The Alliance, West Hampstead, NW6

Swerved the quiz by being here on a Monday evening. Nothing to add to the description of the pub below, although I would say the lighting beautifully transitioned between dusk and darkness! Only two hand pumps in action on my visit, a very decent bitter from the Windsor & Eton brewery was my chosen quaff. Not forced outside and plenty of space to lounge with my pint so much better than a 3 but not as lofty as a 7 so I’ll sit on the fence at a 5! Actually music was a bit louder than background but a decent selection so I am not complaining. Sort have done the West Hampstead side of NW6 but little of the Kilburn side and would agree with the slant of comments below that the better postcode treats are still to come.

Dating from 1886, this pub is in the northernmost reaches of West Hampstead, midway between Kilburn and Cricklewood. I went to rehearsals for a cub scout play around the corner from here in the mid-‘70s and suspect that cub leaders probably imbibed here in between acts. The Alliance was taken over by new owners in March, so it’s no surprise that the previous review no longer applies. I arrived on a Thursday evening to a quiz with a massive number of contestants; indeed, I was told that the pub had been made over for the quiz, but that I was welcome to drink out front on the pavement – with a foul-mouthed old git; cheers. I didn’t get a real look at the interior through being ejected, but it appears to be modernised with contemporary furniture and young professional customers. There was a cider on as well as two ales in the form of Brakspear’s Gravity and Purity’s Pure Gold at £2.50 a half and nice. It’s good to see that this pubis well patronised but what kind of place holds a quiz on a Thursday? Pub entertainments are held at the start of the week when business is slow. Either way, denying entry to a person because of a quiz, isn’t really the way to treat customers; if I lived locally, I’d drink elsewhere.

Official site of The Alliance - thealliancenw6.com

Official site of The Alliance - thealliancenw6.com