The Prince Of Wales, Kennington, SE11

Official site of The Prince Of Wales - www.princeofwaleskennington.co.uk

Official site of The Prince Of Wales - www.princeofwaleskennington.co.uk

The Prince of Wales is a nice looking pub situated in a nice area in a corner of cleaver square. Once inside there is a small oblong shaped room to the front the bar is on the right side,there is comfy leather bench seating to the front and down the left side,there is a smaller room to the rear which is through an opened out doorway,the room is carpeted and seemed quite nice. The pub is a Shepherd Neame tied house which is one of my favourite brewers,i had a drink of Master Brew which went down well,the other beers were Whistable Bay Pale Ale and Spitfire. There was some pretty crap background music playing which sounded Mexican to me,but overall i quite liked this proper pub. Pub visited 2/8/2014

We left this one till last on our mini crawl around Kennington Lane to try and avoid the worst of the Friday lunchtime crush. As others have commented the Prince of Wales is an attractive pub and has an excellent out of the way location on the corner of the wonderful Georgian Cleaver Square. But it is quite a small single bar pub and it doesn’t take too many in to be uncomfortable. We succeeded in avoiding the crowds as we managed to get one of the few inside tables, the three external tables to the front being all taken. But what we got wrong was timing our visit to when they had a decent beer range to choose from. Of the five pumps on the bar only two were operational and the Spitfire, Kent’s Best and Whitstable Bay were all off, leaving Master Brew and the seasonal Summer Solstice Goldings Ale, which fortunately were in good nick. We couldn’t believe the Friday lunchtime rush could have knocked out three pumps , so we enquired of the young Eastern European bar staff who seemed to have been left in charge why three were down and they were as useful as a chocolate fireguard in that respect. On normal days this attractive Sheps pub is a solid eight rating for me but have to go lower due to the lack of ale for our visit.

This pub occupies a pleasing location in a quiet and surprisingly elegant Georgian square just off the main A3. An attractive exterior with a blue awning, containers of daffodils and the pub name high up on a raised gable, inside is homely and comfortable and the welcome and service from the Eastern European barmaid friendly. Effectively one room but with the rear area partially divided off by a pair of piers, the room is carpeted with a section of wood flooring in front of the bar which runs along the side wall. Regular seating with leather banquettes, chairs and bar stools; walls are broken up by black and white prints of the area, above the bar on the gantry are a series of pub mirrors bearing the pub name and that of the Shepherd Neame brewery. The lobby to the gents toilets has a couple of cricket related prints from Vanity Fair. A few regulars were in on Thursday afternoon exchanging banter with the barmaid giving a good atmosphere, the TV was off but some music played unobtrusively. Five handpumps, Spitfire and Kents Best doubled up plus Early Bird. I'm not the greatest fan of Sheps beers (Late Red excepted) but my half of Early Bird couldn't be faulted. No signs of food or menus apart from a small chalkboard on the bar offering Cottage pie, veg and mash for £8.95. I liked it in here, a decent comfortable and well looked after backstreet pub. NB, opens at 12.

Homely Shepherd Neame pub, comprising a small 'L'-shaped bar extended at the rear into a partially opened-out back room. Seating supplemented by a few tables out front. Choice of Spitfire, Kents Best and Early Bird (£3.70) from the five handpumps. Overall, this place has a nice relaxed feel and is well worth seeking out. (NB - Review dates from April 2012.)