The Kings Arms, Ely

I found myself to be the only customer when I popped into the Kings Arms at 21:00 on a recent Sunday evening. The lone young lady working the jump was listening to something through some earphones, but she soon jumped to life when I walked through the door. I noted the presence of some usual draught suspects and I counted four hand pumps. One of these was unused which left Sharps’ Doom Bar, Wells’ Golden Cauldron and Woodfordes Wherry as the ale options. The kitchen was closed during my visit so I didn’t see any menus, but the mains on the specials board were priced around £7.50. The interior is made up of a front bar and slightly smaller rear bar. I plotted myself at a table in the front bar where I could read the ‘upcoming events’ board. Various entertainment including a quiz night, bingo and live music was listed for most nights of the week. There was nothing for Sunday evening which is probably why it was so quiet. During my visit I didn’t spot any television screens and there was no background music. Some may like quite pubs where the only noise is the faint whirring of an air conditioning unit in the background, but I found it a little depressing. I also found the décor to be bland, but I didn’t mind too much as the Wherry was very good. I would have no problem returning to this pub for more friendly service and decent beer, but my next visit would be at a busier time.

The Kings Arms is a small town pub and it is the sort of pub i enjoy going in. There were two rooms inside and we went in a smartish lounge that was quite comfortable and there were two real ales on the bar we had a drink of Adnams Broadside and this was quite a nice drink the other beer was Deuchars IPA. The pub was fairly quiet on our visit and we enjoyed having a drink in here.