please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Re my recent post, I am glad to say that after I made a complaint to Nicholsons, they apologised profusely and agreed to send me a beer voucher. So I'll be returning to the Kings Head quite soon.
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When I ordered a pint of stout last Saturday, it had a vinegary taste and it seemed to have gone off (my friends had a taste and they agreed). However the barman thought otherwise and insisted that he had served several pints of this beer today without comment. This could have meant that the bottom of the barrel had been reached. Usually when this happens, the bar staff concur with the customer without question but on this occasion he refused to give me the benefit of the doubt. I left the beer unfinished and won't be returning here until Nicholsons reply to my complaint.
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What a great find! A nicholsons pub, so expected to smell of brown food, but to be fair it was beautiful inside and food looked great. Lovely pint of trumans and a good vino for the lady. Will be back if in the area.
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Nice enough little pub with reasonable selection of beers. friendly service. Didn't eat there myself but saw others doing so and it looked good.
tanky - 25 Apr 2013 15:11 |
Not bad for the area - ended up there by mistake having told my date to go to the wrong place!
Staff were friendly enough and there were spare seats, although it was a Tuesday night.
Overall a positive impression.
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Pretty standard pub, but with friendly staff. Very expensive even for Mayfair, but excellent selection of beers. Just outside the busiest parts of the West End so a nice pub to go to if you like something a little quieter.
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Like a lot of pubs, one that changes nature a lot depending on the time of your visit. I imagine this is packed with office workers on a Friday evening, but was very quiet on my visit at ten o'clock on a Saturday night.
Nice Nicholson's house, as mentioned by a reviewer below, it is larger than most pubs in this part of town. Very nice selection of ten or so ales; very pleasant, refreshing and well-kept summer ale. Found the staff to be particularly friendly and attentive.
Only real issue was a riduiculously loud, rowdy group in one corner; it isn't really that sort of pub, and this lot were annoying everyone else there. Appreciate that this one is tricky for pubs to handle but they were slowly leaking custom to the Goat Tavern across the lane; shame a quiet word couldn't have been had.
Overall, by no means a destination pub, but a reliable Nicholson's effort and one of the better stops in the area. 7/10
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A good range of beers on hand pump; not cheap but this is to be expected in Mayfair. Comfortable seating and pleasant, attentive staff (although reading some of the other reviews, maybe I was there at a good time, Saturday evening).
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The Kings Head or Shelly's as it's know to a lot of local workers, is a standard boozer. It has a decent range of ales, including some interesting choices - but quite often they are not kept very well which is a shame and you do get a poor pint fairly often. This pub is always busy due to it's location but is well staffed so it doesn't take too long to get served and is fine for a post work drink but certainly not a destination pub.
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Most pubs in Mayfair are small but the Kings Head is one of the larger ones with two separate areas on the ground floor with dining upstairs and a cellar bar down. I've got a nagging feeling that this place used to have a different name a few years ago - perhaps something literary like Keats or Byron.
It's a Ncholsons pub so its mainly dark wood decor and the ale range is pretty extensive.There are ten hand pumps which are split between the two areas - four on one side and six on the other. There are clips attached to bottles on each side of the bar so you know what else is on offer the other side. There were a couple of duplicates on my visit so 8 different ones in all being Pride, Landlord, Doom Bar (all Nicholson regulars in London), Harriestouns Bitter and Twisted, Seafarers, Brew Dog IPA, Cornish Coaster and Lee's Brewers Dark. Hard to see how anyone can complain about that variety. It's also worth noticing the last five are somewhat different to other Nicholsons pubs I have been in recently (notably the Magpie and the Clarence) so there must be some rotation.
It was mid-afternoon on my visit so can't describe the evening atmosphere but I liked this place and would return if in the area.
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10 real ale hand pumps at various points on the bar and on my recent visit during last week, there was no duplication of clips, with the usual Nicholson house ales being complemented by several off the Summer 2010 guest ale list. These included Morrissey FOX Aussie IPA and Thornbridge White Swan and the latter was a very nice pint and well kept.
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Not a bad size for a Nicholson's pub, with two main rooms at ground floor level plus a cellar bar and and the Shelley bar and dining room upstairs. Given how close it is to Piccadilly and the large number of people usually to be found outside on the footpath, it never seems too crowded inside even at busy times of day (e.g. early evening). Ten handpumps; and despite a couple of duplicate clips, it still offers a better-than-average selection for this chain. The beer quality seems to have improved too - for example my pint of Meantime London Pale Ale at �3.15 was first class, and served at just the right temperature. Rating increased since last visit.
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I had had a quick one in The Goat opposite and thought I would just look into the King's Head for another. Very smug young man behind the bar, once he deigned to serve me. I chose the Punjab IPA at random and it came out of the pipe as froth. No suggestion from our glam kid that he might let it stand and top it up. It took about 3 minutes for it to be drinkable. Was it worth it? Well, if you suspend any preconceived ideas about what IPA is about it was not too bad but I have had a lot better. Nicely done out place, menu looked good, pity route to the loos take you through the (very smart looking) restaurant but otherwise OK if you happen to be in the area. But don't make a special effort to get to it.
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Seek a Nicholson's pub in London and will seldom be disappointed. And that rings true for this fine pub, with a good choice of beers, good quality and value food and a real find in Mayfair.
