waitress is quite capable of smiling and is probably Latin American.
All that said, after twenty years the place is beginning to look a bit tired. Same old decor it had at the start, pretty much, and the toilets are awful. Quite possibly they always have been awful and that isn't just the anti-English graffiti in them (a charming feature (not) they have been known to share with some of the Irish pubs around the Broadway). A few weeks ago we had a stonking night out there, ate, drank and danced like good 'uns, but much of the food wasn't all that, and the bill is printed in such tiny printing that it can be very difficult to read especially after a few jarras de vino.
Good for: flat out or fall off (censored version there).
Not good for: modern Spanish cuisine or discussing the works of Blasco Ibanez.
8 Oct 2008 15:14
How is this pub only a 6.3? A great range of beers and also ciders and perries. Gwatkins Oldfield perry scents distinctly of acetone, used in model aircraft cement. Brought to mind Kurt Vonnegut's 'Cat's Cradle' where the potent island rum uses the same ingredient. The pub is also friendly and has a good atmosphere; a diverse demographic which also helps. I would come to Godalming especially for this pub.
8 Oct 2008 08:04
Yes, it's Hall and Woodhouse, but it isn't too bad. Three H&W beers on - 'King and Barnes' Sussex Ale (Bill King isn't turning in his grave, as far as I know he's still alive and enjoying running the brewery he set up when H&W bought him out), Badger with First Gold and good old Tanglefoot. A locals' pub no doubt with a large television awkwardly placed by the bar. Nice barmaid.
8 Oct 2008 07:56
The Kings Arms Royal Hotel, Godalming
Interestingly set within the hotel (as the name suggests) it is however properly a pub. Not a great range of beer and Flowers IPA was off despite the pump clip being forward; the Harveys Sussex on the other hand was on despite the pump clip having fallen off. Staff seemed ok.
8 Oct 2008 07:50
Jack George Phillips, Godalming
OK and good for a Wetherspoons, a long frontage along the High Street and some seating out the front. Usual range of usual suspects at one end of the bar (the beers, I mean, not the customers!) and the 'specials' at the other end, range here was reasonable.
8 Oct 2008 07:47
Fairly quiet cosy locals' pub, does Bass, Youngs Bitter, a couple of others.
8 Oct 2008 07:44
Beefeaters are cock. Anywhere that has a long menu is making a mistake; have a few dishes that you cook properly.
6 Oct 2008 12:05
Now heavily refurbished in slightly Teutonic style (appropriately) and a long way from its old incarnation as a shabby local. A pleasant range of German beer, as well as food that looked good but we didn't try any.
Pleasant staff, comfortable benches; beer �3.70 a pint which makes an evening here a little dear. Good though.
5 Oct 2008 08:16
Once there was a pub. This pub was close to a civil service building which meant it got a lot of customers at the end of the day, especially on Friday. In the old style there were two bars, a Public and a Saloon, the public on the left and the saloon on the right. In between them there was a serving space where the landlord and his two barmaids poured pints of Courage Best and Directors and called for toasted sandwiches to be delivered down the serving hatch. The thirsty office workers would go down there and line up along the counter in the Public bar - for some reason they never went in the Saloon, possibly remembering their elders' tales of days when pints in the Saloon would cost more than in the Public.
There was no outside space. In those days you could smoke in pubs, and they did. Come Friday the public bar would be awash with smoke and beer-drinkers. Some of them went at lunchtime as well as that was still permissible in those far-off days.
Then the office building was demolished, the people who worked there went their separate ways, and I didn't think about the pub again until just now.
I went back.
Imagine my dismay that the two cosy bars had been knocked through into one, the glass reading SALOON BAR and PUBLIC BAR in the doors had been replaced by clear glass, a new counter has been built at the right-hand wall where the old saloon bar was (though the food hoist is still in its original position, marking where the counter used to be). There is apparently beer on, though all the pumps were turned round: Greene King have taken this pub over, but I don't think all this has happened because it's them. Such 'renovations' happen all over. There are now red sofas and dining tables, and a pointless 'outside' area at the back where they probably used to store barrels.
It could be worse: a lot of pubs have closed down. But the Windmill, Lambeth High Street, isn't what it was when we used to go there.
I had a J20 and a cheese sandwich and remembered the way it used to be.
2 Oct 2008 10:58
A small but not unfriendly local, the kind of backstreet pub that existed in great numbers before and is now threatened by demographic change and economics. Not to be confused with the other Royal Oak on Kennington Lane, this one is used by locals from the surrounding estates and given that the George that used to be in Lambeth Walk is now gone, it may yet keep going for a while.
2 Oct 2008 10:57
Possibly the best of Billingshurst's public houses, even if it is now owned by Hall and Woodhouse (since H&W took over King and Barnes and made most of K&B's staff redundant, which is about par for that nasty little brewery's course). The beer you will find here is Badger or Sussex (which is apparently not very like the original King and Barnes Sussex).
28 Sep 2008 19:29
The Limeburners Arms, Newbridge
If you wanted a picture of a traditional English pub this would do, but the Limeburners seems to survive mainly on trade from the campsite so I wouldn't be too dismissive about the happy campers. More significant is that the interior of the pub seems to be very largely set up for dining now; the leather couches that used to be around the fireplace have gone (allegedly to grace the landlord's living room) and are replaced by dining tables.
