London Pub Tour 62 - Westminster: Buckingham Arms, Adam & Eve and Old Star

I'm now in the final stages of completing all the pubs in the nearby Victoria / Westminster area. Today I had a run of three pubs around St James' Station. My first port of call was the Buckingham Arms (SW1H 9EU) which is one of only 5 pubs that have been in the Good Beer Guide for each of its 45 editions. The Buckingham Arms is a Young's pub with a lovely brown wood frontage. The main entrance door is set back slightly on the right. The first thing that stands out upon entering is the curved bar which bends outwards to become larger towards the rear of the pub. On the first curve of the bar are 6 hand pumps Young's Bitter (x2), Special (x2), Gold and Bombardier. Where the bar becomes larger the keg fonts stands offering up Estrella, Peroni, Hells, London Lager, Guinness, Amstel, Aspalls, 1664 and Founders All Day IPA. I opted for a pint of London Lager at £5.25.

Due to the shape of the bar there is a large space at the front, which is handy as most people are drinking outside and it provides a large walkway space to get to the bar. I went to the wall opposite the bar where there is a ledge for those standing to rest their beer on, and some stalls. On this ledge there are partitions with stained glass. Three tables sit under the front windows in the bay area, with the remainder of the seating set at the rear, past the end of the bar. There is a skylight part way through the bar providing that much needed additional light. The ceiling is dark and the walls painted a cream colour and the flooring a light wood. Atop the bar are some barrels. On the walls around the pub are portraits of the different dukes of Buckingham. There are also quotes written on some of the walls. There is an upstairs dining room available, though not sure if there is also a bar up there. Overall the pub wasn't too packed feeling even though there were 50+ people drinking, which was obviously helped by people standing outside.

Walking just up the road I arrived at the Adam & Eve (SW1H 9EX) which sits on the corner of Petty France. The outside of the pub used to be painted a pale grey colour but as it's now a Greene King it has been repainted, you guessed it, green. There was a rope outside the bar to control the space drinkers can go with their pints. Unlike the Buckingham Arms the outside was very quiet and only 2 people were making use of this velvet roped area. As you enter the pub the bar is set against the back wall. The bar is a straight dark worn mahogany wood and had 5 hand pumps were offered up on a slightly raised box. On offer were Adams & Eves Best (GK House), IPA, Amplified and Doombar. The kegs meanwhile were 1664, Over Easy, Big Bang, Heineken, Fosters, Peroni, Stella, Guinness and Orchard Thieves Cider. Although I know its a Greene King beer I went for a pint of the Big Bang which cost £5.50. As I've said before the craft academy beers have less of that Greene King taste so are slightly more drinkable.

Opposite the bar there is an island with plenty of stalls around for people to sit on, so that's what I did. The pub had a nice wooden interior, brown wallpaper and a dark blue looking ceiling. There are high tables under window near bar whilst there are tables all along the left wall. The rear room had a reserved sign on it and was set with just a load of stalls and a ledge running around the edge. There were some army badges on the walls behind the bar which must be related to the barracks across the road. The area is also very busy with civil servants and there were a group of three men in drinking and telling a tale of when Tony Blair came to visit their office and people had to pretend to be working on tables with broken computers and phones. Overall the pub wasn't too busy with only 30 people inside though it looked as it would get busier when the reservation arrived.

Walking up Petty France to the tube station and across the junction was my final stop the Old Star (SW1H 0DB). This is another Greene King pub on a street corner. The entrance is via the side door nearest the station. The ground floor is split with a slightly lower level, which is where the bar is located. You walk through the pub to the rear lower floor, past the sign post showing direction to Buckingham Palace, Parliament and St James' Station. Here you reach the bar set against the back wall. The bar is small and annoyingly has a pillar blocking the space for you to order from. There was a crowd at the bar, but thankfully they were all in one group and just picking up their drinks. The bar had the standard Greene King selection of keg beers such as Amstel, Peroni, Punk IPA and Hop House 13. Cask wise there were 5 pumps serving Knowle Spring, Ale Fresco, IPAl Glory and Amplified. I of course was tempted by the Knowle Spring by Taylor Walker and opted for a pint of this at £4.50. This was a blonde beer which didn't have much taste to it but was drinkable with a good lacing around the glass.

