The Grafton Arms, Westminster, SW1

Established by at least 1827, though demolished and rebuilt later in the 19th century, when Victoria Street was redeveloped. This was originally the King’s Arms, then Strutton Arms before being given the current name around 2010, after the Grafton family who had acquired it around the mid-1940s; James Grafton contributed to the Goon Show, with the Goons rehearsing in upstairs rooms. It’s well described below; I doubt much has changed other than a lick of paint following it being swallowed into the virtual monopoly round here, that is Greene King; smoky blue paint anyone? Customers are apparently market traders with possibly some squaddies, given the choice of GK Flanders Fields. The beers were as predictable as ever, with GK IPA, two ‘coming soon’ and Flanders Fields. Salvation – up to a point – came in the form of Sambrook’s Junction at £2.60 a half and good. Yet another poor Victoria pub, not helped by the predictable stewardship.

Official site of The Grafton Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of The Grafton Arms - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

A busy backstreet inn currently operated by GK. It’s a single room bar, quite battered with several broken barstools and bench seats that have seen better days. There are a couple of tv screens which were showing live football and rather dominated the bar. The landlady was pleasant, and there were 2 loud foreign barmaids, one of whom was unnecessarily rude to some of the customers who didn’t quite understand pub etiquette. Six pumps on the bar, the ales on were GK IPA, London Glory, Band of Brewers and Old Speckled Hen. I had Band of Brewers which was fresh and in good condition. Food was the standard GK unappetising ready-made stuff. Fine for a swift pint, and certainly superior to the many modern bars that keep appearing.

A long and fairly narrow Taylor Walker pub, booths of various sizes on the opposite side to the bar, normal seating to the front, armchairs by the fire at the far end and annoyingly, two high tables plonked directly in front of the bar, making access rather difficult. Some exposed brickwork, penny black stamp patterned wallpaper, a dark wood and mirrored bar back with a feature clock. A side wall had a range of Goon Show framed posters, the pub has just reverted to its previous name as it was when the Goon Show characters frequented the place. There is a commemorative plaque on the front elevation. Truman's Swift, Doom Bar, Pride, Jenning's Cumberland Ale plus Somerset Snuffler cider, one was unclipped. Service was grumpy and impatient from the solitary barman who's stress levels were visibly rising. He was particularly unhelpful with a foreign tourist who did not know the ropes, just a bit of patience was required. Two TVs were showing a muted choice of rugby union or the Scottish Cup final (the quality of football was frankly awful). It's a Central London Taylor Walker pub by numbers, you know what to expect, it was sort of ok for one and to tick it off but I certainly wouldn't make a bee-line back.

This is now a Taylor Walker branded pub, and had on a predictable ale selection - Truman's Zephyr, London Pride, Doom Bar, and TW 1730 (£2.10 a half undiscounted). However there were also a couple of draught ciders on - Henderson's Spiced Cider, and Somerset Snuffler. The usual Taylor Walker pub grub menu was of course available. This is much like other Central London Taylor Walker pubs. There are tall tables/tall stools down the centre of the room; normal tables and chairs in alcoves on the right; and a clutch of armchairs in a small area right at the back of the room. Obviously there are a couple of one-armed bandits lighting up the place with their distracting flashing lights, and of course there's a large TV on the wall at the back as well as small TVs in each of the aforementioned alcoves. This place was doing a good trade on Saturday afternoon, leaving me having to sit at a stool at the end of the bar. The seating's quite close together here, making moving about the pub a tortuous affair when it's busy. For a Taylor Walker pub it's OK, but I never find that this branding's pubs have much traditional pub appeal to me (except for the 10% CAMRA discount), seemingly catering for the mass food market. But they do serve a useful purpose, and must be doing something right as they are clearly very popular.