Beer is Gale's (Fuller's) HSB and there are tables outside which are popular now that you can't smoke in pubs, but with the low ceilings in this public house the smoking ban is probably a blessing.
28 Sep 2008 19:26
Used to be the Greyhound, then the Puzzle, now called the Southern Belle. Is this a restaurant? There needs to be a good pub near the hospital but maybe only one, as the Old Suffolk Punch is now on a roll this place went downhill correspondingly. Not really Hammersmith, more Fulham.
25 Sep 2008 07:59
The Marlborough Head, Marble Arch
Closed for renovation at present, reopening October?
25 Sep 2008 07:56
The Carpenter's Arms, Hammersmith
Nice to see this is no longer a French theme bar. Though on second thoughts the French theme bar thing was quite amusing in an obsessive kind of way.
22 Sep 2008 16:10
I wouldn't bank on it, the pub has already been turned into a travesty long before Youngs decided they didn't really like pubs at all. We can but hope. The Black Lion is pretty good though.
22 Sep 2008 16:07
The only pub with a canal running through the bar, even if it's a locked-off spur. Beer was ok, pub is a decent enough place to sit and watch the activity on the main bit of the canal.
17 Sep 2008 21:00
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham
Allegedly 12th century, and partly built into Castle Rock itself, the Olde Trip to Jerusalem may be a victim of its own notoriety as well as of being owned by Greene King, but it is still an interesting place to visit and there are several beers on, even if Olde Trip ale isn't (apparently) what it was. As people have said, it would be a shame not to visit it, after all, if you were in Nottingham. Though the city does have many other pubs, several in the Good Beer Guide, and there is a tendency for very well known establishments to exert a kind of 'Top Ten Syndrome', by which a handful of well known ones get all the custom and the others wither away. It isn't their fault but let's not forget the backstreet pubs - they also serve (beer).
17 Sep 2008 20:53
Nice enough but why no bitter on over a weekend? Really does seem to be pushing itself as a restaurant. I sort of miss it when it was the Railway.
Still called the Bloated Mallard according to the sign; isn't that a riff on Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck?
14 Sep 2008 17:51
Good music, �3.10 a pint for Fullers London Pride but then you don't pay to get in and hear the music. Other venues you'd put a fiver in for that, so factor it in. I agree about the seating there isn't a lot so jockey for a place. Interesting mixed crowd though and competent bands.
14 Sep 2008 00:34
The Grey Horse, Kingston Upon Thames
Nobody comes here for the beer, to be honest, and in that it's a relief that it does have Young's Ordinary and Special on. A music-driven venue like this would very often have just lager, though I suppose as there is often folk or country music ale might go down better. The music can be excellent however and I have spent many a good night here listening to all kinds of bands. Regular folk / blues slots on Sundays are a piece of the community I would feel hard done by without.
12 Sep 2008 13:43
There are five, there used to be six but the one at the bottom of Tottenham Court Road was demolished. The most popular explanation is that the original 'blue posts' marked the edges of a royal hunting ground.
9 Sep 2008 20:12
Smart and modern looking sort of place but still very definitely a pub with a range of good beers on including Surrey Hills Shere Drop.
Kingston and Leatherhead CAMRA (Surrey) Pub Of The Year this year.
2 Sep 2008 23:08
I agree about the slightly off beer ... the one I had while an unusual ale was not at its best. A straightforward pub though with its 'unique' decor and not too far from the river.
28 Aug 2008 20:36
Secluded cafe-bar-restaurant that does however count as a pub - there is beer on draught and you don't have to have a meal as well. Much less crowded than the cafes on the Chiswick High Road nearby and a good place to go for a quiet afternoon drink. The merguez and tzatziki (quite a combination!) was good as well.
28 Aug 2008 13:40
The Canton Arms, South Lambeth
A good pint of Landlord here, the pub reasonable with a relaxed feel to it, friendly service. Not very pubby but if the 'moderne' is done properly it can be good. Suspect the staff is Portuguese as a lot of people are around here - muito obrigado, senhora!
26 Aug 2008 20:09
Cosy enough and feels like a proper local. Courage Best was allright but no more than. I can imagine that the events and what have you are good, but as people have said the atmosphere isn't all that.
26 Aug 2008 20:05
Nice enough I suppose in a comfortable sort of way and they promise events and stuff. But there is no real ale which if it is trying to be welcoming to the entire area is a real turnoff. There was some in bottles but it isn't the same. Ms Cheeky wonders if it's a gay bar (gay ... bar, gay bar) but I was unable to find out.
No more than 6 for anywhere that doesn't have real ale as it is alienating a large and often affluent sector of its potential customer base. This one gets five.
26 Aug 2008 20:03
Or expected, should I say. The trouble-causing element expect to do just that. The non-trouble-causing element want to have a few pints and chill out.
24 Aug 2008 10:24
A CAMRA favourite and with good reason - range of beers but also a down to earth pub with interesting decor and a regular beer festival. Re the previous comment, the real ale set are fairly self-patrolling, like science fiction fans (there is an overlap) - bad behaviour isn't tolerated within the community.
