The Chelsea Ram, SW10

Official site of The Chelsea Ram - www.thechelsearam.co.uk

Dating from 1887 as the Ashburnham Arms, this is another pub in the backwater hinterland that for more than 30 years, has been known as Chelsea Harbour, the area being dominated by the towering chimney from the former Lots Road power station. The place still matches the description below, with pastel hues, mixed furniture and scatter cushions, all visible on the pub’s website gallery; it reminds me more though of a tearoom than pub. Customers were mixed and a coal effect fire attempted to keep out the cold. Décor comprises some knickknacks, lots of framed prints, shelves of books and a mock English Heritage blue plaque dedicated to Sean Lock, stating that he drank regularly here from 1990 until 2020. Ales up were London Original, Winter Warmer (probably displacing Special) and Proper Job at a stiff £2.65 a half and good. This is an ok pub for what it is, given the great distances required by travel to pubs other than the Lots Road round the corner, which is the Ram’s inferior neighbour, though this is a bit twee.

Official site of The Chelsea Ram - www.thechelsearam.co.uk

This is very much a “Chelsea” pub, with bare-boarded floors (at least in the main bar area at the front of the pub), scrubbed solid wood tables, and pastel shades featuring my favourite duck egg green. The bar counter is ahead of you on the right as you enter, with more seating to the left of the bar counter stretching a fair way to the rear. Wall decor is modern artistic in style, including a large print of the iconic Rolling Stones “tongue”. But I didn’t see any tall tables/stools, nor any fruit or games machines, which are a couple of very welcome plus points. There is no possibility that somewhere like this, and in this area, would be anything other than expensive. As a Young’s pub the ale choice was severely limited. Young’s Bitter is £3.60 a pint; the other ale on is Bombardier, and I thought I heard another customer being asked for £3.90 for a pint of it, but surely I must have been mistaken. Probably need a hearing aid. Menus are single sheet affairs attached to clipboards on the tables. Sandwiches were £7.25, and main courses in the £10 to £14 range. I certainly wouldn’t make this a destination pub, but I reckon that it’s better than anything along the Kings Rd, and is OK for a pint or two as long as you can stomach the prices.