The Elm, West Kensington, W14

The Elm is not a Portobello pub as speculated by David Walton below, it's owned by the same people as the Eight Bells in Fulham High St but does get much of its beer from Portobello. It is indeed much improved, 4 handpumps, occasionally all in use but more often 3 ales on at anyone time. Also a decent keg range with Budvar Lager and Dark a few Portobello options and usually a Belgian beer, Duvel 666 last time I checked. The clientel is a mixture of survivors from it's old bad days, newer locals since the spruce up and visitors from the Holiday Inn opposite. Moving the toilets has made an already very small pub even smaller, so it doesn't take many people to make it feel busy.

What a difference a couple of years make. Second pub of the mini crawl after finding the Old Oak a few doors down closed and boarded up. This one has obviously been bidding it’s time waiting for the Old Oak to be felled. The Elm is small corner pub, plenty of light from the big windows on two sides of the pub facing the road. Looks like this pub has been acquired by Portobello from the beer options. Not much to see outside but plenty to enjoy inside beer wise. There were four hand pumps all operational and all different so a good start on that front given some recent experiences. The four cask beers were two from Portobello (not surprisingly), namely Star and Boston Brown Ale and Star, joined by Sambrook’s Pumphouse and a porter from the Vale of Glamorgan Brewery. There were some decent craft offerings from By the Horns and a brewery I didn’t recognise. They even had their own lager plus a couple of other ones you don’t often see on tap in pubs. I really enjoyed this venue, decent (ok not stellar) cask offering, an atmosphere at least compared to the sterile Curtains Up, a survivor and an underdog. Small but perfectly formed.

Facebook page of The Elm - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Elm - www.theelmfulham.co.uk

Facebook page of The Elm - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Elm - www.theelmfulham.co.uk

Dating from 1874, this was rebuilt soon after in 1889 to be refurbished around 2019, being de-shamrocked in the process, as this is no longer an Irish pub. This is a small, narrow place, which now looks like a style bar. I had a good view of the pub, as no one else was in, perhaps put off by the rainbow flag motif to the entrance. It’s bookended by the Clarence, Goose and Old Oak, all of which were banging; the Old Oak was holding a well-attended disco on a Friday night, the poor barmaid sat in a corner, fiddling with her phone. The floor is modern boarded and there’s a mirrored bar back with tubular steel shelving. Walls are ‘wasabi’, bare brick or clad with scorched planks. Furniture comprises a few tall tables and chairs, then booth seating. Décor is thin, with pot plants, framed prints and framed knickknacks. There’s trendy hanging light fixtures and semi-industrial sconces, with tealights on tables; Country ‘n’ Western played at a moderate level throughout my brief stay. There was no real ale and indeed not much of anything else, many taps capped with glasses, so obviously there aren’t enough customers to shift it. Still, there was Amstel at £2.70 a half. This is a bit of a sad place. I walked back past it an hour and a half later on the way home and at 10.00 pm, the lights were out and it was closed, the Old Oak still partying on; I don’t hold out much hope for this pub’s survival.