The Punch Bowl, Mayfair, W1

Originally built in 1729, but rebuilt in 1792 due to fire damage. This date doesn’t surprise me, as some of the wood panelling – of which there is much – does look to be genuinely old, as does the fireplace surround. Some of the other woodwork seems newer, perhaps 19th century, such as the curved field panelled bar front and pot shelf, displaying the patina of age, though sadly what passes for a bar back is some exposed modern bricks and brown glazed tiles. There are some etched glass panes with walls painted pale mushroom with, for some reason, a crudely drawn A-Z-style map of the local area painted to part of the mid-section’s ceiling. Seating in the front area comprises traditional stuff, with some banquettes, then tall stools – some steel tubular – to the bar and left-hand drinking ledges. The rear appears to be geared towards dining, though there’s a very smart dining room on the first floor and a private members’ club above that. Lighting comes from filament bulbs fitted to hanging shallow metal shades, all annoyingly coated with fake cobwebs; more single use plastic. Banal music played and customers seemed, unsurprisingly, to be of the more affluent type. The bar staff were decent enough, serving from two pumps dispensing some sort of Punch Bowl Ale(?) and one dishing out a decent half of Sussex Best at, for the area, a reasonable £2.50. This place is a bit of a curate’s egg, but on balance I quite liked it; a better and wider ale range would get the score up. I certainly think that this is one of the best Mayfair pubs and I’d be inclined to drink here, including probably only the Coach & Horses, Guinea and Burlington if in this area.

One room pub with the rea for diners, by the looks. No usual real ale - they had their own beer as one of the three pumps. Nothing above 4.5% ABV.

As you approach this pub you could be forgiven for thinking that you have stumbled upon a hidden gem. But no such luck I’m afraid, as this is the pub once owned by Madonna and Guy Ritchie, and still owned by the latter I believe. The interior’s fairly attractive with a good, and apparently old, bar counter on the right (although the gantry must be a modern addition), some apparently fairly modern flagstone flooring at the front, and a bit of etched/cut glass in an unused doorway on the left. One interesting feature is the bank of wooden boards on the wall on the left, apparently to either protect or obscure some windows looking out to the alleyway running to the side of the pub. The rear area of the pub is furnished with tables and chairs, all of which were laid for diners. The front area has a few tables and chairs, at least one of which had a reserved sign on it. The favourite method of payment here looks to be plastic – a folder was kept behind the counter containing loads of credit cards for those presumably running tabs. Understandable really, as your loose change won’t go very far in here! The ales on were Spitfire and Bombardier with a Deuchars IPA clip reversed on a third pump. I had a pint of Spitfire which at £4.40 (!!) easily smashed the record for my most expensive pint of real ale. And the barman even managed to keep a straight face and not look emabarrassed when telling me the price. I was in here on an organised pub crawl so accepted that I was going to be charged silly money for a pint, but I don’t expect to visit again. In fact, I think I’ll try to avoid “celebrity” pubs altogether!

Official site of the Punch Bowl, includes real ale details - www.punchbowllondon.com

Official site of the Punch Bowl, includes real ale details - www.punchbowllondon.com