I took my drink and left the crowded bar area and decided to head downstairs to the cellar seating area. Halfway down the stairs there is a table with some seating, for those that wish to have everyone from the ground floor and lower floor look at them. Unlike the upstairs with its green painted walls and very standard Greene King look and feel, the downstairs is very well presented. There's lots of seats and a large seating/dinning area in the wine cellar. The whole pub is very light, even downstairs, owing to the layout of the staircase. The pub didn't feel at all busy even though there were probably as many people in here as the Buckingham Arms had both in and outside. I found a small table and sat down to enjoy my beer and read some blogs on my phone.

London Pub Tour 58 - Battersea: Powder Keg Diplomacy, The Beehive, Churchills and The Plough

The sun was shining, the weather was hot and it was Friday, we all know what that calls for, a few beers. I decided to make my way to Clapham Junction, as it's only one stop away from work on the train, and hit the pubs slightly further away from the station on St John's Hill. My first stop was the Powder Keg Diplomacy (SW11 1TQ) which is a Gastro pub decorated in what Whatpub.com describes as a colonial style. The royal blue frontage stands out from the surrounding shops and there were some tables and chairs outside to make the most of the beautiful weather. The front french windows had been opened up to allow more air to flow through the pub. Inside the pub the bar is situated against the right wall. I was greeted and then offered a seat at the front, but opted to stay out of the direct sun and took one of the large bench booths directly opposite the bar. There are about 5 of these booths alongside the bar area, with some more seating in front of the french windows. There were two hands pumps on the bar with the beer names written on tags which were hanging awkwardly, meaning I couldn't see what was on offer. On the back wall were 6 taps which again were hard to see and all looked the same badge. I ended up opting for a bottle as there were visible and easier than having someone run off all the beers and not knowing what I was purchasing. I selected a bottle of Paradise Pale Ale from Redchurch brewery. The beer came in at 3.7% was lightly carbonated, low fruit levels, smooth and gentle on palate. Not bad for first beer after work.

I decided to have a poke around and look at the rear of the pub which has a conservatory setup for their dinning. it does indeed look like something you might have seen in Colonial India, and in the sunlight looked beautiful. The white with dark wood and the green foliage certainly balance nicely. The front of the bar is decorated differently with worn wooden floor boards and hanging filament lamps but retains the dark wood look along with mirrors on lots of the walls. The wooden walls are painted white and there are some paintings opposite the bar which are woodland / forest themed. There were only 5 customers in the bar at this stage, though it was still early doors. The barman brought over a glass of chilled water for me, which came in handy for a bit of hydration. I tried again to look at the beers but gave up and decided to wander down to my next stop, The Beehive (SW11 1TH).

The Beehive is a small Fullers pub, probably one of the smallest I've seen of theirs. Again there was outside seating on the road, with three small tables, and the frontage was also a wonderful blue. Upon walking in you realise both the size and lack of seating/tables. There were two church pews opposite the bar, one high table with seats at the rear and thankfully stalls at the bar. Again the pub wasn't that busy with about 5 people inside, and by the time I had left 7 people outside.

Being a Fullers pub there was of course ale on, and all of it Fullers. There were five hand pumps offering across them Pride (x), Seafarers (x2) and ESB. On the keg front we had Frontier, Sierra, Honey Dew, Peroni, San Miguel, Fosters, Stowford Press and Guinness. Fridge wise there wasn't many options. I opted for a refreshing pint of Stowford Press at £4.95. The card machine was playing up and I ended up paying in cash, though I had withdrawn this cash for the next pub which I knew charge for card purchases, so this was slightly annoying. The Stowford went down a treat as you would expect in this warm weather.

The pub has a traditional pub decor with dark mahogany wood, some bee related prints on walls and the dark wood flooring. Sky and BT are both shown and food is served, though am not sure on the menu. There was a small fire place opposite the bar and also some lights hanging in birdcages. The pub was surprisingly cool inside considering there appeared to be no fans or air conditioning, which I put down to its darker appearance keeping everything cooled.

The Beehive seems a very traditional local pub but as stated wasn't that busy. My next stop the Churchills (SW11 1TQ) though is in every sense of the word a busy local pub. The pub has a distinctive yellow and black frontage. Again the width of the pub is very similar to the Beehive and Powder Keg, though it is far large in length and also houses a patio garden at the rear which was roaring with people. Upon entering the front of the pub was vacant and all the crowd were gather around the bar which is situated more towards the middle of the building. Frustratingly this was just your regulars crowd hanging around the bar drinking and talking, making it impossible to order. It's a slight pet peeve of mine people blocking up the whole bar where there is space elsewhere. I'm all for stalls at bar, but at least keep one section free for people to place orders. After finally managing to squeeze through and get attention I had to place an order greater than £10 to use the card machine, damn you Beehive for not having a working card machine. Due to reasonable pricing I ending up coming away with a pint of Becks (£3.95), a bottle of Courage Light Ale (£2.10), a pack of scratchings (£0.90) and a drink for the barmaid.

