The Fiddler, Kilburn, NW6

Date visited: February 2010. An afternoon visit to what is a mid-'90s' shop conversion. It wasn't the most inspiring of venues though I recall that the Guinness was good. The only craic I experienced in here was the small hole to the main window which looked like it was made by a bullet; I wouldn't have returned.

This is an "Irish" bar. The TVs on the walls were all showing the racing of course; I saw Setanta Sports advertised; and there was some "Guinness Rugby" bunting strung across the ceiling. But I didn't see any shamrocks or leprechauns displayed around the place, so it's probably the genuine article. It's a single-room local drinkers' pub the look of the punters in there when I visited on Wednesday afternoon. It's comfortably furnished with banquettes along the sides of the room, coupled with normal tables and small round stools. There's no real ale of course, and a half of Guinness was £1.80. This one is a bit larger, a bit more impersonal and less intimate than most Irish bars I've visited. It's not the sort of place that I would patronise on a regular basis, but the customers in there seemed to appreciate it and I'm pleased that it's here for them to enjoy.

The Kingdom is a corner pub on the busy Kilburn high road. Once inside there was a decent sized single oblong shaped room which ran to the rear of the pub,the bar ran down the left side,there was comfortable bench seating down the right side which faced the bar. The room is bare boarded and there was a darts board to the front left,the background music was from Heart FM. There were no real ales on the bar,i had a drink of John Smiths Extra Cold crap which was a pretty crap drink. The pub was empty on my early Thursday dinner visit,the service was without a smile or thank you. Pub visited 1/5/2014