The Hop Poles, Hammersmith, W6

Feels almost like an ex Nicholsons pub but I am reliably informed that it’s not the case. So with that opening gambit you’d probably guess the interior fairly well – a two-roomer with touches of (faux?) Victoriana with a lovely mahogany and etched glass reclaimed bar back in the agreeable rear room. The front bar is a classic loud open space. Apparently there’s an upstairs room but I failed to spot it. Plenty of pumps but just two actually available and a rotten pairing of Doom Bar and Pride (fair). For the record the beers off were Adnams Mosaic, Brains SA, Rev James – poor for a Saturday. Beware useless European staff. Judging by the reviews below I perhaps caught it on a bad evening but I left pretty unimpressed by the overall experience. 5.5

The Hop Poles is a Grade II listed building, formed back in the 1850's when two previous pubs were amalgamated to create the Hop Poles Hotel. Despite its listing, the pub underwent a pretty substantial refurbishment back in 2007, so that today we find what is essentially an enormous single room laid out around the vast central servery. You enter into a bare boarded front section with high tables and stools along the front wall and a mix of banquette and standard seating further back. The bar area is huge and the bar counter had some massive floral displays on the corners which looked pretty spectacular. The décor is quite attractive, with light floral wallpaper on the walls and a lot of lamps and light fixtures running through the room. Further down the left side of the bar, you pass through a former doorway into the rear part of the pub which has some nice booths down one side, separated by etched glass partitioning screens. The rest of the rear section is carpeted and has a mix of standard chairs and more comfortable lounge style seating. There are some lovely cut glass mirrors here and a stained glass internal window that looks like it might be an original feature. The right hand side of the pub is much darker and narrower than the rest of the room and was relatively quiet compared to the bustling crowd around the other sides of the bar. There are a lot of TV screens throughout the pub, all showing promotional material mixed with occasional historic scenes of Hammersmith, which was quite a nice touch. An alley at the rear of the pub has a few stools along a drinking ledge and may well lead out to a beer garden, but I never made it that far. There is a heated garden terrace upstairs though, as well as a lounge and function room which was being used for a private party on my visit. There was no sign of any Brains ales when I arrived. In fact, the handpulls were only offering two beers - Bingham's Space Hoppy IPA and Cottage Between the Posts - with one real cider also on and three 'Coming Soon' clips, including one for Sharp's Doom Bar which seems to be a regular fixture. The Space Hoppy was a bit of a mixed bag as I started off not really liking it, but found it much more easy going as I got towards the bottom of the glass. I only ended up in here because the pre-gig queues in the nearby Swan and William Morris were too long to contemplate, but this turned out to be a pretty good alternative. Whilst some of the pub's historic charm has undoubtedly been lost, there are still a few points of interest and the pub is a spacious and comfortable spot in which to enjoy a pint or two.

Large and bright pub with a good roof top area at the rear for enjoying the weather.Always has 2 or 3 Brains beers on often including their craft range from the Brains micro brewery.