The Pineapple, SW1

Now owned by Greene King, the Colonies is a bit tucked away on Wilfred Street. Still a fairly open plan traditional pub interior the key selling point for this one over the multitude of other options in the nearby area is the pleasant courtyard garden that stretches from the back of the pub all the way to a back entrance on Castle Lane. Insanely busy with the afterwork crowd when I popped in last week and three GK brews and a cider meant I didn’t linger long personally. But it was attracting a crowd that were and good on it for that.

Unspectacular pub with five hand pumps, three of which were in use but no ale of any strength. Service was slow, to say the least. Would not return.

A Taylor Walker pub previously called The Pineapple and well described below. Four ales on during this visit, we had Stonehenge which was in OK condition, slightly past its best. OK to drop in or include in a crawl, but maybe not somewhere to spend the whole evening being irrigated.

The Colonies is an open plan Taylor Walker pub with traditional décor and standard furniture that is faced by a bar that runs along the right hand wall. Standard and premium draught products were available during my recent Wednesday afternoon visit. The bar also supports five hand pumps, one of these was unused and another was off leaving Greene King’s London Glory and Scrum Down as the ale options alongside Tyne Bank’s Pacification. Food is available all day from the Taylor Walker menu. I counted two televisions that were both off, but Sky Sports and BT Sport were both advertised. There was some background music playing. The single cubical in the gent’s toilets was tiny and had no lock on the door. Out the back of the pub are some covered high tables and four picnic tables that ran down a wide unused side street. I’d maybe pop back in here if I was walking past, but I wouldn’t make a special trip.

This is a Taylor Walker pub, so furnishings are typical of the breed with mainly tall tables/tall stools and a few banquettes coupled with normal tables and chairs. The walls are dark wood panelled, and it’s bare-boarded apart from a small carpeted raised area at the back. There a couple of discreet Union Flags on a ledge near the door, and a small framed set of “Flags of the Empire” on one of the walls, but otherwise there’s not much very “colonial” about it. I guess in these PC days, over-emphasising the days of Empire is not really on. I’m surprised nobody is campaigning to have the name changed. At the back is a “garden”, which is actually a very small road called Pine Apple Court that just leads to the back of the pub. But it does have half a dozen or so picnic benches, and is thus a rarity as outside seating other than on the pavement is most unusual in Central London. The ale selection wasn’t brilliant with just Courage Best and Directors, plus Adnam’s Ghost Ship (£2.05 a half) on. The usual pub grub menu is available, although on the more expensive side for TW outlets, with the fish and chips at £9.29 and Big Ben Burger at £11.29. It’s a typical Taylor Walker chain pub, so nothing special, but OK as it’s tucked away somewhat and thus not really a tourist trap.

Very pleasant backstreet pub not far from St. James' Park, in which I've felt consistently comfortable on my several recent visits. Usually has four real ales on, although as at my visit last week only had Pride, London Gold and Bombardier. Beer quality has always been good, and it always seems to have a healthy trade without being uncomfortably busy. There is also a surprisingly large beer patio to the rear, with extra seating. I tend to bring friends/colleagues from Australia, Canada, the USA, etc, here, just for irony value. Food service stops at 7pm, however, and as I've never wanted dinner that early I haven't eaten here.