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I am a fan of the Nicholson's chain of pubs...i recommend doing one of their crawls to see some great hidden gems.
They are consitantly priced so for Mayfair this place is a bargin. Its brilliant in summer with the windows all folding back to open up inside and stop it getting stuffy. And with awnings and heaters outside its good for the winter smoker as well.
Good range of ales with guest ale changing regularly and and board telling you whats coming next so you wont miss out.
Good restaurant upstairs which i have to say surprised me with the quality and price of the food....brilliant.
Also a cellar bar down stairs which can be hired out for functions.
all in all a great find if your in the area.
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This isn�t the biggest pub, but there are two separate bar areas. The bars themselves are not very big so on a nice sunny evening it can be a bit tricky getting served as the path outside is lined with twice as many people drinking than could ever fit into the pub.
I found the staff to be nice enough and alongside the standard/premium lager selection Pride, Landlord, Golden Best, Ryedale Best and Whitstable Bay were all available.
The background music was quite low and there are a couple of screens, but I saw no sport advertised.
I�d pop back in here for a pint again if passing.
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Very enjoyable pub, with good selection of ales.
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Good range of well kept beers and a reasonably priced wine list. And, err, it's not the King's Arms...
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Quite a large Nicholson's pub, and not too overcrowded at a busy time of day (early evening). As usual with this chain, the beer was nothing to write home about, but overall not too bad.
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Busy pub when I visited on Friday evening, but the staff seemed friendly. Very impressed by the restaurant upstairs, very good food and reasonably priced.
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every city has a hidden gem and this is most definately one. What every tourist needs is champagne and great food to keep you shopping in this stunning city, and what made it even more refreshing was the value. This is a must !!
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smashing place for a relaxed beer or two.
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Pleasant London boozer. Get's very busy at times as the local office workers (like me) stream out of an evening to quench their thirst. Good ales, Tribute and Landlord are in fine form at the moment. Cider on tap.
Upstairs there is a very comfortable dining area & the food is excellent. There's another bar downstairs that has a different, "hipper" atmosphere, also often rammed though.
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Nice large pub with a good range of beers. The pint I had was excellent and will definitely go back if in the area. Service was a bit slow but it was busy.
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Things are looking up, beers were nice and staff friendly. Mixed crowd in but not too busy (around 7pm on a Wednesday evening). Not sure I'd go out of my way but fine if you are in the area.
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3 crown cask marque, with good (but cold) ale. Friendly bar staff and nice downstairs bar. Very helpful with reserving an area and didn't charge for the privilege...now to see if it's as good when we have a crowd.
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Gone downhill massively. All ales off today. Lagers completely flat. Too hot apparently..........
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formally 'shelleys' great pub then
Kelly Norton - 18 Jun 2006 20:20 |
Shelleys is no more. It closed down for refurbishment.
Re-opens at 5pm tonight - now called The Kings Head.
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Eastern European lass is actually growing on me. Always got a smile and looks after the regulars.
Upstairs bar is best place to eat.
Very cheap for Mayfair
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I had a private party in the upstairs bar last week and although not my first choice of venue I found the pub to be a great venue. First off the upstairs bar was free to hire, the staff got everyone who was not invited out of there pretty sharpish at 5pm, the drinks were not too expensive considering this is slap bang in the middle of Mayfair. Some of you aren't going to believe this but the eastern european girl behind the bar was in fact very pleasant and incredibly friendly - maybe she's got a pay rise of something. The beers on offer aren't extensive but a good all round selection of alcohol. The downstairs was packed and too smokey for my liking. I would recommend it.
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Moody foreign chunky girl still working upstairs - she truly is dreadful. Customer service skills (eg politeness/smile) will one day bless our Eastern European friends. On the positive side, very cute, friendly South American girl working there (often in the cellar).
Shelley's is good if you can get upstairs or in the basement but half the time they are reserved for private functions. Groundfloor is a bit too manic. Prices are good and food isn't bad.
anonymous - 17 Mar 2006 17:16 |
Moody foreign bitch still working upstairs, not sure there are 10 better pubs in Mayfair. Wine at �5.49 per bottle is pretty cheap. Food good.
anonymous - 8 Feb 2006 16:11 |
Got to be the worst pub in Mayfair. The only saving grace is the price of beer which is reasonable for the area. Food is average and overpriced, the tables don't get cleared often enough and the staff aren't interested. Within 200 yards there must be 10 better pubs.
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staff are still miserable and beer is rubbish
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Nice pub, but moody foriegn bitch working on bar upstairs who obviously found it a chore to serve customers! Otherwise nice! Boyfriend ate in their and the food looked lovely and he enjoyed it!
ALISON - 23 Apr 2004 11:13 |
Visited 18/3/04. Upstairs lounge with comfy sofas & 2nd bar was very quiet - good to catch up with ppl over a quiet pint (limited range). More atmosphere downstairs. A bit of a maze to find the toilets. Staff were miserable - and �30 minimum spend on cards is a pain. Take cash.
JamesC - 30 Mar 2004 16:15 |
Food is very good and pub was generally quite nice. Staff are miserable though and there is a stupid minimum spend of �30 on debit cards
anonymous - 7 Nov 2003 14:57 |
