The Kings Head, Mayfair, W1

This is another Nicholson’s pub in this area – this one had on six ales, with the intriguingly named Frank as Apollo being a decent drop at £1.85 a half. The usual Nicholson’s pub grub menu was available of course. The pub is now largely opened up but has a few interesting features such as the wrought iron screenwork separating a couple of drinking areas; some delightful carved woodwork above the bar counter in the “back” bar; and a tudor style arch separating the main bar from the back bar. Furnishings are comfortable enough with just a couple of tall tables/tall stools. The windows are capable of being of opened widely, which was a big plus on a very warm evening recently as this palce has no outside seating. This pub has more character than the typically characterless Nicholson pub, and coupled with a decent ale selection, is somewhere worth stopping off for a pint.

The pub has an attractive if fairly dark interior, with lots of dark carved woodwork, a marble/stone topped bar counter and a wooden floor with large rugs. Two main areas on the ground floor are separated by an opening with a depressed arch and a wooden and glazed screen with ornamental metalwork at the top. Wood panelled walls and a dark brown moulded ceiling. Seating is mixed and includes a few high tables as well as drinking shelves at the windows where you can watch the Rollers and Range Rovers drive by. There are ten handpumps here in two banks, four and six, with a variant on double clipping being used whereby alternatives are clipped onto beer bottles in front of the pumps. Saturday afternoon had a decent choice, Pride, Tribute and Doom Bar being the staples, plus Itchen Valley St Nich's Tipple, Wooden Hand Pirate's Gold, Acorn Barnsley Bitter and Peerless Triple Blond. The standard beers were doubled up. The usual Nicholson's menu is offered and there are dining rooms upstairs and a cellar bar downstairs. The cellar bar has vaulted brickwork and a few sofas and its own servery with a few handpumps.

Situated just off the northern side of Piccadilly near Green Park Station, the Kings Head is a traditional style Nicholsons pub dating back to 1710 although I would hazard a large guess that the current building is a more recent version of a previous pub. The history blurb informs us that it was called the King Johns Head in 1845, an egotistical move by the landlord of the time to honour himself in the pub name. It was called Shelleys until Nicholsons took it over in 2006 and it reverted back to its original name. Confusingly, there are actually 2 Kings Heads on the pub sign – George II and Charles II. The interior consists of 2 bars knocked through although there is still a degree of separation between them. The front bar (which I label as such simply because it’s the one I always seem to enter into) has a screen with some elaborate metalwork that divides the bar into 2 areas. Note the small snug seat opposite the end of bar behind the entrance proch. To be honest there isn’t really much to look at in the way features, the moulded ceilings in the back bar and a couple of patterned Nicholsons mirrors. It does have a bit of a dingy feel to it and lacks the usual character of a Nicholsons (I would probably pass it off as a Taylor Walker if I didn’t know otherwise). Downstairs is a cellar lounge bar with soft furnishings and some brick arches that lead under the street. It was empty and unstaffed on my recent visit but did have the full selection of pumped hand pumps that were available in the main bar. Beer wise there were 5 ales available, 3 mainstream offerings by way of Pride, Doom Bar and Tribute plus a couple of decent guests Roosters Wild Mule and Itchen Valle Godfather. Service was very good and friendly (a non-prompted top up received). Prices were average for the area although the days of Nicholsons slightly undercutting the opposition now seem to have disappeared along with their tasting note hand pump clips. A “Today’s Ales” board at the end of the bar also seems to have fallen out of usage. Food was from the set Nicholsons pub grub menu with main pub grub courses around £8-£12 with top end meat and fish dishes up to £20. A lunchtime selection was available for around £7-£9. It isn’t the most interesting of Nicholsons pubs but it covers the basics and it has a better beer variety than mostb of its neighbours. Whilst I wouldn’t go out of the way for it, there isn’t really much else in the immediate vicinity that offers anything better so for that alone, I do tend to use it for the occasional visit when in the area.

Solid Nicholson's in a 'bling' area, dominated by rich American tourists and toff office workers. As usual, a good selection of guests and Lancaster Red was in good form although at £3.50 I'd expect it to be good! Pride, Landlord, Doombar, Thornbridge Wild Holly and Sharps Cornish Stout were also available. Along with the modern patterned wallpaper (which is normally not the sort of thing you see in Nicholson's pubs, its more of a Youngs thing) there are some nice original hanging lights and dark wood furnishings. Worth a shout if in the area.

Official pages of the Kings Head, contains menu and real ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

Official pages of the Kings Head, contains menu and real ale details - www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk

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.