The Ram, Kingston Riverside, Kingston Upon Thames

Official site of The Ram - www.theramkingston.com

Official site of The Ram - www.theramkingston.com

This long, narrow Greene King pub can be approached either from the High Street or from the riverside path that runs along the bottom of its beer garden. The front of the pub is quite a pleasant spot, with bare floorboards, lots of dark wood and a real mixture of seating, which creates a rather warm and cosy environment, especially in the evening when it is aided by muted lighting. The bar counter is sited in this area on the left hand wall. As you move further towards the rear, the seating appears a little more formal, with plenty of banquette and padded bench seating and what I would suggest is gastro-style decor. Old photos of Kingston line the walls and music was playing softly over the speakers. Despite feeling more like the dining part of the pub, I sat myself down here and soon found the area full with people enjoying a quick drink or two. A long and similarly narrow garden runs all the way down to the riverside path and whilst providing a decent spot for a drink in the summer months, it can get incredibly busy at times, making it all but impossible to get a seat. There were plenty of handpulls lined up along the bar, but most of them seemed to be out of action, leaving a choice of Greene King London Glory or Rooster's Yankee. A Greene King IPA clip was turned as were three others, although there was a cider called Sun Dance on one of the remaining pumps. I tried the Yankee and found it to be in good shape, which made it a shame that there was nothing else of interest on. It's not the most exciting pub you'll ever venture into, but there is something about this place that I can't help but like. This is probably my favourite Kingston town centre/riverside pub.

The Ram, Kingston Now under the ownership of Greene King, this pub, formerly part of the T & J Bernard chain, is located in the High Street on the south side of town. The main bar area is bare boarded and features some high backed dark wooden settles and a fairly standard assortment of chairs, stools and high tables. The walls are decorated with old photos of Kingston, including the Market Place. Notably, there’s a photo dated 1952 of The Spring Grove Hotel, a Youngs pub nearby, which appears to indicate that this pub was formerly called The Ram, although the Helen Osborn book of Youngs pub history makes no mention of this. Inevitably, perhaps, there’s some pictures of rams, including a rather fierce looking “lonk ram” which, we’re told, is a hardy kind of sheep which thrives on Northern moors. Outside, at the back, a narrowish long seating area extends down almost to the riverside. Next door to this seating area, and off the pub premises, is a smallish concreted piazza. A plaque on the riverside walk wall tells us that this site used to be Eagle Brewery Wharf, a building built in the 1870’s and where brewing continued up to 1914. By the late 1920’s, this wharf was apparently used for unloading coal. We’re also told that Eagle Brewery’s 38 tied houses were sold to Hodgsons in 1903. I presume that The Ram would once have been the Eagle Brewery tap, although, disappointingly, nothing in the pub confirms this. There’s 8 pumps which were serving the usual range of Greene King beers – Abbott, IPA, Royal London – plus Olde Trip, Celebration Pale Ale, Ruddles County and Morlands Original. Previous reviews indicate that non - GK guest beers are often available – I’ll presume I was just unlucky, as there weren’t any on my visit. The Olde Trip – served in a plastic glass ( one of those horribly dumpy and squishy ones ) for outside drinking – was pretty good. Kingston is not exactly endowed with decent pubs, but this one is OK for a pint or two, especially on a sunny day outside by the river.