London Pub Tour 22 - Belgravia: Grenadier, Greenwoods, Fox & Hounds, Rose & Crown

This pub tour started off with a visit to the Grenadier (SW1X 7NR) during a quiet lunchtime. In a residential cul-de-sac (Mews) in one of the embassy quarters in London the Grenadier can be a hard pub to find, as the small street down towards it doesn't let on what awaits at the end. The blue fronting with the red door up the steps, and the red sentry post stand out from a distance. Up the stairs and through the door, and the small bar is directly in front of you. On this trip they were offering up Abbot, Wherry, Pride and Ghost ship on hand pump and London Pilsner, Hop House, Stella, Guinness, Fosters, Peroni and 1664 on Keg. The bottle selecton offered was limited, so I settled for a pint of the Woodforde's Wherry at £4.80. The Wherry was up to its usual par, and I drink I do enjoy, and sadly feel has been discredited due the prevalence of Wherry home brew kits.

The pub itself is quite small. The front bar area is wood floor has some seating on either side, but also down on either side of the bar are further seating areas. The area to the left is the dinning area, which is carpeted and all the tables were marked as reserved though wasn't busy on this visit. After grabbing a table in the corner, I sipped and enjoy the Wherry whilst looking around at the pub interior. One thing that obviously stands out with this pub is all the bank notes from the varying countries stuck to the ceiling with messages written on them from visiting customers. This carries through into the dinning area as well. There were a few shelves with books in the corner I was sat in, so I browsed through a few of them. As I still had time to spare I stayed at the Grenadier for a second lunchtime beer, and selected a pint of Abbott ale at £4.90. As a Greene King beer this obviously isn't to my taste, but tasted much better than I remembered, with some nice toffee flavour. After this pint it was back to the grind of work.

After work it was time to head to Greenwoods (SW1E 5LB) a bar that had opened in the new Victoria Nova development. The pub had only opened a few days prior and I could see had a few things on tap that I fancied trying. When walking into the pub I was surprised to see that it also contained a Barbers and Brow Bar. Both of these opened up, without doors, into the pub and food area, which I couldn't understand as being hygienic. The only saving grace I guess would be, being able to take your beer in whilst getting your hair cut, but don't ask me how you ensure no hair gets into your drink. After this unusual sight it was time to finally see what beers they offered. The downstairs bar was a large oval shape and the beers are repeated on all sides. No ale is served but on tap they did offer a varied selection of beers from Amstel and Heineken, through to Pogo by Wild Beer and Harbour Larger. I decided to keep it sensible following on from the two at lunch and stick to a lower percentage, so selected Lucky Penny at 4% which was £5 for the pint (Quite reasonable for central London craft beer). There was nothing standout with the Lucky Penny, you could perhaps say it was a little bland.

After wondering around the downstairs, which was large, but aside from the bar area felt more geared up for food, I decided to check out the Sports Bar upstairs. Now the sports bar was advertised as having five large screens and two jumbo screens, so you can see all the action. It turns out the Jumbo screens are not in addition to, but are actually part of the five. Even with this, it seems like the placement of the screens, particularly for a sports bar, was an after thought. The three large screens were behind the bar, but the height wasn't that great, so anyone sitting at a table would have their view perhaps blocked by those ordering at the bar. One of the jumbo screens was placed down low and seemed setup more for those that booked the sofas infront of it, whilst the final screen was placed down in the games area, and seemed the only sensible one. The sports bar area was also much smaller than I thought and had less seating than required as became evident later.

As I was one of the first upstairs I grabbed a seat on one of the large high tables. These tables seat about 8 people and was the smallest of the tables offered. After finishing up my pint I went to the bar and ordered a pint of the Pogo by Wild Beer. This was a marked step up in price at £6.20, for what was still a 4% beer. Whilst ordering my pint I again noticed what I felt was poor planning and after thoughts. The bar is set out like an american bar where there are sinks and other elements in the way of the taps for the bar tenders. The taps were actually so far away the barmaid struggled to pour correctly. She would push the pint glass out then turn the tap on. Once pouring finishing she would push it slightly closer to the customer, but at this stage she was at full reach. This doesn't seem a comfortable way to serve, and alongside this as she wasn't holding the beer glass, she had no control over tilting it, and controlling the head.

I took my pint back to the table and had a glance through their menu. At this stage I noticed they actually listed all their beers (Keg & Bottle) and seen I'd selected the highest priced keg beer, haha. The beer actually started out tasting good but then seemed to lose its flavour as it went along. Greenwoods sports bar is competing with the Sports Bar & Grill just across the road in Victoria station. The beer offering and pricing is much better, but the layout for watching sports is nowhere near the level available in the Sports Bar & Grill.

Photo by Ewan Munro

Greenwoods was starting to get too busy and taking up a table that could seat 8 seemed a bit ridiculous so it was time to head onto another venue. Skipping most of the pubs in Victoria as there would be too much of an after work crowd I made my way to the Fox and Hounds (SW1W 8HR) just off Sloane Square. This is a small old Charrington's pub on a street corner in a residential road, that is now a Young's. This pub's claim to fame is that it was the last in London to apply for a spirit licence. The whole pub is cosy and small, but the bar itself is also small. The number of taps at this pub has increased in the last year to include beers such as Coast to Coast and Three Hop alongside the standard offering of Estrella, Amstel, Guinness and Thatchers. There are four hand pumps but on this visit only three were in action offering up Tickenham's Grandstand, Special and Bitter. I was still being good and keeping the abv steady and low, so selected an Amstel.

The bar in the pub is side on to the front door. The front section of the pub has a two tables, with one of the tables actually covering over the entrance to the cellar for the beer delivery. Interestingly on a delivery day they pull forward the table and the bench under the front window. This then reveals that under the window are doors that open up to the outside, allowing the draymen to pass through the beer to the cellar entrance. Further back into the pub are a few more small tables, before the sofa area and a book cabinet. There are paintings on the walls throughout the pub, and above the sofa area there is a sky light, as this is the extension onto the original bar. The bar felt quite busy with about 15 people and I was lucky to get a seat. I would certainly recommend visiting this small little pub, but just avoid coming during the Chelsea Flower Show.

Photo by Ewan Munro

After finishing up my pint I decided to move on and get to one last pub, which was just a few minutes walk away. The Rose & Crown (SW1W 8BU) is situated on the busy through road from Chelsea bridge to Sloane Square. There is outside picnic bench seating though even on a nice day, the noise of the road wouldn't tempt me to sit out here. This pub was packed with workers many from the nearby building site, however I was still served almost immediately. The pub offer Pride and Doombar on hand pump, whilst on keg there was Guinness, Strongbow, 1664, Fosters, Carling, Peroni, Stella and Birra. I stepped it up a notch on the ABV for this pint and went for a Stella along with a pack of prawn cocktail Tayto's. The pub feels like an old school Irish boozer with the carpet and seats. There was a pool table and jukebox on one side of the pub. The bar is not facing out towards the street, but is facing inwards, so to see whats on tap you need to come in.

I managed to find a small table and sat down there to enjoy my snack and lager. The pub had a menu, and it appears to be offering Thai food, except for the traditional roast on Sunday's. Being the nearest pub to the Chelsea Pensioner's they offer a discount and also have some collect boxes for the poppy appeal. During my stay the pub got even busier, to the point of being rammed. I decided to call it time, and I certainly knew I had a good run of beer and pubs that day. Sadly I forgot to take any photos when in either the Fox and Hounds or the Rose, probably due to the volume of alcohol I had consumed. Also, just to note that this was the first Friday in February, so I expected the pubs to be busy and they lived up to my expectations.