The Constitution, Pimlico, SW1

A surprisingly good pub hidden away in the back streets of Pimlico, The Constitution holds in own with the better known pubs in the area. It's also surprising, then, that it isn't a GBG pub as it's 4 ales and one cider were very well kept. The locals scrutinised thoroughly but accepted us as normal, and the staff were welcoming. My pint of Sambrooks was particularly good, while my colleague said that the Spitfire was excellent. Highly recommended for inclusion on a crawl and a pub to which I shall undoubtedly return.

Unusually, in this case we have a pub named after a ship from a foreign navy. This one is named after the USS Constitution, which had considerable success against the Royal Navy in the war of 1812 mainly because its hull was constructed from the super dense live oak wood. It’s still the oldest sailing ship afloat and can be found in Boston Harbour. The pub itself is almost as admirable as its namesake. There’s just the one room downstairs, with some superb full length wood panelling on the walls. Just about every inch of the walls is covered with nautical themed paraphernalia, including numerous prints. I didn’t get close enough to the prints to examine them in detail, but it certainly looked as if some represented the exploits of the USS Constitution. Furnishings are traditional and comfortable, and being carpeted it didn’t get as noisy as ar least one other bare-boarded pub that I visited during the evening. There’s another room upstairs that was being used an overflow for the main room downstairs when I was in, but it was also comfortable and was showing football on the large screen. Unfortunately the ale selection wasn’t very inspiring, with just Courage Best and Spitfire on, but two ales are certainly better than none, and the Spitfire was OK. I’ve no idea whether they do food during the evenings, but I didn’t see any sign of food or menus. I reckon that this is one of the better pubs in Pimlico, and I would be delighted to pay another visit.

A traditional, high street boozer in the middle of Pimlico. There's a few benches and chairs outside, and the troughs of flowers make for an attractive appearance. Inside, it's a single room, square bar with carpet on the floor and much wood panelling on the walls, a mustard colour paint on the ceiling and plenty of jugs, plates, etc., on a shelf around the perimeter. The pub has a somewhat nautical theme, with a ship on the pub's sign, various drawings of ships hung on the walls and a few model ships displayed by the leaded windows at the back. Seating was a mixture of tables and chairs, with a number of high stools at the bar. There was a plasma at the back of the pub as well as an old TV perched up on a shelf near the door. Neither of these were in use on a recent visit, but there was a Sky Sports fixture list on the wall, so clearly they do get regular use. We didn't eat on this occasion, but a specials board chalked up next to the bar listed various dishes such as Ham, Egg & Chips and Macaroni Cheese. I'm not sure what was on the regular menu if this was the specials, but they looked reasonably priced at around the £6/£7 mark. Beers on tap were Sambrook's Wandle, Courage Best and Directors, and Spitfire. A surprisingly good choice of cider for pubs in these parts with Strongbow, Magner's Golden Draught and Weston's Traditional Scrumpy.

In the heart of Pimlico is The Constitution, a single room pub with a rather striking Italianate style façade. The pub was constructed in the 1840’s by one Richard Lacy, who also constructed some of the neighbourhood terraced streets. It’s a pleasant carpeted comfortable wood panelled interior with many framed nautical prints on the walls and jugs/vases etc on a high shelf around the room. The pub sign depicts a large sailing ship and I gather there once was a famous American sailing vessel so named, but, disappointingly, I didn’t see anything inside the pub to explain any connection. Leaded windows and curtains add to the traditional cosy atmosphere, which is scarcely spoilt by the presence of 3 TV sets dotted around the pub. Seating is mainly of the traditional variety with several high round tables with stools by the bar area seemingly favoured by the locals. Notably, there appears to be a good customer base with no specific age group dominating. There’s an upstairs function room called The Churton Room and a few benches outside on the pavement at the front. On the real ale side, beers on were Courage Best, Greene King London Glory, Spitfire, Caledonian Over the Bar and Adnams Broadside. Unusually, Courage Best appeared to be the best selling real ale. On 2 separate recent visits, beer has been very palatable. It’s not a showstopper by any means, but well worth a look if in the area