Duke of York, SW1

This pub came as a pleasant surprise given its proximity to Victoria Station and its high profile. The staff were young,mostly quite amateurish, though the young bar manager was on the ball and made sure things ran smoothly. Six handpumps, all dispensing Old Brewery Bitter, which was in decent condition. It wasn’t crowded, the atmosphere was pleasant and it was remarkably cheap for London. A good place to meet up or start a crawl.

It was my first visit to a London Sam Smiths pub, and my visit at 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon was not the best time, as expected the place was very busy. Did'nt know what to drink so opted for a bottle of there special beers on the barmans recommendation, what he did'nt tell me it would cost me £6.50. For me this pubs layout was ok but nothing different from alot of these london pubs, as for the Sam Smith product I proberly would try it again as it's very convenient for London Victoria.

This is not the first Sam Smiths pub I have been in that has been recreated from scratch. I understand that only the facade of this building was retained, or perhaps that was recreated too, giving the designers free rein to fashion the interior in any style they chose. There is perhaps not so much pleasure to be derived from a quiet and contemplative drink in a re-imagined pub like this than in one that has been unchanged for a century or more, but I am inclined to give this one, and others like it (the Hogarth chain does something similar) a small round of applause. In fact my notes written at the time read "It's superb!". The Old Brewery Best Bitter was in good condition, so I have good memories of my visit to this pub.

I can’t really add much to the previous reviews relating to this externally unbranded Sam Smith’s pub’s phoenix-like rising from the ashes. It’s very hard to work out what’s brand new here in this fake gin palace, perhaps all of it. Certainly, the etched windows are spectacular, but as mentioned, the stained (rather than lacquered) wood panels do indeed look more like a posh estate pub from the 1950s; the wheelchair lift to the basement lavs certainly isn’t Victorian; if it were, it would have had concertina doors and a liftman. At least OB was on pump (for once in Westminster), at £2.35 a half, but as usual it was too cold and as I was on a mission, didn’t have time to let it thaw, so had a few sips and left; God Victoria is a terrible place to drink.