I walked further down the pub past the bar and took a seat on one of the side on tables situated against the wall. The seats are enclosed booths with a table and wood/glass partition, and some books in a rack above, very nice. Horse racing was on TV though not many paying attention to it. There was a good mix of men and women, and didn't appear to be your entirely after work crowd. I would say there were about 30 or more people in the pub. The floor is carpeted which helps keeps down any noises and the wallpaper was a patterned red/brown on bottom half and white on top. Fans on the ceiling were running and I noticed a sky light letting in the much needed light halfway down the pub. Like a lot of pubs, the food served is thai food, though I didn't see anyone eating at this time on a Friday. I note I hadn't mentioned the beer options so it's worthwhile mentioning ale is sold here, with three hand pumps which were offering up Golden Hen and GK IPA. Keg wise was small with Guinness, Becks, Stella, 1664 or Fosters.

After finishing my two drinks at Churchills I walked back towards Clapham Junction where my final pub laid in wait. The Plough (SW11 1SY) is a modern pub on a street corner under a new-ish development. Young's have gone for an industrial look with exposed brick walls, wood floor boards, metal pipes showing on ceiling and funky lighting. The pub is very airy and light, with plenty of space. It wasn't very busy with only about 10 people in the pub, the majority of whom were female. There is a large open space in front of the bar, and the bar is quite large. Air conditioning was on, and as there is neither an area outfront or in garden, I could understand why the pub wasn't so busy


On the bar there were 6 hand pumps, with only 4 on, which gave a repeated offering of Young's Bitter or Gold. Keg wise there was Meantime Brewery Fresh Lager (Supplied from the tanks to the side), Founders All Day IPA, London Pale Ale, Peroni, Estrella, Hells, Birra, Guinness, Neck Oil, Four Pure Pils and Waddlegoose Cider, so quite an offering. I went for a pint of the All Day IPA coming in at 4.7% at £5.20 which was okay, but nothing to rave about.

I must say the bar itself, for a modern pub, does look very slick. There are some sofa seats to the left of the entrance, which act as a divider before the dinning area facing the open kitchen. There are the chandeliers and element bulbs hanging down, but most importantly no high tables. There is a DJ booth which looked like was being prepared for later that evening, though it didn't stopped them pipping out quite loud music. Even a foosball table for the lads later on into the night. Though I did note a sign stating they show TV programs on certain days for joint viewing e.g. Game of Thrones, when new episodes are out.

And with that I had finished my pint and started to make my way back home. Four pubs, with two gastro and two local. Each had their own nice internal design whether going modern or traditional, though on this very hot day for some strange reason the customers appeared to be hibernating.

London Pub Tour 38 - Pimlico: White Swan and Morpeth Arms

It was Paddy's day I decided to keep it local to work and visit two nearby pubs that I knew wouldn't be overly busy. My first port of call was The White Swan () a Greene King pub near to Pimlico station. The pub is on a corner street with the front facing the main road and the side facing into a cul de sac. The front door on the corner had been decorated with a red telephone box poster (no idea why). There was a green mat on the floor leading all the way to the bar past many multi colour balloons that were up. I assuming this was their attempt at St. Patrick's Day though non green balloons and union jack flags with a small green walkway doesn't quite scream St. Patrick's Day.

There are lots of low tables and seats in the pub at the front and rear. There are two raised seating areas, one at each end of the pub, which are carpeted. There is sofa seating along one of the side walls. There are no stools at the bar. The pub is quite dark and not much light gets in normally, but with flags and balloons it felt much darker, and wasn't helped by the lights seemingly dimmed to the level that their practically off. The pub was busy but not rammed however, it did take a while to order at the bar due to only two bar staff working. On the bar there were 10 hand pumps which were in two separate blocks of 5. Both sets sold the same ales which were IPA, Little Haka, Belhaven Grand Slam, London Glory and 1730. The keg offering included Stella, Spartzan, Heineken, Over Easy, Fosters, Amstel, Peroni, 1664 and Hells. After quite a wait I went for a pint of Little Haka which was by the Little Brewing Corp. This was the second beer of theirs I had, with the first being a keg beer, and I wasn't disappointed. The beer was only 3.5% but as it used New Zealand hops it had an amazing smell on the nose, and this comes through in the light, sweet and bitter taste. This was certainly a session beer to enjoy a night on.

