The Duke Of Wellington, Portobello Road

Pleasant and lively Youngs pub in the heart of Portobello Road with decent standard beers. Without trying to sound like Nigel Farage, I am slightly concerned by their staffing policy, having been served by two different people with little English, less knowledge of what drinks they were serving and, in one case, an apparent perplexity at the concept of British currency. To be fair, there was also a ginger English barman who looked right through me for 2-3 minutes (while I was waving my wallet) before serving someone else who'd just turned up. Decent but flawed place.

15 Nov 2014 21:03

Churchills, St Johns Hill

One of two long-standing pubs that bookend St John's Hill with the Beehive at the other end. I've been around here long enough to remember when this was the Prince's Puzzle (as I recall, from a previous phase of the Puzzle Group, when they were going for a more bijou Firkin kinda thing, rather than taking over huge corner-houses and homogenising them) but it's been Churchills for years now.

It's been very much the same pub for years too: a locals' pub, long and narrow, seats and a garden towards the back, past the bar. It might look a bit intimidating as you first step in the door, but it's worth persevering. Rough and ready for sure, but also relaxed and even friendly at heart. Usually full for Chelsea games, but the banter's cheerful rather than threatening should you not be a Blue yourself. From what I've seen, the management have a zero-tolerance policy towards serving the tipsy, the reeling and the drop-down pissed, which indicates a well-run ship.

Only London Pride as far as ales go (though a decent enough pint of it). This hasn't always been the case - I had a few very fine pints of Tribute as recently as 2008, and I'm sure I recall an even wider range before that.

I've never tried the Thai food, but it's seriously popular and has been for as long as I can remember, so I reckon they're probably doing something right there too.

5 Apr 2010 14:19

The Kings Arms, Waterloo

Second time here. Small traditional pub, pretty unspoilt - one room with the bar in the centre, divided by screens into a larger, light and airy main bar and a smaller, cosy back bar. I didn't check out the covered, outdoors-ish area at the back, but it looks nice enough.

8 hand pumps serving 5 ales, all popular rather than spectacular choices, and none above 4% (so clearly a good place for a session). I had a slowly clearing but good Brakspears Bitter, a perfectly respectable Oxford Gold and a sharp, clean-tasting Ringwood Bitter. All good.

The consistent smattering of critical remarks about the staff over the last couple of years is a slight worry; bad/rude service is a bane, and if you're running a service business it really should be easy enough to treat customers well. However I have to say that on both my visits here I've experienced nothing negative. This time round I was served by a likeable young guy who saw that I was working my way round the ales and offered constructive and enthusiastic opinions. Maybe things are different when it's busier or different staff are on, but no complaints from me so far.

5 Apr 2010 13:19