The Albion, West Kensington, W14

The Albion is a small thin corner pub on the Hammersmith Road that I hadn’t visited for fifteen years before I popped in last Friday. This used to be a grubby little pub that I used to play darts in during my lunch break, but the dartboard at the end of the bar is long gone. This place is now much more upmarket and the old soaks that used to spend all day in here are ancient history. A premium/standard draught range is available from the bar and I counted six hand pumps. These were drawing Thwaites Wainwright and five offerings from Caledonian Brewery which were Fringe Benefit, Golden XPA, Flying Scotsman, Caledonian 80/- and All American Summer Pale Ale. The A-board out the front suggested that there was a beer festival in progress (To coincide with GBBF up the road), but I would hardly call the ale selection a beer festival. It did make me wonder if there are normally six ales to choose from or if they have put extra on for the “Caledonian festival”. I didn’t notice anyone eating, but I did glance at the menu to find out that the traditional pub food is priced around £9. The bar runs along the right hand wall and there is seating opposite. More seating can be found at the rear where there is a fireplace. This is where live bands set up at the weekends. At the front of the pub is a spiral staircase that climbs up to more seating and a balcony that overlooks the entrance. There was some low background music playing, but I didn’t notice any other distractions like televisions or gaming machines. Outside the entrance are some café tables with seating that are found under an awning. This place is perfectly acceptable for a quiet pint in the afternoon and I would pop back in if passing.

Interesting review above, clearly off somebody with no idea about running pubs. To anyone reading that above the explanation is fairly simple, on Christmas Eve we will shut for the next 7 days, during which time (as anyone who understands real ale will understand) the ales will all go off. So, on Christmas eve im afraid when the beer runs out, it runs out especially as we are a tied pub paying over the odds for beer, we simply cant afford to hook a fresh nine gallon of beer to accomodate a few pints, i think the reviewer would be pleased to know we recently came second in the CAMRA West London pub of the year and have been entered into next years Good Beer Guide, and sincerely hope that this plonkers review hasnt done us any undeserved damage.