24 Aug 2008 10:21
Very touristy though the Bombardier was passable. Early Friday evening but unlike John Bonser's experience there were no 'heavies' on duty. Perhaps the previous review took place during a football tournament.
22 Aug 2008 20:33
Another little riverside pub that once must have been full of lightermen and warehouse workers but now is full of local office people and some locals, though the locals probably go more to the Old Star and the Cuckoo. More interesting beer than the Prospect of Whitby and probably friendlier too.
22 Aug 2008 20:31
The Prospect of Whitby, Wapping
An interesting pub with various places to look over the river. Plays on its history. Beer is ok but nothing remarkable - Adnams Broadside and a couple of others. Somewhere to get wet feet at high tide, and listen to the salt wheeling shriek of seabirds.
22 Aug 2008 20:28
Crowded and busy with people spiling out onto the pavement, Fuller's beer selling so fast it's no surprise it's fresh. Thai food very good also. People from the nearby (now gated) St Paul's Court have probably finally found it.
21 Aug 2008 23:36
Much improved, a range of interesting beers and a good vibe in here now. Also the upstairs seems to be generally open (instead of generally shut and only open for special occasions as before) which is an improvement as the place is getting so popular it could use the extra space. Still very much a pub though, resisting gastrophication.
21 Aug 2008 23:35
A good local pub which probably gets some custom from the local boaters but also neighbours. Nice and pubby, has a quiz, good ale (three on including Davenport Fat Catz) and a warm welcome. Didn't realise it had a second bar to the right as you enter (mainly for dining) - this makes it even better.
20 Aug 2008 19:32
Listed building consent given 15 August to turn it into a restaurant. Like the area doesn't have enough restaurants. What it lacks is pubs.
Make the most of this pub - it's going.
20 Aug 2008 15:24
No real ale, how come this used to be an Evening Standard Pub of the Year? I have never known there to be many people in here at all.
16 Aug 2008 19:22
The sign has gone. This is symptomatic and the pub really does seem to have fallen on hard times. I went there a couple of years ago and it was better then than it is now. Beer was John Smiths Cask (not bad to be honest) or Courage Best.
16 Aug 2008 18:58
Reasonable enough local near Surbiton station, if you want Youngs instead of Fullers try this one. No Directors on this occasion, Waggle Dance instead. (I was wondering if Courage Directors still exists, it seems it does). A small area out the back does as an outside of sorts. Various rooms inside including one which has a peculiar semicircular shape, and much trad darkwooded beamage is all about.
16 Aug 2008 18:56
A pretty low-beamed sort of pub on Downside Common. Hogsback TEA and a couple of Greene King ales on as well as Courage Best. Pleasant to sit outside on a Saturday afternoon.
16 Aug 2008 18:53
It does have a 'L'auberge' restaurant as part of it, but that is a Massive Pub Co thing, it isn't the only one (there is one in Clandon and one in Teddington for example) and to their credit they tend to leave the pub part alone. This pub is nicely tucked out of the way off the road. Unlike almost everybody else there I reckon, I didn't get there by car, having arrived by train and doing a circular walk around the local villages. Beer: a very good drop of St Austell Tribute.
16 Aug 2008 18:50
Big oldfashioned pub which may apparently be about to be turned into a restaurant. This should not happen as it is the only proper traditional pub in the centre of Cobham.
Food was bangers and mash, and in the modern style that is exactly what you get, none of this messing around with vegetables and salad. Washed that down with a pint of Adnams.
Seems to be a locals pub but the blackboards advertise shots and 4-pint jugs and there is a warning notice on the door about age checks, so possibly it appeals to the yoof element of Cobham such as it is, as well.
Please don't let this turn into yet another restaurant.
16 Aug 2008 18:46
Described on the outside as 'The Running Mare Restaurant' which doesn't bode (unless what you want is a restaurant) but inside it is a pub. Hogsback TEA was very good. A good situation too on the Tilt which is a small green space.
16 Aug 2008 18:43
Bar Ha Ha, Kingston Upon Thames
Correction: It was Alan Reeve Jones (in "London Pubs", 1962) who said "it is very pleasant to sit in a pub looking at the river. It is far more pleasant than sitting in a river looking at the pub." Not Jerome K Jerome, though the assumption is understandable.
13 Aug 2008 13:41
The Bricklayers Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
I agree with Theoperator and didn't make that clear in my previous note. Boris Vian could have been describing this pub when in 'The Heartsnatcher' he refers to "a semicircle of dark, hostile backs". Somewhere that only a few weeks ago was welcoming enough has turned into an extremely unwelcoming pub. I finished my drink and left.
11 Aug 2008 10:52
Busy three-floored pub on a main drag so it does get quite a lot of office turnover(this is like Apple turnover only not, as it were). Fullers beers - London Pride ran out so I destroyed a few brain cells with ESB. The guest beer was Adnams, priced at 'How much???'. The staff were also faffing around for ages before opening up the downstairs room which we had booked for 6 p.m. The little Belarussian barmaid who was working downstairs was an improvement however. Food was reasonable but expensive. The Mowbray being in the Law Courts area there is an accent on 'bray' from time to time.
