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Disappointment of the week with Gann
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Buckingham Arms, SW1
SW1
SW1H 9EU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Buckingham Arms
A narrowish pub decorated with pictures of the eponymous duke and his descendants. The counter is to the left with a long thin seating area behind, the main room has shelves and stools at the front and tables at the back for dining, a few drinkers were evicted from here during my early evening visit. In spite of a fair amount of space inside the London tradition of standing drinking on the pavement was observed here. A former Youngs pub with six pulls of their beers, Original or Ordinary and Special were available although doubled or trebled up, Proper Job as a guest was also on with another beer Coming Soon. One of the five remaining pubs listed in every Good Beer Guide since 1974 and sadly probably the weakest of the five.
On 25th July 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3230 recommendations about 2939 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Buckingham Arms
This is resolutely a squaddies’ pub, located bang opposite Wellington Barracks, this is a partially modernised pub with features such as painted bare brick, framed prints, modern pale floorboards and fluted glass shaded lamps. I didn’t stay.
On 12th November 2021
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1984 recommendations about 1950 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Buckingham Arms
A Youngs pubco house but with redeeming features.It's quite small inside with a wooden floor and room for vertical drinking near the elegantly curved bar,a few high tables,to the rear there are larger tables but everyone was reserved for later.At least up until the witching hour of their arrival,you can pitch down and sup.Food from a short menu with reasonable (for London) pricing seems popular here ,so booking is a must.
There is a very unusual side corridor with a rank of two person high tables and it's own front door.There is also a first floor unvisited by me.The dumb waiter on the ground floor is a small feature.
There are 6 handpumps serving on my trip Youngs Original and Special with guests Sambrooks Junction and Scrumdown,St Austell Proper Job (NBSS 3.5) and a clip for a Redemption Ale reversed.
Better than I feared,worth popping if if crawling the area.
On 14th February 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Buckingham Arms
Subject to a controversial refurbishment by Youngs a few years ago, but I have just about got used to the refreshed decor which looks a little less stark now... Anyway, the semi-modern interior behind the attractive frontage offers a range of seating on three sides of the curvy bar counter, and there is still the very strange row of high stools along the shelf in the narrow corridor at the side. The floor is mostly bare boards, but there is a carpeted section in the larger seating area at the back. Background music (at times). Ordinary and Special plus Proper Job, Hogs Back TEA and Wimbledon Copper Leaf (£5.10) as guests from five of the six handpumps on this visit.
On 16th June 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8092 recommendations about 8092 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Buckingham Arms
Another one of Youngs modernised establishments well described by previous reviewers below and was being very well utilised by the after work crowd on the evening I visited. I quite liked this one but mainly because as well as Youngs Ordinary and Special, Truman Bow bells, St Austell Proper Job and Redemption Pale Ale were available on the other three.
Another of the good solid pub options in this part of town.
On 13th June 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Buckingham Arms
Still in the GBG 2018, this is a classic pub with two main areas split by the bar which serves the larger side only. The bar is to the front side of the main room, the other side is effectively a narrow corridor but nowadays with a line of those square high tables, years ago there was a long drinking shelf. In this narrow side there is an approximation of the brewing process along the wall which may be of passing interest.
As you enter the pub you cannot help but notice the externally patrolled barracks opposite, then the attractive curved leaded windows and planted baskets. The main area has lots of interest on the walls, various Dukes of Buckingham, The Villiers family it seems, Royal palaces, obviously including Buck House as well as old and in cases long gone brewery ads. The stencilled quotations are a bit trite but harmless enough. Mixed seating with possibly too many high styles, a drinking ledge opposite the bar too, the smaller front tables being the best bet if you can snare those.
Youngs here, or should I say the Ram Brewery Co, Bitter, Special x2, London Gold and By the Horns "The Mayor of Garratt" Not sure if this is a rebadge for Youngs or not, couldn't find it on the BTH website, anyway it was £4.90, upwards of my acceptable price range and fairly average.
TVs on showing the 6 Nations, looked as if they were in position specifically looking at the wiring arrangements, so maybe not all events are shown.
A nice pub, not been in prior to yesterday for a few years but on this visit I felt it was below par.
On 11th March 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Buckingham Arms
Young's establishment which was as busy as the Adam & Eve. Various hand pumps but nothing above 4.5% ABV, unfortunately.
On 1st March 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about Buckingham Arms
A Young’s pub with a GBG entry. Three Young’s ales on, plus a guest; I had Wimbledon Brewery's Common IPA which was in excellent condition, well kept and most enjoyable. A definite for a crawl and a good place to spend the evening.
On 2nd December 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Buckingham Arms
Quite liked this Young's pub. In spite of the pub being busy, the staff still managed a welcoming smile and the service was professional and mannerly. Five handpumps, with three from Young's. We went for the Trumans Zephyr, which was an excellent choice. The pub has a curved glass panelled entrance and leaded front windows, which is was an interesting feature.
On 29th July 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Buckingham Arms
This is a Young’s pub so has a fairly predictable ale selection, with Bitter (£1.85 a half), Special, London Gold, and Sambrook’s Wandle on. I didn’t see any menus when I was in at around 4.00 PM on Thursday, but I would be very surprised if a pub like this didn’t do food.
This is a longstanding Central London Young’s pub, which I remember from the 70s as a bastion of real ale against the onslaught of the keg invaders. Obviously being a Young’s pub it’s been tarted up somewhat, but they haven’t gone overboard with this one. There are some tall butcher’s block style tall tables with tall stools; a group of armchairs surrounding a small table by the window; and some banquettes and normal tables and chairs at the back. It’s bare-boarded but the floor space at the back is broken up by a large rug. The walls have a number of supposedly amusing quotes/homilies painted on them. There’s some additional seating in a corridor reached via a doorway to the left just past the bar counter. Being a corridor space is limited, so seating is tall stools accompanying ledges/tables attached to the wall. There are attractive cut glass mirrors in the bar back that look like modern replacements (although the glass in the door behind the server might be original), all surmounted by swathes of dried hops.
Despite the efforts by Young’s to give it an upmarket ambience it still has the feel of a real pub to me. I reckon it’s one of the better pubs in this part of the world.
On 1st April 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]