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The Churchill Arms, W8
W8
W8 7LN
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Andy Ven left this review about The Churchill Arms
Grand looking corner pub decked with plants and stuff. A U shaped bar room wrapped around a single bar with a Thai restaurant to the rear. Lots of artefacts hung from the ceiling, rather like a shop that sells reclaimed stuff, and a bust of Winston Churchill sat at one end of the bar. Fuller’s pub selling Fuller’s beers(!) – a good place, bit of a novelty but probably the most interesting pub on my day out.
On 16th May 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 244 recommendations about 240 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
David Kitto left this review about The Churchill Arms
I'm a regular at the pub despite living in Leicestershire. It really is one of the best I've ever been to and despite being always busy, the staff are excellent as are the drinks on offer. Gerry, the landlord is often busying himself on the customer's side of the bar and always makes his customers feel welcome. This pub should be a template for others to follow, sadly all too often, they do not.
On 28th January 2011
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Churchill Arms
Entering this pub, you are subjected to something of a sensory overload - the sound of a packed pub's chatter, the smell of Thai food, the sight of a jaw dropping collection of items adoring every inch of space on the walls and ceiling. By the time you've made it to the bar and tasted the excellent beers on offer, your experience is all but complete.
The place is quite rightly popular and trying to find somewhere to sit can be a bit of a battle. I found myself propped up at the bar as a result, where I was able to chat to some of the regulars and admire the insane collection of lamps, pans, baskets and so forth, plus a lot of Irish sporting items. The other rooms to the rear were no less impressively decorated, mostly with artefacts related to Churchill, which extended to WWII poster prints in the gents toilets. It's hectic but it works and it's a joy to nose around and spot things of interest.
The bar itself has the rare distinction of some seemingly original snob screens from behind which I managed to order myself a lovely pint of HSB from a typical Fullers range which also comprised of London Pride, ESB, Chiswick and Discovery plus Honeydew and London Porter on tap. The bar staff were lovely and very quick in dealing with a relentless and demanding stream of customers.
The one facet of the pub which I didn't experience, and perhaps one of the biggest draws for many of the people there, was the Thai food, served up in a separate restaurant area to the rear of the pub. The food certainly smelt great and people were still trying to get a table late into the evening.
I loved this place and wouldn't hesitate to return again. For me it's the best pub in the area and a real credit to the landlord and his staff, who clearly work very hard to create something a bit different from the normal pub set up.
On 13th October 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Churchill Arms
Historic Fullers pub serving up a decent range of their ales in good condition Once you’ve admired the vast array of colourful hanging outside, you enter to a dark, cosy boozer with a glow of orange reddishness for various lamps. It sounds odd but it works. The plant life inside and out is almost as appealing as the history element – one wall holding portraits of every British PM since Sir Robert Walpole, alongside all sorts of assorted bric-a-brac. Some original snob screens are in evidence by the bar and the interior is in the CAMRA Regional Inventory. Worth a special look is the rear room where the Thai food operation takes place, which is literally covered in plants, like eating in a Kew Gardens glasshouse – quite staggering, really. And as almost a side note is the beer – the Fullers range plus a seasonal which is always on good form, making this pub a Good Beer Guide regular. Beware that it does get very busy and it can get a bit intimate at peak times with the other punters.
All in all, a cracking place I’d heartily recommend to anyone visiting the capital.
On 13th July 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5107 recommendations about 5090 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Churchill Arms
This pub is regularly included in the GBG and it is fully deserving of this accolade.
A fine building from the outside (especially in summer when it is festooned with bloom as shown in the photos) gets even better when you venture inside, with a traditional dark wood interior and original fittings including stained glass snob screens on the bar serving are.
The pub area is divided into four distinct connected sections, each crammed with a fine collection of artefacts hanging from the ceilings and assorted collections of memorabilia on the walls. This includes a wartime collection of Churchill related articles and objects (as you would expect) including an airfix model of a Lancaster bomber hanging from the ceiling. Then on other walls there is stuff relating County Clare, which I guess is related to the long serving Irish landlord, and then towards the conservatory out back you find a collection of stuffed animals and mounted butterflies. And as Clive refers to below, fine collections of baskets, copper jugs, porcelain pot, old musical instruments e.t.c. hanging from the ceilings
The bar supports several beers from the Fullers range and they have always been in good condition on the times I have visited.
But one key feature of this pub, as mentioned below is the franchised Thai restaurant in the plant covered conservatory at the back of the pub. This is an experience in itself as it is like dining in a glass house at Kew. And the food tends to be cheap (all dishes at £6.30 on my last visit) and top quality, all being prepared with fresh ingredients in the pub kitchen. And when the menu has a Chilli symbol meaning a hot dish, it means it !.
So all in all a fantastic pub and well worth going out your way for to visit.
The only slight negatives are that its reputation means that it is usually very busy, so expect to queue at both the bar and in the restaurant section for the Thai food.
And as they serve the food throughout the pub, this means that there can be a distinct smell of oriental cooking wafting through the rest of the pub, which may be a bit off putting if you’ve just come in for a pint. But in my mind, if the franchised restaurant is what it takes to keep a gem like this going, then that is a small price to pay.
On 16th May 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2122 recommendations about 2001 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Churchill Arms
This is a Fuller's pub, so expect the usual range of ales. The ESB I had was good, as usual. They seem to have cornered the market in assorted bric-a-brac, and hung it all from the ceiling. But it doesn't look out of place though. It was pretty busy at around 3.30 on a Friday afternoon – not sure if it was mainly punters having a late lunch; workers on POETS' day starting the weekend early; or punters like me popping into a decent pub for a good pint. All the above probably.
From the solid looking bar top to the attractive bow windows, and comfortable seating, this is an excellent and welcoming pub. I struggle to define exactly what it is I like about this pub – maybe it's its essential “pubishness”. I'll definitely be back.
On 6th March 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Churchill Arms
This pub is very deceiving from the outside. It looks small but inside there are several rooms. The ceilings of the bar and 2 siderooms are covered with various hanging objects such as chamber pots,milk churns,cider and beer jugs of various sizes.Also the walls are covered with pictures connected with Sir Winston Churchill and the last war. At the back there is a restaurant serving Thai food. This area is covered in flowers and plants and reminds you of Kew Gardens.As you can see by the pic the front of the pub is also covered in flowers.Full range of Fullers beers on tap.Well worth a visit.A very friendly and jovial Irish landlord.
On 2nd September 2008
- rating: 10
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Churchill Arms
What a fantastic pub. In an area where so many pubs claim their place in history with faux props and 200 year old claims this place simply oozes history. It's difficult to do justice to the eclectic and decorative items that adorn the walls and ceiling but I'll list just a few. There are the usual copper kettles, jugs, coal scuttles etc. along with brass instruments, old radios, violin cases, an accordion, pressed butterflies, old manuscripts, lanterns, even an old parking meter. There's also an original wooden “Always Time for a Guinness” sign complete with the toucan balancing a pint of Guinness. But the main theme is quite clearly the eponymous wartime leader and there are newspaper cuttings, photos, paintings etc. all over the bar. One wall holds photos of every British Prime Minister from Sir Robert Walpole through to Maggie. There is a large bar area although it is usually full so be prepared to compete with the friendly locals for some space . The well kept beers are from Fullers and there is a popular restaurant at the back. A little off the beaten track between Kensington and Notting Hill but this is one of London's gems and well worth the effort of finding.
On 13th January 2008
- rating: 8
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]