London Pub Tour 25 - Stockwell: Phoenix and Feeleys

On this pub tour I had a pub in mind that I wanted to go to which I hadn't been to before. Once again I was going slightly out of the way to go to a Harveys. This Harvey's is The Phoneix (SW9 9AR) which was a 10min walk from Stockwell station.

The pub stands on the corner of the main road, and as I arrived some light snow was beginning to fall. I entered through the corner door and immediately noticed how empty the pub was. This gave me a chance to look round and explore. The bar is on the back wall facing out onto the main road. It stretches round a corner into a small area with some tables. The main bar area had one large table directly in front of the bar with smaller tables against the outside walls. There were rugs placed under some of there tables and the odd poof placed around. There was a more comfy seating area through the arch were there was an open fire place and on the walls were some stag and deer heads.

I went to the bar and only two of the four hands pumps were on, offering up Old Ale and Sussex Best. On tap there was Blue Moon, Amstel, Birra Moretti, Heineken and Guinness. I also noticed out of the corner of my eye two Harvey keg beers on tap these were Malt Brown and Gold Bier. I had heard Harvey's had created some keg beers so I thought I best try them. I went for the Malt Brown first, which took a while to pour as it was quite active, but came out looking good. This was a lovely sweet brown ale with an excellent toffee taste. Whilst drinking I noticed they offered Growlers to take home and also a reward card scheme.

So next up was the Gold Bier. I had to wait for them to change the keg on this one, then it poured nicely, none of the issues like with the Malt Brown. The Gold Bier was refreshing and light but certainly wasn't snow/sleet weather, and it definitely wasn't as good as the Malt Brown. Both the keg beers cost £4.10 for a pint which is very reasonable for London prices. Before leaving I bought two cans of Harvey's Sussex Best (Yes, cans!) as I wanted to send this on to a friend abroad, as he was missing his Harvey's.

I left the Phoenix and the snow had stopped falling. I made my way northwards along Union Road to a pub that I'd passed many times but never considered going in. Feeleys (SW8 2RF) is an independent traditional Irish pub. It's set back from the road with some cars parked in the driveway in front. As you enter you will notice the pub feels smaller inside than expected but this is mainly due to the walls/layout and lack of lighting. The bar is a large horseshoe that goes through the three divided sections of the pub. On the bar were some disused hand pumps, along with a selection of standard mainstream beers (Not much choice so I can list them all: Guinness, Guinness Extra Cold, 1664, Strongbow, John Smith and Fosters). I  opted for a pint of 1664 at £3.90, as I wasn't in the mood for a Guinness.

Photo by Ewan Munro

The bar had a wood floor all the way around. The standard sofa seating was against the walls with small tables and some additional chairs available. Some bar stalls, which were in use, at the bar. I remained in the main bar where the entrance is, as the next section had a large group of ladies and some kids. There was a friendly dog wondering around, though not sure if it was a pub dog or a customers. Everyone seemed to know each other as them came and went. An old man came in and asked two of the guys on stalls at the bar if they knew who we were. They said nope, and I chipped in with some friendly banter, but got no response. And this is where the pub majorly fails for me. It's fine having a locals or regulars pub, but before anyone becomes one they must enter as a stranger for the first time. I'm very open to going into pubs as an outsider and don't expect to be welcomed with open arms and make new friends or even get into conversations with regulars. That this regular seen some new faces and started asking if people knew who we were is a sign of a pub that is not welcoming and will struggle with time. After this a lady came in selling fake DVDs and the customers started browsing through them. I finished my pint off quickly and left.

Sadly Feeleys was disappointing, not because of beer selection, as I'm certain this would make a nice place to watch the 6 nations with the TV screens, the Guinness and hopefully a crowd, but because of the whole outsider or new person fear. Thankfully the Harvey's pub was great and I'm glad I was there for two. I certainly want to revisit the Harvey's and hopefully they will have the other two hand pumps in action with some more fine Harvey's ale.

London Pub Tour 7 - Chelsea: Phoenix, Chelsea Potter and Trafalgar

I'm catching up with some of the pubs tours I've done over Christmas, hence publishing this one on New Years Day. I hope you all had a great time and here's to 2017 being filled with more beautiful beers and discovering more wonderful pubs.

I was once again out in the Chelsea area and used this opportunity to visit three pubs, two of which I've passed many times and never felt the urge to go in. First up, just off King's Road was The Phoenix (SW3 4EE). This is a Young's pub and I've never gone in before as I feel there are some much better surrounding Young's pubs nearby and in a much more convenient location. Once you walk into the pub the space inside feels much larger than it looked from the outside. This seems to be the case as they have very little seating towards the front or opposite the bar, leaving quite a wide opening all the way through the pub to the back where they have the dinning area with plenty of tables. A wide open area like this is either due to the bar area getting busy in the evenings or just providing a large walkway through to dinning area for groups of guest, and I think I side with the latter idea.


There were three hand pumps and as a Young's pub it can be expected that the Bitter would be on. The other two were their Winter Ale and Doombar. The kegs were a standard showing for the area featuring Camden Hells and Pale Ale, along with Peroni, Birra Moretti and Chelsea Blonde (Which can be found in keg or hand pump in a lot of pubs in the Chelsea area). I opted for a pint of the Winter Aleat £4.45 which had only just gone on and so I had to wait a few minutes whilst they pulled through. It's not the best beer in the Young's range but is not a bad middle percentage beer.

I next walked up to King's Road and down to the Chelsea Potter, a Taylor Walker pub. The benches outside the pub had quite a few people sat on and drinking considering it was quite cold. Inside the bench theme continued. Big picnic benches lined up all against the long wall, that seat about 10 people. There was a high stool seating area closer to the bar which is where I opted to sit. On the bar there were the now familiar Greene King ale range of London Glory, IPA, Rudolph, 1730 (Taylor Walker's own in house beer), and the guest ale was Sambrooks Pump House. On keg were some of the mainstreams along with Rekorderlig Smooth Raspberry and Grimbergen Blonde. Since I'd just had the Winter Warmer I thought I'd keep it high ABV and choose the Grimbergen at 6.7% for £5.60. It was a good beer and one to savour rather than attempt to rush down.

My last stop was the Trafalgar (SW3 5XP) which is just a short stroll across the road. This pub has had a make over and the outside garish purple has been tonned down to a blue. Inside if a mighty big and enjoyable pub. When you step inside up ahead of you is the horse shoe bar. There is plenty of sitting all around, a complete mix including high tables and stools, sofas and well, normal table and chairs. The pub was actually busier than the Potter but due to its size it felt less busy. There were nice lamps and lighting all around, in particular the liked the lighting just above the bar. The beer selection here is the best of the three pubs, though in this instance I'm basing best around a mix of beers I've not had/seen before alongside the mainstream, so a choice for everyone.

There were five hand pumps with only 4 in use offering up Tribute, London Pride, Doombar and Thornbridge Wild Holly, so sadly not the best selection I've seen here. On keg though they had the standard Peroni, Guinness, Heineken etc.. but they also had some more rare beers such as Numero Uno, Otra Vez and Wheaty McWheatface. I decided to spread myself across two beers so selected a half of the Wild Holly and half of the Otra Vez which came to £5.15. As the Otra was advertised as a sour beer and boy was it sour. Not entirely my style nor taste but it was worth having a half to give it a try. The Wild Holly was better at 4.8% and was Dark and malty, as winter ales should be on a cold day.

After finishing up my half of Winter Holly I called it a night. I'd managed to drink in two new pubs and tried 3 new beers to me. It wasn't a bad evening and considering it was Chelsea area, it didn't hit my wallet too hard.