Prince Albert, Notting Hill, W11

An old pub that has been trendified so there is a mixture of historic fittings and naff bits of recycled timber, all in a horrible dark grey colour with the occasional obligatory neon sign. The back yard has been largely covered, with added greenery. TT Landlord and London Pride were on handpump but condition was not great. Could be much better.

Better than I feared from the outside.The interior is L shaped and at the far end there is some ornate windows in stained glass.High bench seating runs opposite the bar ,while the thicker end has a series of high tables.The doors here are original and features are dotted about.There is a popular beer garden out the back.Just three handpumps operational featuring a real cider,Doom Bar and London Pride (NBSS 2.5) a dull selection.However there are some more lively kegs.What stood out for me was the food menu with bar snacks around £8,inexpensive for the area burgers,wings and ribs (£11) with a decent selection of sides each £4.Plenty of folk were eating,but there isnt much here for real ale fans,so no need for a return.

I had little choice but to dive in here as the rain started pouring down pretty heavily. it’s more of a hipster greasy spoon cafe than a pub with bottles of sauce etc and the general canteen style layout. I think this place prefers craft keg but two ales on - Thwaites Wainwrights and Doom Bar predictably dull. Staff were trendy and also a bit dull. the music was varied and mostly pretty good, Bob Dylan’s gorgeous Love Minus Zero came on and coincided with the rain stopping, so one extra point for that.

Traditional-looking pub, but partially remodelled and refurbished to leave a central servery with seating / dining areas of varying width on three sides (one of which has the semi-open kitchen rather than part of the bar counter). Also has a popular rear patio beer garden which must almost double the number of seats. Four real ales on handpump: Pride, Absolutely from Madness, St Austell's Proper Cracker (£4.95) and Red MacGregor from Orkney. The clientele is mainly - but not wholly - at the younger end of the spectrum, so I didn't feel totally out of place here.

Given the location, it's no surprise that this pub is very popular with Portobello Road's tourists. In the gloom you can't see any obvious signs of traditional décor, just a mainly young crowd with a few old local boys propping up the bar. There are leatherette bench seats and tables to the windows, thereafter furniture is mixed; lighting is very gloomy. With a fairly loud soundtrack this pub is a bit more 'clubby' than others in the area and is more along the lines of pubs you might find in Camden Town. Fortunately there's a relatively 'quiet' area to the rear which affords a fine view of the open kitchen and metal ductwork. Typically there are four ales on such as Doom Bar, Landlord, Pride or Ubu and generally they are in good nick and served by stoic staff. Usually very crowded, this can probably be explained by the pub's 7-day midnight licence, which is useful but attracts some of the area's more well-oiled punters. There's no compelling reason to visit.