The Bishop, Kingston Riverside, Kingston Upon Thames

This is a modern riverside pub with a rather trendy pseudo cafe-bar feel to it. The main bar at ground level is one large room of indeterminate shape, there are angles everywhere, with the bar counter in a back corner. The full range of fashionable seating is available from high tables to sofas to scrubbed tables with that carefully selected random mixture of different chairs. Lighting is subdued, the flooring is wooden and the decor consists of arty framed prints. There are however excellent river views from the large windows and the outdoor seating area. There is another bar upstairs which was roped off during my recent visit, I can't recall if I've ever ventured up there. The clientele were quiet and sedate post work but the pub does fill up with a lively younger crowd in the evenings particularly around the weekend. It's a Youngs pub, they had Ordinary Bitter, Special and Bombardier but pleasingly also a guest in the form of Bath Ales Gem. Unfortunately the beer was rather cold and I had to ask for a serious top up which quite honestly should have been obvious to the person serving. The pub name is in connection with the erstwhile Bishop of Winchester, William de Wykeham, but I confess to being ignorant as to the "Out of Residence" meaning.

This place was a regular haunt of mine 25 years ago when I lived in the area and I spent many an evening (and lunchtime) out on the river terrace. Returning after an absence of several years, it is disappointing, although not particularly surprising, that it has lost much of its universal appeal and has become a bit of a trendy spot generally aimed at the under 30's. The large bay front commands views of the riverside terrace and Kingston Bridge and whilst the modernist decor and sink into the seat sofas are not particularly out of place in such a modern pub, I preferred its previous pub by numbers interior, even if it did look like an embryonic Wetherspoons. As one previous poster has indicated, you need to pick your time and occasion to get the best out of this pub. As it was a special St Patrick's night bash and I had only come to see my friend's band play (enter big plug for Never Mind The Bongos), I have no idea what the general Saturday night ambience is but I get the impression that loud, monotonous, clubby music is the order of the day. The mood is toned down on Sundays with live jazz. Out of peak hours it would be a lot more subdued and relaxing. The beers are from the usual Young's range and decent enough quality but prices are not cheap with Guinness weighing in at a hefty £3.20 a pint. It was nice to return after so many years but I think I'll just stick to my old memories.