London Pub Tour 36 - Heathrow: Three Bells and Five Tuns

So on this London Pub tour I've covering two of the landside pubs I visited in Heathrow. The first I visited was the Three Bells (TW6 1AD - T3) back near the middle of November last year. I had popped down to wave off some of the other half's family though they were heading in different directions and had different flight times. So in between the two flights we stopped off at the Three Bells for food and a drink. the pub itself feels quite hidden upstairs in T3 as it's right down the far end from security near the toilets. The pub itself looked very gastro from the outside and this should have been expected considering it was a Geronimo (aka Youngs). Through the large entrance opening (no doors) you can see a large horse shoe bar. on the right of the entrance is a soft seating area with a carpet floor, bookcases, flowers and an open fire. This is a very cosy seating area and as it's away from the main noise of the airport is good to relax. The whole pub has a vintage rustic look, with bookcases or wall features separating areas. The remainder of the pub is normal low or high tables with plenty of space between tables for all the bags.

The pub wasn't too busy and there were plenty of tables and sofas available. As I was eating a low table was justified. The food menu was quite limited and I ended up going for the buttermilk chicken burger. The beer selection was okay for an airport pub offering three hand pumps which at the time were Young's Bitter, Doombar and Bombardier. On keg there was Fosters, Guinness, Becks Vier, Aspalls Suffolk, Peroni, London Lager, London IPA, Camden Hells, Camden Pale and Heineken. I opted for a pint of Young's London IPA which I've found hit and miss with my tastes over time. Sadly this time it was more of a miss and it wasn't so refreshing as the last time I had it, nor did it suit the food so well. We received table service the whole time we were there and the service was faultless. There wasn't a long waiting time to receive the drinks or the food. I could certainly see myself perhaps opting to have a few bevs in here before boarding my flight rather than on the usually more chaotic departure side pubs. My phone was low and there were plenty of charging slots all around the pub, including multiple charging points on all the high tables.

My next visit to Heathrow dropping off family occurred in March and this time at Terminal 5. This was my first visit to Terminal 5 and as a piece of architecture it was beautiful but for landside shops it certainly was bare. Thankfully there was a pub the Five Tuns (TW6 2GA - T5) which so happened to be a Geronimo's. This pub was on the main concourse just a short walk from the security gates but there wasn't much passing traffic and T5 felt quiet. The pub again had a large open front but was a smaller pub than the Three Bells. The pub also lacked the more comfortable seating area that was in the Three Bells. A large horse show bar was straight ahead in the middle with bar stools available. Low tables were on both sides of the bar offering plenty of seating for diners. The tables were closer together and this was due to an area at the front being reserved for bag storage.

The service here wasn't as great and it took a while for drinks to be delivered and having to chase for items missed. I opted for the fish and chips though regretted that choice as I've realised I'm not a huge battered fried fish guy any more. Someone ordered the pie which look very small and more pastry than filling. The pub offered a similar range of beers on keg which included Amstel, Peroni, Guinness, London Lager, Heineken and Aspalls Suffolk. There were only two ales on which were a choice of Doombar or Young's Bitter. I opted for a pint of the Meantime Lager which went down very nicely on this hot day. After finishing my drink I did order another but this time from the bottle selection and as I was seeing off my other half's family I opted for Erdinger Alkoholfrei. As a 0% beer it was quite tasty but obviously lacking in the alcohol taste you would get from the regular Erdinger. When about half way through the beer I just so happened to turn around the bottle and notice the expiry date on the back which stated October 2012! The beer was 5 bloody years past its best before. I informed the waitress that the beer stated it was well past it's best before although it didn't taste off to me at all. She checked and confirmed the rest were past their best before as well so I'm guessing they hadn't sold any of these since opened the pub. I got it taken off the bill but did finish the rest of the beer as it didn't taste skunked at all.

So two different terminals with landside pubs run by the same company but two totally different experiences. The Three Bells was enjoyable and relaxing whilst the Five Tuns was, well poorly run. Lessons to note are at Terminal 5 head straight through to the air side pubs.