I opted to move on to my next pub Morpeth Arm (SW1P 4RW) a Young's pub right near the Thames. The pub lies on a busy main road that runs along the Thames and unfortunately its on the wrong side so as no river side views. The pub itself looks very nice from the outside with the white rendering matching the local building style. I entered the pub through the main corner entrance behind the outside gates and benches. The bar is then diagonally across from you in the next corner in a rounded L shape. The pub was busy and there was standing room only left. Generally there isn't much seating in the pub with the front area holding about 8 to 10 tables which were all taken. The side space of the pub beside the bar is mainly standing due to being a narrow space and the route to the toilets.

The pub had five hand pumps, all on, offering up Young's Special, Gold and Bitter, Grandstand and Hop Stuff's Fusilier. The keg beers included London IPA, London Lager, Hells, 1664, Guinness, Peroni, Fosters, Estrella and Aspall's. There was a very good selection of bottle beers from London breweries including Mondo and Yeastie Boys, alongside the Well's beers such as Banana Bread Beer, Double Chocolate Stout and Sticky Toffee. I spotted a bottle of Digital IPA by Yeastie Boys and immediately opted for this. I couldn't believe my luck that I had selected another New Zealand hopped beer which had that same amazing sweetness and beautiful aroma, but this also had an excellent hop kick to it. As the bottle was only 330ml it went down quite easily and I added on a half of the Hop Stuff Fusilier from cask. Sadly this was quite a gritty bitter and wasn't to my taste.

The Morepth Arms like most of the Young's estate have re-branded their sign outside to be focused on the first letter in the pub name, and have relevant symbols then included to build up the letter. I'm not a massive fan of this style by Young's but it's certainly different and stands out from other signs, currently. Surprisingly for Young's the pub interior is carpet with red walls. There is a downstairs cellar area which can be hired for private parties or dinning at Christmas. Within the pub they actually have a screen showing the CCTV from the cellar as it's rumoured that a ghost walks the cellar. Although this is a much smaller pub than the White Swan and it was just as busy, the bar service was excellent and queuing was kept to a minimum. But that's what happens when you have 3 to 4 bar staff on a St Paddy's day.

I called it quits for the pub tour here as I had elsewhere to head to meet mates for a few Guinness, as tradition requires.

London Pub Tour 37 - Victoria: Cask and Glass, The Colonies and Phoenix

Photo by Ewan Munro

So it's back to the Victoria area again where they're still plenty of pubs between the station and Westminster that I need to survey. My first port of call today was the Cask and Glass (SW1 5HN) which is close to St James's Station and Buckingham Palace. This pub is a Shep Neame pub on a street corner behind a small restaurant/shopping area in Victoria. The pub itself is tiny inside with the majority of the space being the large footpath outside which provides space for the drinkers to stand. As you walk in through the door the small bar is directly in front of you. To you left the pub becomes even more narrow and has soft cushion seating for about 6 people. To the right there is more seating but still probably a stretch at 15 people and some room for people to stand just to the side of the bar. Once you have 20 people in this pub it can be considered packed. The pub interior is dark wood with a carpet floor. The walls are filled with portraits and pictures and higher up the wall there are old Shep Neame Bottles and merchandise.

As a Shep Neame the lagers on offer were Guinness, Asahi, Oranjeboom, Whitstable  Bay Blonde and an Symonds Cider. There were 4 four hand pumps offering Whitstable Bay Pale Ale, Master Brew, Spitfire and Hog Island. I hadn't come across Hog Island before so opted for a pint of that. Hog Island is brewed by No. 18 Yard Brewhouse which is a subsidiary of Shep Neame. This seems to be a common theme now with big breweries opening up small brewhouses without any mention of them name attached. The pint had a good lacing but didn't taste anything like an American Pale Ale as advertised and more like a British one. As the pub wasn't busy I was easily able to grab one of the cushioned sofa seats and there were 4 older guys just down the other side drinking. This pub is very much a fair weather pub and as the sun had gone in and it's wasn't looking like it would be busy. This is a nice pub to visit when it's not too busy, so generally between lunch and after work or on a bad weather day early in the week.