8 Aug 2008 13:22
We are the chorus and we agree, we agree. Forgot I'd done this one as well on my trip to 'Tammuff'. Very, very forgettable and stark place like a car park for elderly relatives.
8 Aug 2008 13:06
Pleasant little local near Holborn and Chancery Lane, how unlike most of the stack-'em-up bars near here. A good range of beers with a list of what's coming on later. No, Mercurial, you're right, not the most comfy and characterful, but it is very small so space is at a premium. Still good though.
7 Aug 2008 23:55
A traditional two-bar local pub with reasonable food and three ales on tap - Marstons Pedigree and two guest ales. A bit of a smell of food but perhaps this is to be expected in these post-smoking ban times.
Has karaoke on Mondays.
The Granby is a dog-friendly pub which is not that common even in dog-liking Whitby.
6 Aug 2008 20:57
The Wych Elm, Kingston Upon Thames
Award-winning garden now looking superb thanks to the efforts of the landlord's wife who also does the cooking. Fuller's Chiswick on very good form as well. For traditional pubs one of the best in Kingston.
1 Aug 2008 11:24
Intriguing little multi-roomer by the market place, beer good, front room tiny and cosy. If you are in Faversham you really should visit this one.
26 Jul 2008 19:16
Nothing is very far from the centre in Faversham, as it isn't very big! Go and have some Kent's Best in the garden behind this pub and then go and look at the boats on the creek. Food was ok if unadventurous - maybe adventurous isn't what they want to be. It certainly satisified.
26 Jul 2008 19:15
Nice small pub plus Thai food. Low ceilings beware. Has some alternatives to Shepherd Neame beer which understandably are the standard in almost all pubs in Faversham.
26 Jul 2008 19:13
Not inspired by what I saw when I walked in, apart from the tap for Addlestones Cloudy Cider. So I had some of that. It is really a bit gastro and attracts the sort of people who are attracted by gastro pubs (really, that dress was a bit minimal wasn't it?). However you go out the back and what do you find but a bunch of tattooed blokes swearing like troopers and letting the rather enormous dog downstairs. It is a very big dog, sort of like a small horse and a bit unnerving.
25 Jul 2008 10:22
The Jolly Farmers (ex jordan), Lewisham
Missed it on the first pass as I was looking for the Jolly Farmers and the sign outside says 'the Jordan'. However on the way back I realised my mistake and went in. A traditional sort of pub making a big deal of fantasy football and with a limited summer menu; however the draw (no, not that kind!) for me was Cornish Coaster from the barrel, very good it was too. Yodagrit, pubs serving food in the evening is a relatively recent innovation as far as I can tell! This is a pub (and a good one too) and not a restaurant.
25 Jul 2008 10:17
A good gig by the Silver Wizard Project and Ten City Nation last night (missed the Kitty Lipps, had to get the bus) but as a whole the pub is dominated by the pool table. Not quite as bad possibly as earlier reviews make out - there are two beers on pump (but no decent cider). There is also a convenient kebab shop next door and the guitarist of 10CN was spotted getting a sneaky doner from there before the performance. The stage is a good size unlike some venues and the sound system is also good.
25 Jul 2008 10:14
The Pantechnicon Rooms, Knightsbridge
Now a restaurant called the Pantechnicon Rooms (reviewed in today's London Metro).
16 Jul 2008 10:02
A good little local pub with Fuller's beers on, good quality of beer and multi-roomed space in traditional style.
15 Jul 2008 20:31
The Hole In The Wall, Chiswick
Does a good Sunday lunch though once one of us got a cold plate of chicken when it should have been hot. Normally good though and the vegetables are tasty and interesting rather than a microwaved afterthought as is often the case. There is usually London Pride and Spitfire on pump. The garden is pleasant if not enormous.
23 Jun 2008 21:28
Large and comfortable pub on the edge of Wandsworth Common, Everards Tiger was only average unfortunately as the service was fine. The 1000th pub on my visited list so I'm pleased it was at least ok.
23 Jun 2008 19:44
Where is 'Bat', pray? You mean 'Battersea'. This is really a restaurant, as witness the dining-only layout, a menu on every table, huge serving area to front the kitchen.
23 Jun 2008 19:39
The Harveys was very good when I visited (Monday evening). My dad once described Amies Street, which this pub is on the corner of, as 'horrible', but that was many years ago and this little corner of Battersea has now been spruced up a bit. Nice to find an out of the way pub in this area. Most of the reviews here for the Fox and Hounds seem to concentrate on the food, I wouldn't know about that but the other problem with an up and coming area is that pubs seem to turn into restaurants (cf. 'Duck', formerly the Dog and Duck). Fortunately there are still enough of hoi polloi around here that pubs will continue to be popular.
23 Jun 2008 19:38
One of the Guildford town centre pubs, this is a reasonable little place which at the moment does a very good drop of Hogsback TEA (Traditional English Ale). Handy for a half after shopping at $nearby_department_store.
21 Jun 2008 16:47
Not so much Oasis as REM, specifically, shiny happy people! Adnams bitter �3 a pint. I sort of agree with everyone on this pub (unfortunately) - it is very much a modern place and nothing at all of what is suggested by the exterior. Attractive barmaids which is always a plus, as is the outside area which is architecturally well handled by glass screens.
