The Hop Poles, Hammersmith, W6

Official site of The Hop Poles - www.craft-pubs.co.uk

Being a Stonegate pub I was not surprised by the uninspiring ale choice of Doom Bar and London Price (£2.15 a half). They also had Lilley's Mulled cider on draught as well. food seems to be mainly pizze (£8.75 upwards) and burgers, with the classic burger at £10. There are a few other pub grub favourites such as cod & chips (£11.50) and beef and Doom Bar ale pie (£12). The pub is mainly very ordinary with row of tall tables/benches and stools along the front of the pub by the window, and some booths along the right. But the really interesting things about the pub are on the right. A corner here has what looks like original Victorian wood framing cut glass mirrors on the wall, as well as an unused doorway, also with apparently original glazing, which must lead to the rear of the servery. A bit of the bar back, with more woodwork and cut glass, survives although some unattractive shelving has been added. A pair of doors on the right leads to a large room at the rear, which could possibly have been a billiards room in years past. Immediately to the left of these doors is another glazed door leading to the rear of the servery. On the wall in this back room is more of what looks like original Victorian woodwork and bevelled and cut glass mirrors. This is a four bay piece that has all the appearance of a classic bar back and with what looks like an unused dumb waiter in the centre, now showcasing gin bottles and the like. But there is no counter here and it's not the place where they would have had one. So, maybe it is reclaimed as suggested by Quinno, or maybe as it matches the rest of the glazing in the front room it has been relocated from behind the bar in the front room for some bizarre reason. As a pub this place is nothing special, but if you're nearby it's definitely worth a peek at the surviving Victorian features.

Feels almost like an ex Nicholsons pub but I am reliably informed that it’s not the case. So with that opening gambit you’d probably guess the interior fairly well – a two-roomer with touches of (faux?) Victoriana with a lovely mahogany and etched glass reclaimed bar back in the agreeable rear room. The front bar is a classic loud open space. Apparently there’s an upstairs room but I failed to spot it. Plenty of pumps but just two actually available and a rotten pairing of Doom Bar and Pride (fair). For the record the beers off were Adnams Mosaic, Brains SA, Rev James – poor for a Saturday. Beware useless European staff. Judging by the reviews below I perhaps caught it on a bad evening but I left pretty unimpressed by the overall experience. 5.5

The Hop Poles is a Grade II listed building, formed back in the 1850's when two previous pubs were amalgamated to create the Hop Poles Hotel. Despite its listing, the pub underwent a pretty substantial refurbishment back in 2007, so that today we find what is essentially an enormous single room laid out around the vast central servery. You enter into a bare boarded front section with high tables and stools along the front wall and a mix of banquette and standard seating further back. The bar area is huge and the bar counter had some massive floral displays on the corners which looked pretty spectacular. The décor is quite attractive, with light floral wallpaper on the walls and a lot of lamps and light fixtures running through the room. Further down the left side of the bar, you pass through a former doorway into the rear part of the pub which has some nice booths down one side, separated by etched glass partitioning screens. The rest of the rear section is carpeted and has a mix of standard chairs and more comfortable lounge style seating. There are some lovely cut glass mirrors here and a stained glass internal window that looks like it might be an original feature. The right hand side of the pub is much darker and narrower than the rest of the room and was relatively quiet compared to the bustling crowd around the other sides of the bar. There are a lot of TV screens throughout the pub, all showing promotional material mixed with occasional historic scenes of Hammersmith, which was quite a nice touch. An alley at the rear of the pub has a few stools along a drinking ledge and may well lead out to a beer garden, but I never made it that far. There is a heated garden terrace upstairs though, as well as a lounge and function room which was being used for a private party on my visit. There was no sign of any Brains ales when I arrived. In fact, the handpulls were only offering two beers - Bingham's Space Hoppy IPA and Cottage Between the Posts - with one real cider also on and three 'Coming Soon' clips, including one for Sharp's Doom Bar which seems to be a regular fixture. The Space Hoppy was a bit of a mixed bag as I started off not really liking it, but found it much more easy going as I got towards the bottom of the glass. I only ended up in here because the pre-gig queues in the nearby Swan and William Morris were too long to contemplate, but this turned out to be a pretty good alternative. Whilst some of the pub's historic charm has undoubtedly been lost, there are still a few points of interest and the pub is a spacious and comfortable spot in which to enjoy a pint or two.