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Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Graham Coombs
Submitted on Sunday, 16th June 2019
With picture contributions to 5136 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (9 more images)
Detail Pages
Builders Arms, Kensington, W8
W8
W8 5BJ
The Builders Arms
Stick on those thinking caps and make sure to join us this Tuesday night @thebuildersw8 in #Kensington for our week… https://t.co/LkpQJSkfGJ
1:17 PM Mar 16th 2020 from Question One - Auto Quizzer
Reviews of Builders Arms (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Builders Arms
Good-looking pub from the outside but the interior is decidedly gastro, with the usual dark shades of grey colour scheme and rows of plain tables bearing menus on clipboards. They do seem to have kept an interest in ales though, with a new barrel properly pulled through for us. A row of outdoor tables is fenced off from the pavement. Draught beers were Landlord, Skinner's Betty Stogs, and Doom Bar with a Purity beer waiting to go on.
On 12th June 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Builders Arms
This is a spacious, open-plan back street, corner pub with a classic working class name and a decidedly more upmarket clientele. The front part of the pub comprises a large open space with large windows down two sides and two entrances. One porch, liberally draped with all sorts of greenery, leads out to a small front pavement seating area. The room is bare boarded and has lots of standard tables and chairs throughout, with a few plush armchairs and sofas over to the right hand side. The servery spans the rear wall and has a basic dark wood counter and an interesting bar back with a bright mosaic tile design depicting palm trees, for no apparent reason. Decor is fairly limited and what has been added is fairly uninspiring, with blackboards, plain mirrors and a very limited number of framed pictures providing the only forms of visual distraction. To the right of the bar, a lit fireplace was a nice focal point for those who’d just arrived on this chilly Autumn evening, whilst to the left, the room extends a way to the rear, where you’ll find a small space with a drinking ledge down one side and a couple of booths along the other – it’s a fairly dark and unwelcoming spot, but seemed popular enough on a busy midweek evening. The pub appeared to be packed with poseur types but a few students and tourists appeared over time and I ended up chatting endlessly to an American couple who were super-enthusiastic about all the pubs they’d been to in London – apart from this one!!
Four ales must qualify as an unexpectedly decent return for a pub like this, with customers given a choice of Black Sheep Holy Grail, Sharps Doom Bar, Taylor Landlord and Rudgate Hop For Heroes. I tried a pint of the latter and thought it was rather nice, which was a relief, as upon ordering, the barmaid somehow managed to smash a half pint glass that was trapped inside a pint glass, which she then used to serve my pint!
This place felt a bit like it was trying to be a refined, high-end pub suited to the locals, but fell a fair way short of achieving this, leaving us with a slightly pretentious feeling pub with nothing particularly marking it out from other such places in the area. I was happy enough here, chatting to my new American friends over a decent pint, but nothing here really grabbed me and made me want to rush back.
On 16th January 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about Builders Arms
Again, nothing special beer wise. All below 4.5%. I went for Caple Road cider at 5.2%. Another pub not to be returned to.
On 12th October 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
View more reviews of Builders Arms (10)
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- Official site of the Builders Arms, contains menus - www.thebuildersarmskensington.co.uk
- Facebook - The Builders Arms
- Twitter - The Builders Arms
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Builders Arms - whatpub.com
Kensington (Olympia), 1.31 miles, 25 min walk (show)
London Paddington, 1.72 miles, 33 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 15 June 2016 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Beer Garden : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Function Room : No last updated 16 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Dave McNally
- Jukebox : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Karaoke : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No - Selected events. - last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Micropub : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Pool Table : No last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- Quiz Night : Yes - Tuesdays 8.00 pm. - last updated 15 June 2016 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : No last updated 16 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Wheelchair Access : Yes - Disabled WC. - last updated 17 June 2016 by Tris C
- WiFi : Yes last updated 15 June 2016 by Tris C
