The Cabbage Patch, Twickenham

Another Twickenham pub that I haven't been in for many years, I quite liked the feel of this place inside. However, what it gets like when the crowds turn up, I dread to think. I'm sure the last time I was in here, there was a Little Mix concert on locally and I was vastly outnumbered by teenage girls. This time, it was significantly quieter. There's an undoubted rugby theme to the pub. TVs can be found scattered around for sporting events. But the atmosphere and decor is generally quite cosy. Being a Fuller's pub, London Pride is the regular ale. We tried their Gentle Giant, an unusual 3.4% stout, which had more taste than I was expecting. Adnams Southwold Bitter & St Austell Proper Job were also guests. Craft beers included Beavertown Neck Oil & Gamma Ray & Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropica.

Completely modernised Fullers sports bar opposite the station. It has a strong rugby theme as you would expect but Euros football was showing on my pre rugby league visit. It was busy inside and in the redeveloped back garden where there was an extra bar and screens. The three handpulls as you enter are clipped with Pride but there are a few other options further down the bar. Atmosphere was quite good in here and it was good to see lots of ale being pulled.

This is a large, two bar pub just over the road from Twickenham station with a live music venue upstairs. On my visit, the largest bar on the right hand side of the pub was closed for a private function, so I was unable to explore the main part of the pub to my annoyance, finding myself instead confined to the dark, dingy left hand bar and the music venue upstairs, which was the reason for my visit. The left hand bar is an awkwardly shaped, bare boarded room with little natural light and a servery tucked away over on the right hand wall. Seating has been arranged through the centre of the room in such a way that it is tricky to reach the bar when the place is full – an issue compounded by the positioning of various structural pillars and sections of wall. The bar has a dark wood counter and bar back and clearly runs through to the other room, which seemed to be nice and bright and cheery, in contrast to this drab little space. Stairs lead up to a decent sized function room and live music space with a sunken area just in front of the stage with some bench seating, a long servery which the majority of the crowd had to stand in front of to watch the band, and a few more seats and the far end of the room. Outside, there is a large garden which looked like a good sun trap and has plenty of seating ideal for hot summer days. The left hand bar had three handpulls, but only one in operation, offering Fullers London Pride, whilst the upstairs bar had no ale available at all, requiring me to make several trips downstairs to buy beer during the course of the gig. The beer was in decent shape but I gave up towards the end of the night and started drinking Fuller’s kegged beer from the first floor bar instead. My evening was rounded off nicely when I bumped into Pubs Galore alumni Roger B, who had been hidden somewhere in the crowd all night! It’s a little tricky to assess a pub when you’ve been denied access to the main part of it, but from what I saw – dingy second bar, limited ale selection, great garden, decent live music venue – it has a number of pros and cons that mean your experience may well vary depending on the reason for your visit. Overall, I found the place a little underwhelming, but enjoyed the gig and could imagine popping back to give it a fuller assessment.

Large pub located just up from twickenham station. 4 real ale taps(1 on) during my pre NFL visit. Rugby memorabilia on the walls.

Unremarkable pub with little in the way of good ale on my visit.

A large open-plan pub near the station,Rugby themed as you would expect.There is outside drinking space with a mix of paving and Astro Turf. Six pumps but three beers available, Deuchars IPA,Adnams Southwold and London Pride. Nothing particularly special here, but handy if you have 20 minutes to kill waiting for a train.

The CABBAGE PATCH - probably the nearest pub to Twickenham railway station. A rugby pub, so if you don't like rugby...what are u doing in Twickytown!! The gents toilet has an interesting mural, dating back to before 'Erica Roe' fame at the world renowned Twickenham Rugby Stadium. I'm guessing the wall photo dates early 1970's, when the first streaker was encountered in the nearby public arena. Interesting! :o) TJ