Prince of Wales, Kensington, W8

Yet another routine Taylor Walker affair, complete with high tables here, dining area there, rancid smell of chips and their infamous Big Ben burger on the menu. That there were all of half a dozen people, and no tourists, in on a summer Friday lunchtime suggests this pub need some serious work doing on it. Useful for pub crawls only.

This narrow pub has a dark interior and is aimed squarely at tourists. Not bad if you're desperate, but otherwise there's no real reason to visit.

For some reason, I rarely ventured into the P.O.W. despite working 20 yards away from it. My memories were therefore quite cloudy when I revisited it recently after an approximate 15 year absence. The attractive entrance gives the impression that the pub is tiny but it does open up into a larger wedge shaped interior with the bar running down one side. In a nutshell, the pub is a fairly ordinary place but with a good (but pretty safe) beer count. Bombardier, Pride, Spitfire, Pedigree, Landlord and Youngs all available and prices weren't as bad as one would expect in this area. Unlike the previous poster, I found the lighting suitably subdued (maybe the staff read Bite) but the lack of any windows does detract. There is a screened off area to the rear for a bit of intimacy and the décor is safe enough with a few nice touches like the personalised mirror behind the bar and a few old photos of the area but there isn't a great deal that particularly stands out. The music is unobtrusive and there is a decent enough plasma TV and the usual assortment of Quiz / fruit machines. I would rank it as slightly above average and it is worth a visit if in the area but ultimately it just lacks any real character.