Look at it this way. Almost opposite this pub is a white wedge-shaped building that still bears the remains of a hanging sign. This was once the Durham Arms. It was a pub, and is so no more. The Beehive has changed and adapted; and despite what Bertrand Russell said about 'one can adapt to anything, even sitting on a hot stove', the adaptation is no bad thing and the Beehive, unlike the Durham Arms, remains open. Anywhere that can appeal to a range of demographics and not just the white male which is allegedly the backbone of pub-going - and is nonetheless getting his beer from the off licence these days - has an edge, and an edge is what you need. Not traditional, but I liked it.
20 Jun 2008 21:55
Betty Stogs and Weltons in a relaxed, comfortable pub which is a credit to an area that is a surprising den of good food and drink these days. Get off the 185 bus at Dog Kennel Hill and go straight up the road. Friendly welcome, nice little pub that I suspect doesn't do food given the Asian takeaway opposite for which there are menus on the pub's windowsill!
20 Jun 2008 21:44
Fairly sparse decor, in the modern style, but don't let that put you off, this is a quirky and friendly little local without many of the pretensions that an SW3 postcode implies. They are also quite capable of doing proper coffee.
18 Jun 2008 19:23
Largely undamaged oldfashioned pub with three ales on and a food menu, probably the last proper pub on the Kings Road.
18 Jun 2008 19:19
Large and inevitably crowded with people paying for everything by card instead of cash. A range of beers at least as some people have reported. Staff seemed ok.
17 Jun 2008 22:40
A town centre pub which has a large screen and first seems just to be a lager and sports oriented place but there are two real ales at the end of the bar. Certainy also a proper pub unlike some of the places further into the town centre of Tamworth.
15 Jun 2008 15:37
A friendly and cosy little local pub near Tamworth station - but by no means a 'station pub' (it isn't that close!). Sells a range of ales including Church Ales 'Vicar's Ruin' which was very pleasant. Also offers accommodation - maybe next time!
15 Jun 2008 15:36
The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
Quiet but unpretentious corner local, only one ale (GK IPA), simple food menu, a good view over Fairfield and also outside seating around the back.
14 Jun 2008 13:23
The Spring Grove, Kingston Upon Thames
Still a good local pub, as yet unruined by Youngs apparent fear of the 'p' word since they got rid of the brewing arm. It also, as well as the usual Bombardier, Ordinary and Special, sells Deuchars IPA at the moment, which was a plus. Nice to sit outside on a quiet evening and marvel at the timewarped shop frontages opposite. Who ever thought 'Wavy Line' was a good name for a company?
12 Jun 2008 22:00
"No one else has complained today". Classic. They obviously did yesterday and will do tomorrow.
Why is it called the Vivian anyway?
12 Jun 2008 16:01
A nice pub, plenty of people in there on a Wednesday evening and you could see why (and it isn't just because it's opposite the tube station and near to Waitrose!). A larger range of beers than the otherwise admirable Gloucester - I had Shepherd Neame Spitfire which was fine.
12 Jun 2008 09:39
Gloucester Arms, Knightsbridge
Good for a pint of Pride and a bowl of chips - which was not too big a bowl either, what is it with so many eating places that give you too much and charge you for it? Then people are surprised that we have such a problem with being the obesity boys. That as I say was not the case here. It is also suitable dark and brass-shiny unlike the bland 'ooh don't say the p-word' (that's 'pub') approach that is killing our taverns as surely as anything in Chesterton. I would return.
12 Jun 2008 09:37
The Prince Regent, South Kensington
A bit bland and the whole pub seemed to be reserved for a group of American students - according to the Yorkshireman I was talking to. I didn't have any beer as I was on the way to an appointment but would not refuse to come back here. It does sound like it used to be a lot better as the Black Widow though. My Yorkshire friend reckons the day of the real ale pub is over. I hope he's wrong.
12 Jun 2008 09:32
The Queens Head, Kingston Upon Thames
Nearly went gastro a while back, a lucky escape, became a proper pub but in the modern style which means they actually clean the place and all kinds of people go there. Has been through a variety of names but manages to keep going while South Kingston is losing its pubs.
10 Jun 2008 08:04
The Swan, Kingston Upon Thames
Closed and boarded up. What is happening to pubs in this area? First the Duke and the Cambridge Arms, now the Marlborough, the Bricklayers and the Swan: all gone.
8 Jun 2008 15:56
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
It was sold in 1987 and presumably reverted to just being the Flamingo at that point, brewing continued on site as by the Kingston Brewing Company, until 1998.
8 Jun 2008 15:53
Cosy little pub round the back from Holborn tube station, not too busy, ploughmans and pork pie and a pint of McMullens, good service, quite what was needed. Most people who use the local pubs like the Square Pig on the square, probably don't know the Ship is there. Worth a visit.
7 Jun 2008 17:26
A good Fullers pub which also had Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale, a very nice beer for a warm evening when you don't want anything too malty.
5 Jun 2008 22:07
Essentially a riverside drinking terrace just along the river from the Tate Modern, the rest of the Bankside restaurants and tat shops, Bernie Spain Gardens, etc. Sells the usual Youngs bitters and Bombardier. Busy all the time, I don't doubt.
