London Pub Tour 39 - Victoria: The Beer House, The Shakespeare and Sloe

The Beer House(SW1V 1JU) in Victoria station is directly opposite platforms 1-5. There is a small 'outdoor' area, by which I mean there are some tables outside the front of the pub but which are underneath the roof of the station. As you enter the bar is on the left wall and stretches down to the staircase at the far end. Directly opposite the bar are some high bench tables. Towards the rear there are some low tables. There is an upstairs to this pub which is like a mezzanine , offering a view over the balcony at the front of the bar and out into the station. The floor of the pub is wood effect lino, with the walls a dark cream wood colour with some areas of exposed brick walls. There are some TVs in the pub which were all showing Sky News. The pub wasn't busy for a Saturday afternoon with about 20 people inside and out.

As this is a Greene King pub there were three hand pumps which were all offering up GK beers (Speckled Hen, IPA and GK House selling as Beer House). The tap front is more varied offering up the usual suspects (Amstel, Guinness, Peroni, Stella) alongside Yakima Red, Schiehallion, Affligem and Pilsner Urquell. I ended up purchasing a pint of Yakima Red for £5.85. The beer was okay but I feel it tastes better in bottle format. Being in the station the pub is sometimes frequented by underage pigeons which appear to have learn their lesson now.

I made my out of the train station (just) to the bus station area and into the Shakespeare (SW1W 0RP). The Shakespeare is a large corner pub with entrances on the main road and bus station. The pub was a Taylor Walker, now Greene King, and as such has a slightly neglected look. Entering from the bus station you come into a lower floor dining area. Taking a step up takes you into the main pub area and directly to the bar which runs along this back wall. The rest of the pub is to your left with a large mix of high and low tables scattered around and between wall posts. The pub has a vinyl white ceiling wall paper, the floor is wooden and the walls are the standard Taylor Walker mismatch of fake wood panels and pattern wall paper. The pub seems to be quite a catch for tourists unlike the other station pubs and they seemed to make up the majority of customers today.

I wasn't planning to go for an ale due to not being a GK fan but the choice was made all the more easier by only 1 of the 4 hand pumps being on (and it was Speckled Hen). On the keg front there was Fosters, Stella, Guinness, Heineken, 1664, Peroni, Truman's Pale, Blue Moon, Wimbledon's Brave and Sambrook's Pale Ale. I decided to look at the bottles and see if there was anything worthwhile and noticed the bottles they seem to be promoting in all the Greene King pubs. The bottle beers are by Craft Academy, which is run by Greene King. The bottles have a terrible plastic wrap around them do they stand out with bright colours. I picked up a bottle of Bitter Sweet which cost £5.90 for only 330ml. Nowhere on the bottle does it state Greene King, so they appear to be deliberately hiding their name. The beer was a 6% black IPA, which surprisingly tasted less Greene King than their normal beers. There wasn't much of an after taste but the beer was enjoyable.

After easily finishing off the bottle I made my way back into Victoria station and down to platform 16-19 area where my final stop of the day was. Sloe (SW1W 9SJ) is your original typical station pub where people will stop for a swift one or two, or pop in if there is a delay. No ales are served here and the bottle selection is just sol or cider. The beers on tap are Fosters, Stella, Heineken, London Pale Ale, Peroni, Amstel and Guinness. At the front of the pub are some low tables with soft seating armchairs. As you progress in you reach the bar area where opposite are two high tables with seating. Then at the rear of the pub running along the back wall is a long cushion seating with around 5 or 6 tables and chairs.

The bar was actually empty of this visit as the rugby had now kicked off and Sloe doesn't have any TV screens. Apart from the two barmaids, I was the only one in the pub. Almost all the beer taps were off due to having a busy Friday the night before so my choice was made for me and I went for a Stella. The pub is quite dark as no natural light is able to enter due to its location inside the station. Their beer cellar is in the door marked 'the engine room' and is small, perhaps another reason they were low on beer. The staff though used this as an opportunity to clean the lines, which is good to see being done. The pub is normally quite relaxing and easy to read a newspaper or book in, and today was more so due to no customers. I only stayed for the one and nobody else entered in that time, though the Foster's did come back on, but I wasn't tempted.

