Belushi's, Hammersmith, W6

Visited 02/12/24 No cask. Keg options were Madri, Moretti, Heineken, Fosters, Pravha, Jubel Prach lager, Guinness, Aspall cider, Stone Wood Pacific ale, Neck Oil, Gamma Ray and Pure Helles lager from Purity. The Hammersmith branch of this sports bar chain. Bar counter opposite the entrance and boarded throughout with old style film studio type lighting. There are some booths along the front of the venue to the left of the entrance, each with its own dedicated TV. elsewhere tables all tall square affairs with tall unbacked stools and the leather cushions all seeing better days. There are a lot of TV's showing sport here (obviously) but a lot felt like they were too high apart from the bank of TV's on the rear wall opposite the entrance, but then too many too close to each other to be downright distracting. Even if you rate purely on sports bar merits, hence not likely great beer destination, this one is rather poor.

Dating back as the White Horse to at least the late 16th century, the George as it then was, was rebuilt in 1911 by renowned pub architect, Thomas Nowell Parr. Now part of the ‘international’(!) Belushi’s chain, with a backpacker hostel upstairs, I only really ventured in here as it at least has some provenance as a purpose-built pub. Previous reviews don’t exactly paint a rosy picture of it as the George, but the most recent claims that almost 10 years ago it had been refurbished with modern décor, which would probably look antiquated compared to what’s on offer today. Nothing of the original pub remains: The floor is boarded of course, thereafter it’s a dark affair with a security guard on patrol. Musical instruments hang from the black ceiling, which exhibits much ugly structural metalwork. The walls are largely clad with scorched planking. Furniture is made from what looks like a cross between Meccano and galvanised scaffolding, with booths to the front, each with its own individual TV, to which this pub is a veneration; I counted 14 TVs and one megavision screen, meaning that the interior was bathed in a shade of AstroTurf green, two matches shown simultaneously, sound off, so as not to compete with the dull thud of the loud bass soundtrack. The all-male customers were a mixed bunch, some attracting the attention of the security guard. Real ale of course is not on offer here, but my half of Neck Oil cost a barely believable £4.05. This place is probably about as close as you can get to pub hell.

Official site of Belushi's - www.belushis.com

Official site of Belushi's - www.belushis.com