5 Jun 2008 21:52
The Willoughby Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
I think I'll have to pop in here later before they have Very Little Gravitas Indeed. Shere Drop was certainly fine the other day, Willoughby the cat was asleep, all was well.
17 May 2008 08:52
I once went into the gents in this pub and found two men in a threatening manner making fun of my inability to urinate while these two were hanging about. Due to my increasing anger at this situation I waited until they had left and then broke the mirror.
This was a long time ago but it gives you some idea of the kind of boghole this is.
15 May 2008 10:28
Boadicea, Charing Cross Station
Went in to see if it really was as bad as all that. It's really a station caff that sells beer and, as many people have said, there are several pubs down the side of the station in Villiers Street to start with as well as others nearby, so why would you not go there?
12 May 2008 07:27
Very pleasant little pub but with the ability to become very crowded as it's small and also on one of the Ale Trail maps. Several beers on including Betty Stogs.
12 May 2008 07:25
Refit has opened it up a bit and not changed the place excessively. Beer is the usual Youngs and Wells stock plus Deuchars IPA which was on good form. The upstairs is in common use now (previously I think it was special functions only).
9 May 2008 22:22
The Alexandra Bar and Dining Room, Finsbury Park
The Sir George Robey has been derelict for a while but is being refurbished as some kind of bar.
9 May 2008 15:44
The Slug and Lettuce, Bayswater
Now called the Commander. Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice.
7 May 2008 22:16
Do you mean my comment or the one before it? Mine was purely from having gone there for a private function on Friday afternoon. Nowt to do wi' CAMRA notes.
4 May 2008 12:29
The Old Suffolk Punch, Hammersmith
No longer the OSP but properly the Old Suffolk Punch again, yes it's Greene King but still quite a good pub. Has the old OSP and previous Old Suffolk Punch layout where the old Golden Gloves's right hand bar is now the kitchen. Karaoke on a Friday night is a regular occurrence.
3 May 2008 01:35
Nice 'country' pub with a range of beers including Doom Bar and St Austell Tribute - this may have something to do with London Cornish RFC apparently being based here. Plenty of space (we were at a function taking up the end room, but the rest of the pub didn't seem crowded). Somewhere you could have as the lunch stop on a walk across the Heath and commons. Also seems to have Brooks Blues which migrated from the Brook Green Hotel.
2 May 2008 17:15
The Marlborough, Kingston Upon Thames
I've heard that interest is being expressed in the place at the moment so it may open again in the near future.
"No one cried"? Yes, they did. But there were all too few of them, as there were all too few people going there. Some of the nearby pubs, quite honestly, aren't all that, yet they keep trading somehow.
30 Apr 2008 09:40
The Hammersmith Ram, Hammersmith
Still good and not really changed since the day they knocked down the division between the front and back bars and made it all one. As others have said one of the few decent pubs around here.
29 Apr 2008 12:33
The Honest Cabbage, Kingston Upon Thames
Cosier would be good, and food as well - at the moment it is very quiet, so much so I wonder how it keeps going. It has to contend with the Tup at the other end of the road which is where all the locals (well, the over-21s anyhow) go at present it seems. Good luck to it though and fair dos, and yes the female staff are very nice.
27 Apr 2008 20:19
Large local pub whose landlord apparently drinks lager but realises the importance of a wide client base (and I'm not referring to their waistlines!) so puts on several ales as well. Moorhouse Pride of Pendle last night as well as Dark Star Hophead.
26 Apr 2008 09:11
The Claret Free House, Addiscombe
Oldfashioned-looking pub, despite which it apparently has only been a pub for 30 years or so; sells a range of beers from a little bar on the left and the rest is nicely informal. Palmers bitter is the regular one but there are also a couple of beers from Dark Star on at present. Really a proper pub.
26 Apr 2008 09:09
Large pub with music going on and cabaret upstairs on Wednesdays. Beer was Foxs Nob among others - in good condition.
24 Apr 2008 07:46
The Bricklayers Arms, Brentford
I'd expect the Robert Rankin fan club might look into taking this place over.
22 Apr 2008 14:30
Possibly it's improved since July 2006. It's true that you aren't going to find people called Jemima and Tarquin in here or a menu including sundried tomato bruschetta, but the Canbury Arms and the Pottery have that market to themselves. The Kingston Gate is a down to earth and quite large pub, possibly the only outlet for Shepherd Neame beers in Kingston, as well as the usual lagers etc. The Brakspears Oxford Gold has been a bit stale of late but possibly they are trying to have too many beers on pump and as a result the barrel stays on too long.
There is Karaoke every second Saturday night and other events going on from time to time. If it was that bad a place the doormen would stand stolidly outside with folded arms and steely eye, instead of mixing with the folks inside. There can be trouble in any pub that works as a pub (instead of a restaurant) and for that, the Kingston Gate is no worse than some and better than many (or do I mean that the other way round).
21 Apr 2008 21:32
Traditional pub in a village near Leatherhead, plenty of beers on for the beer festival this weekend but normally good ale as well, the landlord is a fan of good beers, trouble is the place is a mile from the railway station and a mile and a half from the bus stop. Pub will have a refit later this year but most of the traditional interior will be retained.