London Pub Tour 5 - Chelsea: Surprise, Coopers Arms, Phene and Prince Albert

I've not been able to keep up with the blog recently due to a busy christmas time both work wise and socially, though I hope to get back to my bi-weekly posts. I decided to pop over to Chelsea area today and sample some beer in a few pubs that I've been to a few times before. The first stop was The Surprise (SW3 4AJ) which is a residential area on a very open corner. Upon walking in I noticed a quite empty pub with the tables on the bar side mostly filled with individuals whilst the non-bar side with soft furnishing was emptier.

There were three ales pumps however, only two were in use. As a Young's pub they served Young's Bitter but alongside this they served a house Young's house ale called HMS Surprise. I've had the Surprise and didn't think much of it so didn't go for it. On the lager side they had London Lager, Chelsea Blonde, Amstel, Guinness, Peroni and Heineken. Based on these options I selected a pint of London Lager for £5.25. I've had it many times and ob
viously its a solid pint to fall back on, and only 4.5% abv. The pub itself has wooden floorboards and had a Christmas tree in one corner. There were some basic hanging paper decorations from the ceiling though overall it looks nice. This pub doesn't offer a great selection but isn't a bad place if you want a comfy few pints with mates after work. There was a slight nautical theme with some ship decorations and obviously the house pint is named The Surprise after the HMS Surprise.

I only stayed for the one and opted to move onto the next nearby pub which so happened to be another Young's pub called the Coopers Arms (SW3 5TB). This place again was quite empty for a Friday, with only about 4 tables with people and the rest empty. Some of the staff were on break occupying and chatting in the corner and was nice to see them all getting along outside of working and is a good sign of a well run pub. There were 6 ale pumps though only 5 were in use, with two as repeaters. So the three ales on offer were Young's Bitter, Young's Special and Sambrook's Wandle. On tap there was Young's IPA, 1664, Guinness, Peroni, Fosters, Yakima Red, London Lager, London Pale Ale, and one that was list as out of service. I went for a pint of Yakima Red and settled down on a large table by myself next to a plug socket to charge my phone. I also bought a packet of Piper's crisps which was flavoured as Three Bird Roast. To be honest it just tasted of chicken but it was worth trying.

The Yakima was standard style as expected, a good pint with a high price point. The pub had a few more people pour in for a booking but still was empty. There was some very fancy and peculiar light in the pub that caught me attention. After finishing my pint of Yakima I decided to go for a bottle of the always good Ram Rod. The bar staff were very good and even offered me a rod and special mix, which is unusual to come across in pubs nowdays, though I did decline the offer. The Ram Rod went down a treat and is always a bottle I would recommend.

I next walked further into the housing and chelsea to arrive at the Phene (SW3 5NY). They only have two and pumps serving up Wandle and Good Old Boy when I went in. I believe Good Old Boy must be their house as it's always on when I go in, unless they're serving the same cask for the last 3 months...

I opted to stick with keg and chose a pint of Camden Ink which I'd never had before. They did offer a standard selection of keg beers which included Amstel, Heineken, Chelsea Blonde, Camden Hells, London Pale Ale and Renegade Craft Lager. The pint served was very much head very, aka a short pint. It's an okay pub inside though the clientele aimed for are from more money. I understand they shoot scenes from The Only Way is Chelsea in here, which says a lot. There is a big dinning area out back and upstairs. The staff and customers were very much over dressed for a pub for my sense, though I felt better with the drunk wedding party there on the bombs. There was lots of seating in the bar area though almost all were reserved. There was club music playing lowly across the sound system. It did feel much busier than the previous two pub though not sure if it was more down to the rowdy suited type making so much noise. I think this could be an okay pub on the right day.

I next headed towards the river and headed south alongside Battersea Park and to the Prince Albert (SW11 4PF). Now this pub was busy and filled with customers. It was again a Young's pub and had a very nice horseshoe bar which I'm always partial to. There were 4 pumps with only 3 on which were Young's Special, Sambrook's Pump House and Sharp's Coaster. I selected a pint of Pump House but as he poured he turned to me and said he thinks its at the end and is there anything else he can offer me. The fact he could have served a full pint to me but end of the barrel, yet didn't, speak excellently for customer service here. I chose the Coaster instead which poured perfectly.

The pub had lots of seating available with an area that was on a high staging. There was a mixture of tile and wood floor across the pub and of course this was dog friendly due to proximity to Battersea Park. Overall this was a nice pub set back from the river a few hundred metres but close enough to the park.

All the pubs today were very much aimed for a more upmarket clientele, though some of them had a very nice potential, and I feel may be enjoyable on the right day of the week.