Kings Arms, SE1

This pub has been thoroughly described by the previous reviewer, so I limit myself to my experience and my beer. Leaving this one to a Thursday evening was probably not a good idea, but the limited seating inside leads to the London habit of drinking on the pavement, though there are a few seats and even umbrellas outside. So it was noisy but not crowded. Five hand pumps, with a house beer from Southwark Brewery which I didn't spot until I'd already ordered a half of Long Man Blonde from Sussex (the others were Landlord, St Austell Cornish and Harvey's Sussex Best. My beer was not as inspiring as Good is meant to indicate, so I'll have to go with Acceptable, in the new NBSS way of doing things. I did notice afterwards that the Sussex Best was being poured quite a bit, so maybe it's better in the evenings than in the afternoon when I usually drink. We live and learn.

I’ve walked past this pub many a time over the years but was never tempted to venture inside for some reason, despite the find exterior and glimpses of a promising interior that can been seen from the street. With time to kill on a Saturday afternoon, I decided to remedy that after the pub’s appearance in a recent edition of the Good Beer Guide brought it back to the forefront of my mind. Through the doors, you find yourself in a carpeted, L-shaped room with the servery occupying the centre of the back wall with seating areas to either side, including in a deeper space that runs further back to the right. The bar has a nice dark wood panelled counter with gleaming brass handrails and streetlamp-style light features, plus a cool brass pot shelf and a dark wood, mirrored bar back. Pews, low stools and basic chairs occupy much of the perimeter wall space, providing ample seating for such a relatively small room. Low dark wood panelling contrasts with plain painted upper sections decorated with old paintings, black and white photos and a few plain mirrors, whilst a smart fireplace to the rear right boasts a decorative surround and has candles in the hearth and ornamental ceramic dogs along the mantlepiece. This all creates a pleasant, traditional pub feel which is topped off nicely by the large front windows, which have these amazing bras lamps in them that look so appealing when approaching the pub. The windows themselves are modern replacements, but a leaded, stained-glass pane in the entrance door hints at what this may have all once looked like in the past. I noticed a few Tv screens around the room, none of which were in use, with a 60’s and 70’s soundtrack favoured instead. A handful of tables and chairs can also be found out on the front pavement, but there didn’t appear to be a proper beer garden out the back. There were no less than five cask ales on the bar – a bit of a rarity for Central London these days – with options comprising Taylors Landlord, Purity Mad Goose, Harvey’s Sussex Best, Anarchy Blonde Star and Sambrook’s Wandle. A very friendly and helpful barmaid pulled me a pint of the Blonde Star, which was in great nick and suggests that they’re not over-stretching themselves with the extended ale range. I’m really glad I gave this place a long overdue try, as I thought it was a really well-presented traditional pub with enough concessions to the modern-day drinker to ensure a good, mixed weekend crowd. The friendly service, well-kept ale and attractive features would definitely tempt me to overlook some of the areas more established ale houses and add this place on rotation every now and then. Date of visit – 20th May 2023