19 Apr 2008 22:44
The Prince of Wales, Battersea
Large Young's pub with an outside area, Ordinary was all right but too cold, what is it with Young's pubs these days? They all seem to be turning a bit bland as though they were ashamed of being public houses.
19 Apr 2008 09:26
The Meyrick Arms, Clapham Junction
Death's waiting room. Near the station, yes, but worse than even what that implies. Foul, dingy, to all intents and purposes on its last legs. Nightmarish.
18 Apr 2008 19:29
A Young's pub with all the kind of charmless makeover that unfortunately implies these days. Not a bad looking place but really doesn't feel like a pub any more.
18 Apr 2008 19:25
Basic but not unfriendly I found. No real ale, no, but not bad for all that. A long chalk better than some of the dives around the station.
18 Apr 2008 19:24
The Westbridge Public House & Dining Rooms, Battersea
Relaxed pub/bar with an excellent drop of Wadworths St George and the Dragon at present, served in a handle jug. Two rooms and a very small area out the back. Has aspirations, as they say.
18 Apr 2008 19:22
The Lark in the Park, Islington
Relaxed sort of pub, no bitter on pump but there is Pitfield Bitter and Eco Warrior in bottles. Does live music and comedy nights and seems to have some connection with the local Greek community. But giggers beware, the stage is tiny and the pub is an odd shape - half cut in half as though there had once been two bars and they were semi knocked through into one. (There may be also people in the audience talking loudly and ignoring you, but that happens all over the place). The extension area at the back may be bland but gives the place (formerly the George IV I believe) much needed extra space.
As to the area being 'rough' I left at 10 pm and it was not a trouble, despite being close to the Caledonian Road.
17 Apr 2008 07:55
It isn't really a pub, more a bar-restaurant, but it does that kind of thing quite well. Burger and chips was ok, not a lot of beer choice, not the sort of place that in London is going to have handpulled bitter.
17 Apr 2008 07:49
The Fighting Cocks, Kingston Upon Thames
Thank you chubtank. Trebles_all_round can hang his head in shame. 'Sides, as I understand it, most youngsters drink spirits. Lager is an over-25s thing.
14 Apr 2008 15:08
Seemed very good to me, good range of beers, attentive landlord.
8 Apr 2008 12:59
This used as Glasgowboy says to be called the Railway Tap and is visible in one ep of 'The Sweeney' - probably filmed from the nearby tower block. Was fairly quiet on a Sunday afternoon and the staff attitude, well frankly there wasn't any. Fairly bleak and could really do with being divided up into three or four separate rooms. Why oh why does everyone insist on open plan? It's draughty and inadvisable.
30 Mar 2008 19:33
The Grand Union, Westbourne Park
Seemed ok. From here you get a lovely view of the canal and the bus garage. I sit here by the canal mainlining black coffee to keep my eyelids from falling down with the thunk of a corner shop's shutter closing an hour before a Millwall match. At least they do proper coffee. Despite the name they do not seem to do Grand Union beer, instead it's Fuller's London Pride.
30 Mar 2008 19:27
Sprawling comfortable pub near the cemetery ("We're all that"). Two ales, much other kind of drink, and sofas and club armchairs. Not the best timing for my visit as the upstairs was reserved for a private party and much of the downstairs seemed to be in use by the same group. But at least it suggests that the pub is popular.
30 Mar 2008 19:22
The Old Queens Head, Islington
Good music, comfortable quirky interior upstairs and not too bad down, beer ok considering London prices but Fullers London Pride had run out. Got talking to Germans and a Canadian. Friendly atmosphere.
25 Mar 2008 23:43
Pretty good food and beer pub round the back of the hotel row of Heathrow. The corporadas who own the big hotels would like you to believe they have a captive audience; the Pheasant would like you to know otherwise.
23 Mar 2008 10:08
Best pub in Ashtead (although that isn't saying a lot). Moorhouse Pride of Pendle and Deuchars IPA both good.
19 Mar 2008 11:55
WHS. Twenty minutes to get served by barstaff who had noticed us but were too busy sorting out the till and flirting with young women who were standing further along the bar. Nice to have handle jugs instead of straight glasses but there was no choice - not everyone likes them, we only got them because they'd run out of straight glasses.
Given jeffdaff's comments I wonder if it is in fact staff ageism. None of us are ancient but we aren't 20 either.
Unless this place sorts its act out I can't give it more than 4 out of 10.
19 Mar 2008 11:52
The Frog Inn the Bedford, Fulham
Seems to be now called the 'Frog in the Bedford', half returning to its original name of the Bedford Arms.
19 Mar 2008 10:36
The Boaters Inn, Kingston Upon Thames
I think the station distances may be calculated on postcode or by straight line distance. Geographically Hampton Wick probably is nearer, but as you say it's across the river. Kingston is certainly more convenient.
17 Mar 2008 08:00
Now closed and boarded, looks like it's over for this one.
14 Mar 2008 10:21
The Honest Cabbage, Kingston Upon Thames
Now hosting the karaoke from the Marlborough, as well as Japanese/Korean food in the little side bar. Ale choice is one of two (they seem to either have London Pride or Wells Bombardier) but good enough for me. Have also reinstated Kronenbourg 1664 instead of American piss water, yippee!
