Duke of York, SW1

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.

A brand new(!) Sam’s, risen from the ashes of a closed pub in a large site that spent years being redeveloped. As mentioned below, the interior is late Victorian/Edwardian in its style with the usual Sam’s themes of etched glass windows, old style fittings, dark wood panelling etc (though my companion commented that a bit of the bar panelling looked a little on the cheaper side – “like a 1950’s estate pub!”). Noticeable that there’s an assumption of mainly vertical drinking in here with not too much in the way of seating and plenty of empty space on the pretty flooring which surrounds an island bar, though the rear area is a bit more intimate with more seating. Apparently there’s also an upstairs bar though we saw no indication of it. Cask OBB available here (NBSS 3.5) and a decent lunchtime crowd. It’s a solid addition to Humph’s estate although it won’t get the pulse racing compared to some of the other Sam’s London outlets.