It was a quiet day at work so I once again decided to pay a visit to some of the local pubs, in particular ones I haven't visited for 6 months+. My first port of call was the Horse and Groom (SW1X 7BA) a Shep Neame pub which is down a mews just off from all the embassies. Normally on a nice sunny or just warm day people are outside drinking, but it was a rainy day so it seems most people didn't feel like heading out. The outside is typical shep neame colours and the door is on the right with a step up. The pub itself isn't large and only has about 7 tables in the bar area (3 high, 4 low). I understand there is a dinning room upstairs though I would assume its about a similar size. The floor is wood boards and the walls have wood panels on them.
The bar is in the far corner to the left and they had three hand pumps serving up Whitstable Bay Pale, Spitfire and Hog Island. On tap there was Thatchers, Samuel Adams, Guinness, San Miguel, Ashai, Oranjeboom and Whitstable Bay Blonde. I hadn't come across the Hog Island before so went for a pint of that but sadly it was at it's end and the barman asked me to select something else, so I went for a pint of Sam Adams at £5. There were only 4 other people in the bar but soon a group of three came in for food and went up into the dinning room. The pub was quiet and relaxing, though the outside area is a nice sun trap during the good weather and that is normally when this place is busiest. There are some large wooden barrels outside in the mews for leaning beers on.
This is not a bad Shep Neame pub though limited on beer selection the venue itself is nice. I finished off my pint and made my way back towards Victoria station and for my second stop the Plumbers Arms (SW1W 0LN). The Plumbers Arms is nearly 200yrs old, and is a Taylor Walker pub that is most famous for being the pub that Lord Lucan's Mrs ran to covered in blood. The pub has a small outside area for standing and the inside is not as large as you might expect. The bar is on the far left upon entering but the placing of a huge support pillar in the middle of the pub does eat into the space. there are tables placed around the outside, and down at the end of the bar is a little soft seating area. There are function rooms upstairs though these are very bare with some basic table and chairs. The floor is wood apart from the tile around the bar area. Most of the people in the pub were tourist eating and there was only a single bar lady on.
The pub has four hand pumps offering T.E.A, Sussex's Best, GK IPA and GK Fresh Golden Beer. On tap there was Heineken, Hells, Sambrooks Pale, Becks Vier, Peroni, Stella and Guinness. Although not a fan of Greene King ales I did go for the Fresh Golden Beer under their St Edmund's brand. There was no mention of Greene King on the badge, which I've noticed on a few of their beers now. The beer had the usual GK taste but slightly weaker than normal, and the fruitiness of the beer came through more, which was nice. There were stalls at the bar but I opted to sit on one of the free tables. Sadly they had a TV on showing Loose Woman, with special guest Jeremy Kyle.....shudder.
I drank the pint quite quickly, probably helped by what was on TV. As I had a bit more time on this long lunch break I decided to stop by the Victoria (SW1W 0NR) which was just down the round. This has now been rebranded from Taylor Walker to Greene King and has a new sign to go with it. This is always a busy pub and at this time on lunch it was still quite busy. There are two entrances, the main entrance facing towards the station and a small back door entrance on the opposite side mainly used by workers to get into the pub quicker. Along with the rebrand the pub had a fresh coat of paint inside. To get to the bar you need to walk into the centre of the pub. There are a lot of tables varying in size, but the middle area infront of the bar is open with some booths against the wall.
There were 4 ales on offer which were 1730, Tribute, Doombar and Glory. On tap we had Fosters, Aspall, Belhaven Pilsner, Stella, Peroni, Guinness, Becks, 1664, Hells, Hop House 13 and Punk IPA. I hadn't come across the Belhaven Pilsner before so decided to give it a try and immediately regretted it. The beer had a metalic taste and not much aroma to it. It was difficult to drink and I suddenly remembered the last Belhaven pint I had which was very much similar on New Yrs in the Boot. I can sense a trend there. And to top it off, I only realised at that stage that Greene King own Belhaven, so their ales aren't that great and the lager is metallic, not looking good. I think I left a bit near the end and made my way back to work with a bit more energy in me.
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