I am informed the pub will stay a pub even when it changes hands shortly. So they just need to find the old comfy chairs they threw out a while back, hint hint.
13 Mar 2008 22:35
The Canbury Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
And for a pub-restaurant it's also very expensive. It's really just a bit too gastro and minimalist for my tastes. Proper pubs don't have to be smelly and full of old blokes blowing the froth off their Thruxton's Old Gutblower - but they have to be a bit more 'pub' than this.
7 Mar 2008 12:37
The Cricketers, Kingston Upon Thames
Another pub that may benefit from the sad demise of the Marlborough - not devoid of its share of rowdies of a Saturday night (but then where is?), but it at least used to put on live entertainment and has a room upstairs for same. As it overlooks Fairfield Green (unfortunately across a road) it should also profit from its good location. Beer is at very least adequate also and the Thai food was very good.
5 Mar 2008 16:57
It's OK and the beer is good enough but it is unatmospheric, considering pubs like the Park Tavern and Willoughby are nearby. This is the sort of thing that has happened to Young's pubs since their brewery business went to Bedford and they've become solely a pub management company.
28 Feb 2008 10:15
Paul - that was probably the Spencer Arms, up towards Putney.
6 Feb 2008 22:55
The Wych Elm, Kingston Upon Thames
Old school local with two bars, traditional decor, an award-winning garden and Fullers Ales. Surprisingly there is a second bar where darts is played. This is a community pub, after all.
Yes, I am commenting on what ales there are, but that bears mention because you tend to get the same lagers everywhere. Beers vary.
6 Feb 2008 16:49
A little gem of a pub tucked away in a mews, possibly difficult to find, one of the small public houses that used to be used by the servants and ostlers of the well-to-do who lived around here. Has been in every edition of the Good Beer Guide - one of very few pubs that have. The upstairs function room is going to become a restaurant. This seems the way to go for pubs these days.
23 Jan 2008 22:43
The Weir Hotel, Walton on Thames
Nice cosy sort of place with Brakspears beer as well as the more usual ones. Situated by the river on the towpath it has a good location and friendly staff. A bit food-oriented and yes, there were families with (well-behaved) children in there, but as the last review suggests, if you don't want to eat your dinner in a creche this is a good place to be.
A pub that puts 'Parallel Lines' on as background music is ok by me too.
20 Jan 2008 14:53
The Willoughby Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Small, crowded, full of football ... Rick has been running it for years and knows his stuff, there is an ever-changing range of cask beers, and it is a proper community pub.
20 Jan 2008 09:57
The Wheelwrights Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Quite full of tables at the Clarence Street end, this is a small pub that is one of all too few pubs in the centre of Kingston. As a result it gets quite busy. Staff are efficient and friendly though and the decor is fresh and clean. Two cask beers (the ubiquitous London Pride and also Adnams) and lagers also.
20 Jan 2008 09:45
Tucked away the far side of the Green, the White Swan seems to concentrate on food a bit more than beer, say. But it has the grace of not getting too crowded and the staff are friendly. There is also an outside area even if there is a railway line just up the embankment from it.
14 Jan 2008 21:29
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
Large sports-oriented pub in the general Tup style on London Road, so a favourite for the after-office crowd. Also has live music on Fridays and Saturdays. The outside still proclaims it to be 'The Three Tuns' but it's been the Tup for a few years and before that it was a Firkin pub.
14 Jan 2008 21:12
The Honest Cabbage, Kingston Upon Thames
Fairly cosy little pub on a street corner near Fairfield. One ale and a few lagers and an array of whiskeys etc. Promises entertainment including music and karaoke - used to have jazz on Thursdays last year, hopefully it'll come back.
14 Jan 2008 21:10
Nice traditional pub round the back from central Richmond. Fullers but also Brakspears as guest beer at the mo, and also Fullers Porter which was unusual.
13 Jan 2008 17:17
The Boaters Inn, Kingston Upon Thames
Closing for renovation, though we're promised it will open again as a pub.
7 Jan 2008 20:02
Another labyrinthine Molesey pub with some good beers on as well as jazz on a Sunday evening. Too easy to get lost in!
6 Jan 2008 22:50
Not three bad actually - of Irish theme pubs O'Neills are probably the least offensive. The ladies loo door does say MNA but the gents doesn't say FIR, as in 'fir bolg' for example.
6 Jan 2008 19:34
Bishop Out Of Residence, Kingston Upon Thames
Spacious pub on two levels in a modern (fairly) brick development on the Kingston riverside and close to Kingston Bridge so you can watch the boats going past and tourists trying to feed the swans.
4 Jan 2008 11:38
The Marlborough, Kingston Upon Thames
A cut above the average for local pubs, this place has good and friendly atmosphere and an interesting and comfortable (though by no means traditional) interior. A large garden out the back for smoking in. Stays open later on Friday nights (karaoke every second week). Worth a try.
1 Jan 2008 11:39
The Prince of Wales, New Malden
Closed since 2015, now demolished along with the rest of the site for redevelopment.
24 Jun 2020 21:26