The Prince of Wales, West End, Esher

Facebook page of The Prince of Wales - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Prince of Wales - www.facebook.com

The Prince of Wales page on the Chef & Brewer website - www.chefandbrewer.com

The Prince of Wales page on the Chef & Brewer website - www.chefandbrewer.com

Food led Chef & Brewer pub, quite large and opened out but retaining several areas, three handpumps on the bar but only GK IPA available. This looks like it may have been a pretty decent boozer once,but not now and not my kind of thing.

This place is unchanged since the previous reviewer's visit. This place is very food centric, and when we were in Friday lunchtime all the tables were laid for diners, except a couple of sofas next to one of the fireplaces and a couple of "butcher's block" tall tables/tall stools near the bar. Table service is provided throughout. Thus this is mainly a restaurant. I did ask our waitress about the policy regarding drinkers who didn't want to use a sofa or tall table, and she said that it was OK when it wasn't overly busy but not encouraged when it is busy - e.g. Sunday lunchtime. But it still has the look of a country pub, with its low ceilings and posts/beams. As I entered by the main door I spotted a couple of handpumps that were London Pride and Doom Bar clipped, but I could see another four pumps around to right of the counter which I hoped would offer something more interesting. Two of these were also Doom Bar and Pride clipped, but the other two were offering Truman’s Runner and Sharp’s Atlantic (£3.44 a pint). The Atlantic was a new one to me, and turned out to be a light, straw coloured ale which was in fine form, although obviously served a little too cold. According to flyer I picked up, Chef & Brewer are currently running a beer festival, and although real ale here was only available from the six handpump the flyer suggested that the selection might be better than usual. However, I have to say that I was somewhat underwhelmed by a beer festival that still had four pumps dispensing the usual suspects of Doom Bar and Pride and with only a couple of guests on. The festival flyer advertised a 10% discount on real ale for CAMRA members, and I was told that this discount only applied during the beer festival. Even at £3.44 a pint the Atlantic was good value – I hadn’t claimed a CAMRA discount as Mrs R had some sort of gourmet discount card that gave us 25% off the total bill. The food was reasonably priced as well. Main courses were generally in the £10 - £12 range, but there were some lunchtime deals, such as fish and chips for a fiver. Sandwiches were from £4.99 (for the standard cheese & chutney) to £6.99 (for the pulled pork). Other points worth mentioning are the car park; large garden at the back; and free wi-fi. This place still has a nice ambience, but its main raison d’etre is as a restaurant. It does a fine job as one as well, and it’s not worth making a special visit here just for a drink. But it’s a decent enough place to stop off for a pint if for some reason you happen to be in the area.

This is a very food led Chef and Brewer operation situated favourably next to West End village green and ponds. Parts of the building look genuinely old and it would appear to incorporate a few former cottages. There is a white painted beamed ceiling to the main area and a couple of old fireplaces but I reckon the various old timber posts on view are reclaimed. There is mixed seating, mostly suited to diners but there are a couple of sofas at least, the floor finish varies as you move around the place. The general feel is of the inevitable corporate hotel lounge cum chain eatery but it seems to do this well and there is obviously a market for it. Not an issue having just a drink though, there are two banks of handpumps, today had an unexciting choice of Pride, Doom Bar, OSH and Adnam's Broadside. Unexciting but a choice nevertheless. It served a purpose today for a thirst quencher after a pleasant but hot walk around West End Common and the River Mole and the outdoor side terrace and extensive garden is actually a pleasant and relaxing spot.