Three Jolly Butchers, W1

Visited 03/08/26. Visited previously as the Kings Arms on 04/03/19. Cask here was GK IPA, Abbot, TT LL and their own branded Three Jolly Butchers Ale. Keg was typical range of Peroni, Cruz, Moretti, Camden Hells, Estrella, Amstel, Guinness and three GK offerings of Level Head Session IPA, Hazy Day their fruity IPA and the Flint Eye lager. Doesn't feel like much has changed here since previous name. Commonly visited pub by me over the years, albeit nowhere near as much as near neighbour Ye Grapes. Cosy traditional pub in Shepherds Market, bare boarded with the bar counter along the right-hand wall. There is a leather banquette at the rear of the ground floor serving a few small tables, some tall tables served by tall unbacked stools in the middle of the floor space and then a few tall tables in the front window served by tall, backed stools. First floor also has a bar counter serving the same drinks and is a mixture of a tile skirt at the bar counter, central part bare boarded and then carpeted where the regular tables are sited and aimed at diners. Tall tables rise on the bare boarded area, with comfier backed stools than those serving the tall tables on the ground floor. The pub doesn't obviously have any screens, and a ridiculously jaunty pop soundtrack was playing on my visit.

Official site of Three Jolly Butchers - www.greeneking.co.uk

Official site of Three Jolly Butchers - www.greeneking.co.uk

Dating from 1742 as the Three Jolly Butchers, the current name dating from 1785, but apparently rebuilt in 1967. Hmmm… The downstairs interior is small, with a modern boarded floor and certainly the wooden bar array looks newish, with an interesting curved staircase to the left side. Dark grey paint makes it as far as the dado, thereon up it’s pale mushroom to the white Anaglypta ceiling. It’s the chunky, gnarled wooden beams that intrigue; do they really date from ’67 or were they incorporated into a remodelled pub? Furniture is tall and conventional, the whole lit by Victorian-style lighting. Four ales on: GK IPA, Abbot, London Glory and Portobello Westway Pale at a very pricey £2.75; dull but drinkable. This isn’t a bad pub, certainly better than the Chesterfield and Market Tavern, but it’s less of a boozer than the Grapes.

A Greene King tied house with a very old fashioned whiff on entering,but the low ceiling,exposed beams and traditional vibe mark this out as a decent boozer.Two Sky Sports screens were showing T20 on mute,while the pub clearly has a few regulars .To the front there are some high tables off the curved frontage ,while there are a few more traditional tables dotted about. There is a corporate GK food menu while the 4 handpumps were drawing GK IPA and Abbott with guests Exeter Avocet and Portobello WestWay Pale (ok). If you are looking for a boozer in Shepherds Market with some authenticity then this maybe worth a pint.