The Shepherd & Flock, Shepherds Bush, W12

Dating from the 1860s, this pub was a former Courage house, as evinced by the golden cockerel straddling the sign frame. This is a small corner drinkery, with faded red, cream and green livery; the Tricolour hanging on a wall a clear indication that this is an avowedly Irish pub, though one with a few English customers getting along famously, though the language is still what I’d call rather Father Jack. Despite the modern pale floor, there’s quite a traditional interior, with avocado green banquettes and miniature partitions still with some leaded stained glass. However, it’s the rather monumental bar structure that catches the eye; it’s an enormous, ornately carved affair, certainly enormous by the standards of the small interior; it wouldn’t look out of place in a church. On high, there’s an ornate panelled ceiling exhibiting some barrel vaulting over the bar, which has in places sadly been vandalised by the installation of a flush fitting aircon unit, not that it’s necessary. Otherwise, tables are simple as are the stools; a TV was showing the golf, not that anyone was watching and an actual woman was spotted sitting alone. Naturally there’s no real ale in here, so a Guinness it was at £2.20 a half served by a very sweet south-east Asian barmaid, who kept eyeing me up, either because I was a newcomer, or because why would someone so young come in here? Either way, this was the best Guinness I think I’ve ever had, being neither freezing cold, nor acrid, having almost the sweetness of an English oatmeal stout. I don’t have any plans to come here again, as W12 is very definitely not a hotbed of decent pubs, but this place is a lot better than the similarly Gaelic Coningham Arms over the way.

This is a very simple Irish pub on one of the main roads leading through to the heart of Shepherd’s Bush. The pub has a very narrow, single room interior with light floorboards that have been heavily scuffed over the years. The windows have small curtains running around their lower halves, to stop passers-by from snooping in, whilst the pub’s most noteworthy feature must be its ceiling which features some fine decorative work, most notably the roses around the light fittings. The servery runs along the right-hand side of the room and has a nice curved-ended bar counter, traditional bar back and impressive gantry with detailed woodworking and sturdy supporting columns. The walls have decorative friezes around them and are otherwise painted in dark shades to maintain the atmosphere of a traditional, wood panelled drinker’s pub. Some nice padded bench seating is available along the left side of the room, supported by low stools that end up creating a bit of a pinch point due to their proximity to the bar and, more importantly, the bar flies propping it up. A couple of high benches to the rear right round out the seating options and there are some more interesting decorative touches back here including partitioning screens either side of the rear entrance, which have attractive stained-glass inserts. A couple of TV screens were showing At The Races whilst a selection of ‘80’s pop hits played in the background. Sadly, the pub doesn’t offer any cask ale, but they do know how to pull a good pint of Guinness, which I was able to sample at £3.80 a pint. Sharp’s Atlantic was the only keg offering that seemed even remotely out of the ordinary and most punters seemed to be drinking mainstream lager brands. The customers here seem friendly enough, as was the barmaid, although their language was pretty earthy, despite the presence of at least one child. This struck me as a pretty good working man’s boozer with friendly service and comfortable, if rather intimate, surrounds and some pleasant traditional features dotted around the place. The lack of ale means I’m unlikely to pop back but this was a much needed antidote to the poseurs bar in Westfield that I’d visited beforehand.

Short walk from goldhawk road underground station. Small corner bar serving a standard draught selection.