The Mad Bishop & Bear, Paddington, W2

Located on the top level of Paddington station, from the outside this looks very much like your typical non-descript modern airport or train station retail unit. Once inside though, it has a much more traditional ambience and is actually not too bad at all. From many angles you’d have no idea that you were in a station pub, and even the departure boards are tucked discreetly away near the entrance. The large central area of the pub has a largely wood strip floor with chequered tiles approaching the bar and a white plastered ceiling with some inlaid ornate plasterwork finished in gold. Several supporting pillars are faced with etched mirrors and there is further carved woodwork behind the bar counter. A smaller area up a few steps to the left was separated with some wooden balustrade and this had a cosier feel with a carpeted floor, a few booths along one side and some black and white photographs on the walls. A number of food options were chalked up on a menu at the end of the bar although we did not investigate this. There was a good choice of beers on tap, albeit all from the Fullers stable, and on this occasion consisted of Chiswick, London Pride, ESB, Wild River, Bengal Lancer, Fire Cracker and Oliver’s Island. A coming soon board listed Tribute, so presumably Fullers don’t always have a monopoly. The solitary cider was Cornish Orchards. All in all I was pleasantly surprised by this, and it’s certainly a decent enough place to while away the time whilst waiting for your train.

Located on the upper level of the shopping centre attached to Paddington station, this is a smart, spacious Fuller’s pub, doing its best to improve the reputation of station bars across the capital. A couple of escalators lead you from the Paddington Bear statue to the pub entrance, which is surrounded by several tables and chairs overlooking the shops and station below. Once past these, you enter into a large split level room with the space broken up by a row of mirrored pillars running through the middle of the room, and the servery on the rear wall. The flooring is predominantly bare floorboards but there is a pleasant tiled mid section which breaks things up nicely. Most of the seating in this main bar area is high stools around high tables and drinking ledges on the pillars. The decor comprises wooden panels and fixtures, white painted walls with some fancy wallpapered sections and a massive chandelier in the centre of the room which acts as a bit of a focal point. There are loads of TV screens showing news channels whilst music plays over the sound system, and train departure boards are suspended above the front doors. To the left of the room is a raised carpeted dining room style area with standard tables and chairs and muted lighting, which was the quietest part of the pub on a busy Friday afternoon visit. Suitcases are dotted around all corners of the pub, mostly on high shelves and there was a Fuller’s gift shop behind the bar where you can buy all kinds of tat stamped with the Fuller’s logo, including a dartboard, of all things. You can also buy Fuller’s beers, which seems a better investment, with London Pride, EBS, HSB and Chiswick all available (Discovery was just off), whilst the range was broadened by Osset Yorkshire Blonde and St Austell Tribute. The Honeydew was flying out of the keg taps whilst I was at the bar and the staff were doing their best to promote a new Fuller’s lager, the name of which I forget. I was gasping for a drink when I arrived here and was disappointed to find that my HSB tasted a bit odd – maybe the end of the barrel. This was my first time in this place and once again Fuller’s have demonstrated that it is possible to operate a pleasant bar from a major London station. Not quite up there with the Parcel Yard at Kings Cross or the Doric Arch in Euston in my opinion, but not too far behind and certainly worth a look when passing through Paddington.