House Belgravia, SW1

Semi buried pub on a corner with no real ale at all - just keg. Various TVs as you'd expect from a sports bar.

Basement bar serving 2 real ales and food. Darts area advertised but not visited.

This pub was originally called the Red Lion and was one of the few pubs in this area to elude me. The Belgravia is a semi basement pub that is set under a block of flats,just the sort of pub i like going in. Once down a few steps the bar faces,the room is bare boarded,the seating a mix of tall tales and chairs and a bench seating,there is a small raised area to the rear. There were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Doom Bar which went down well enough,i failed to note the other beer as i was in a rush to get my bus back to Nottingham. I was happy enough having a quick drink here and will no doubt visit again if early enough for my bus. Pub visited 1/7/2015

With time not being at a premium during my small crawl of the Sloan Square area I took a small detour and visited the Belgravia. Well described by others and as they have commented it’s not the most architecturally prepossessing place, either outside or inside, and after traversing the steps down into the bar to find only one of the two hand pumps in operation dispensing the ubiquitous Doom bar I turned heel and headed for the nearby Duke of Wellington. It probably serves a purpose and with its plethora of TV screens I can see it being a popular place to watch the footy for local residents, however there were more outside in the patio garden area than inside for my mid-afternoon visit. Won’t leave a rating as I didn’t stay to try its delights, but from what I could see, there seems to be a lot better in the area.

This is a small pub dwarfed by the block of flats built above it, unusually you step down from the pavement level to enter via a front terrace. Boarded flooring, a fair few high tables with stools plus one very long table with benches each side which would either seat a large group or be communal seating. An unusual tiny raised area to the rear is the VIP area, available for hire, not sure if it is free territory when not booked. There are TVs everywhere, at least four including outside and this is a small pub, the rain affected Ashes were being aired to a handful of interested punters listening to the summarisers filling the void without play. I decided to sit outside, it feels slightly continental with the awning, foliage and groups eating, however I was soon driven back in by a most tenacious wasp that was attracted by my pint of Brakspears, seemingly it wasn't a lager or wine drinker as that is what everyone else was on. The Brakspears Bitter was £4.10, I was prepared for this around here, the other choice was the ubiquitous Doom Bar. Food is served, reasonable value for the area, chilli/lasagne £7.95, baguettes £4.25. The place doesn't look much from the outside but wasn't too bad and I may well have stayed longer if the cricket was in play and the wasp bought its own beer.