Kingston 1, Kingston Town, Kingston Upon Thames

Clearly originally the Three Tuns, whose name is carved in stone on the exterior, along with the name of the long defunct Isleworth Brewery. It’s also been the Kingston Tup for a while. There’s a bit of original woodwork and glass in one of the doorways, and some nice leaded light glazing in the upper portions of the windows, but otherwise the interior has been pretty much trashed over the years. The room at the back on the left is quite interesting though, having a high vaulted ceiling with carved wooden beams reaching down to the tops of the walls, a bit like a giant spider’s legs. The furnishings in this back room are all solid wooden normal tables and chairs, and is to where all those who were eating had gravitated. The main bar area has plenty of black plastic upholstered sofas, and a few more standard tables and chairs. There’s little in the way of décor, which consists mainly of chalkboard winelists and the like, but I did spot a print of the famous photograph of Bobby Moore holding the Jules Rimet Trophy aloft. The pool table seen by a previous reviewer has now gone, as has one bank of handpumps, leaving a bank of four on the bar counter around to the left. On entering, the sight of four unclipped handpumps was a worrying and offputting sight, but there was a small blackboard on the counter mentioning St Austell Tribute so I persevered and indeed Tribute was available. It was served a tad too warm – a temporary problem in the cellar the manager informed me – but at £3.75 a pint the going rate for Kingston I suppose. The place brands itself as a bar and grill, but the food is priced at nothing approaching gastropub levels. Ciabatta sandwiches are £3.60 or so, and main courses are a few pence shy of £6. This is yet another example of a pub that has been transformed into a characterless bar cum eatery. It has some gastropub features, such as the tea lights on the tables and the wine racks set in the bar back, but they’ve not gone the whole hog, as witnessed by the food prices. I’m afraid that this place is neither one thing nor the other. It was fairly quiet when I was in on Wednesday afternoon, so I guess it’s OK for a quiet pint as long as they have at least one ale on.