As I finished my pint the pub did start to become slightly busier and as expected it was because the sun had started to reappear. I left the pub and walked mere metres down the road to my next stop The Colonies (SW1E 6PR). This is again a Taylor Walker pub which had completed its conversion to a Greene King. The pub is suited in the middle of a street with housing either side, but unfortunately due to development the building to the side had been knocked down and was now a building site. This has an impact on the pub as the rear of the pub is a large tarmac space with lots of benches which connnects onto the road behind. The sun normally shines through but due to the building site, the sun was blocked. I can only assume it won't be long before they consider selling off part of this rear space as it is quite large. To give an idea, the length outside is actually larger outside than the pub inside.

Upon entering the pub the bar is to your right, and you might need to navigate any crowds that gather at the tables by the front door. The pub was very busy with what looked a work function. I'm assuming the work function had started a few hours back as the people seemed quite merry at this time and were already ordering shorts. The bar stretches along the side wall and had 5 hand pumps, of which only three were on offering Boltmaker, IPA and 1730. On the keg front there was Aspalls, Becks, Fosters and Guinness. I bought a pint of Boltmaker and packet of crisps and made my way back through the work party and up the steps onto the raised seating area to go out the back door. I easily found a table and sat and drank my pint whilst watching the elder barmaids looking at a bench near the rear end on which school kids were gathering. The due went over to the bench to ID all the kids who were from a local 6th form. Any without ID were told they were unable to stay on the premises and made to leave. It made for enjoyable viewing particularly attempting to guess which seemed underage and shocked at ones that supposedly weren't.

It started to get cold so I walked inside to finish the last part of my pint and return my glass to the bar. I then walk back past the Cask & Glass which was now rammed and the pavement outside full of bodies. I made my way a few hundred metres towards Buckingham Palace but stopping shy at the Phoenix (SW1E 5JA) which is at the rear of Victoria Shopping area. The Phoenix is a large pub run by Young's under their Geronimo's brand. The work crowds were in here as well and all the tables were taken. The pub was very spacious though with some semi circle booth seating on one wall and large tables along the other wall. It was busier than the colonies but as more open plan it feels more spacious. The bar is against the back wall in the far corner as you enter from the front. There were four hand pumps dishing out Doombar, Grandstand and Young's Bitter with the final pump being off. The keg offering included the likes of Estrella, Amstel, Heineken, Peroni, Guinness, London IPA, Hells, Camden Pale and Flatiron.

I selected a pint of Flatiron Red, which I've had before, but couldn't quite remember whether I liked it. The beer was okay, nothing special and I managed to drink it. There is a small outside patio area in the pub which was filled with smokers so I ended up staying inside standing near a post in the pub. The TV was on showing The Chase but with the sound off and music playing but the noise volume was quite high in hear and you couldn't properly hear the music because of this. The pub was decorated with green wood panelling and the area above was painted white. The floor was the standard wood flooring and the tables also wood. This was very much the textbook equivalent of a gastro pub. I even seen the bar staff walk out to table which already had a group sat on it and place down a reserved card for an hour's time, poor show indeed. I finished off my pint, used the facilities and made my way back out in the quieter London rush hour to head homeward.

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.

London Pub Tour 18 - Vauxhall: Nine Elms Tavern, Riverside, Royal Oak and The Beehive

I was back south of the river again (just) for my next London Pub Tour, taking in some of the pubs in the Vauxhall area. I started by heading slightly down Nine Elms road to one of the newest pubs in the area, Nine Elms Tavern (SW8 5BP). This pub is in the new US embassy district and no doubt once the place opens up later this year, this pub will become busy every evening after work. At present the few occasions I've popped in this place has been empty and this time was no different.

The pub, like most new pubs, is underneath some Thames side flats, facing the river. Upon walking through the doors the bar is directly in front, with all the remainder of the pub accessed by turning right. There is an upstairs with quite a bit of seating, and from this area the design of the pub feels slightly ship based, with the supporting beams feeling like a ships mast. The downstairs has large round booths, with large tables in the middle, allowing big groups of 8 people to sit and drink in comfort. This is by all means a very modern bar in design but it pulls it off well and due to not being noisy/busy is easy to relax in having a quite chat with a friend or reading a book over a pint.

On offer were 3 ales: Winter Warmer, London Gold and Young's Bitter. The lagers offered up included Hells, Peroni, Estrella, London IPA, Guiness, 1664 and Fosters. I surveyed their bottle beer range and selected one of their Briton beers, Atlantic APA. The bottle was 330ml and 5.4% in ABV. I also had a packet of crisps to accompany from the Tyrells range, and the total came to £6.80. The beer was very floral but easy tasting and the hops were not overpowering, which is just the way I like it. There were only about 3 others in the pub, though some did start to arrive as I was finishing off my bottle.

I retraced my route to the Nine Elms tavern, back to Vauxhall and into another Young's Thames pub - Riverside (SW8 2LE). I'm quite familiar with Riverside as when it opened it was the local pub near where my work was based. Much like most of the Young's (Rams) Pub estate the outside hanging sign has been updated to just displaying the initial letter of the pub name, fitting into a scenery that matches. I do appreciate the design work that goes into these signs, but I feel they're less distinct and at a quick glance all you see is a letter, making all the Young's look very similar. I see they continue to update signs in their estate and assume these will happen for all their pubs, just wonder what their doing with the old ones?

Riverside offers a better view of the Thames than the Nine Elms, particularly with the outside heated seating. This wasn't in use today due to it being January, so everyone was inside. It's hard to tell which is the main entrance for this pub, but I walked in the doors from where the seating area is and the bar is at the far side. Along the window facing out to the Thames are lots of comfy seats and smaller tables. On the left there are more seats near an open modern gas fire. Directly opposite and running parallel to the bar is some high cushion seating. To the left of the bar is the dinning area and toilets. The bar is a large oval bar, though the rear is not used for service, and the area behind the bar had single seater booths. These are my preferred seats on busy days as you can seat with a mate with your own table and comfy seat and chat. Sadly the keg and pump selection offered at Riverside was exactly the same as the Nine Elms, except for the addition of a New Year Ale from Young's. I resisted and went for a pint of the London IPA. At £5.30 it's not worth the price, but it at least tasted better than the last pint of it I'd had.

The pub was starting to get busy with after work drinks crowd, so I moved onwards to my next pub the Royal Oak (SE11 5QY) which is a short walk from vauxhall train station heading towards Kennington. This is an Irish style bar, not the Irish theme bar of the 90s but an old school Irish boozer. The pub is not that wide, with the bar on the left and red booth style seating opposite on the right. At the end of the pub is an open  area with table seating. This is where most of the punters were, seated down the end watching the horse racing and Trump's inauguration. On one wall at the end was an electronic advertising display board, near to this was a juke box, quiz machine and a wall with trophies and photos. The pub has a worn look about it, but felt comfortable. There is an outside area for smokers to go. Behind the bar were leprechaun teddies which would hopefully inform those not in the know, that this is a Irish pub.

There were two hand pumps offering either Doombar or Cornish Coaster. On Keg there was a standard offering of Guinness, Guinness Extra Cold, Stella, Fosters, 1664, Carling, Heineken, John Smith and Strongbow. Out of this selection I would normally go for Guinness, Stella, Heineken or Strongbow, which all depends on my mood and the weather. I went for stella and a pack of Tayto's, and was surprised the stella was only £4.30. I relaxed in one of the empty booths and caught a bit of the inauguration, which to be honest wasn't high on my interest agenda. After finishing my pint I made my way round the corner to the Beehive (SE11 5JA).

The Beehive resides on a busy road junction and stands out with its mock tudor beams. The outside of the pub is great to look out but the inside differs entirely from what you may be expecting. The inside is very modern and open plan. The horseshoe bar is right in the centre of the pub, with some sparse sofa seating around the edges. This leaves large spaces around the bar area, which makes sense when you think that this pub is right next to Oval cricket ground. Considering the three pubs I had walked into already I was even more shocked to see that the Beehive was rammed packed with standing room only. On tap the selection was the lowest out of all the pubs today offering Heineken, 1664, Amstel, Fosters, Symmonds and Strongbow Cloudy. On cask there was Pride and Doombar. I selected a pint of Heineken and luckily found a drink resting space in the pub.

Looking around it seemed to be a few different work gatherings, and it's the first time I've seen the Beehive this busy outside of Cricket days. There is a small outside garden through the glass doors for the smokers to gather in. There was some awful club music playing trying to compete with the volume of the customers. After finishing up my pint I headed back to the Royal Oak for another pint of Stella in quieter (yet slightly busier than before) surroundings.

Not much beer choice on this pub tour but overall the pubs themselves were quite good, even if they were at the extremes of busy or quiet.

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.

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.