Munich Cricket Club, Westminster, SW1

The tiny entrance in Strutton Ground leads downstairs to a fairly large subterranean drinking area that comes over as something of a drinking barn. It’s bare-boarded, there are a few high tables/stools, a couple of sofas, but the majority of seating is normal tables and chairs. They clearly cater for largish groups, as some of the tables had seating for ten or twelve customers. They advertised a current beer festival on boards outside the entrance, which is what attracted me in there, but on later examination of my photograph of the exterior, seemed to have finished a few days before my visit. Anyway, there were four ales on, of which only one (GKIPA) I had seen before; another pump had a cider on, and a sixth was unused. So, I didn’t really miss the absence of said beer festival, although the beer selection might have been enhanced by festival leftovers. I felt obliged to go for Skinner’s ambiguously named “Ginger Tosser” (£3 a pint), which according to the clip contained Cornish honey, and turned out to be an excellent drop of ale. There were menus attached to clipboards on the tables, advertising mostly normal pub fare – the “homemade pie of the day”, with mash and peas, was £.7.95. There was the inevitable pop music being played, the TV monitors were showing (muted) Sky Sports, and of course the one-armed bandits were present as well. Overall, I found this place to be particularly, and perhaps inevitably, gloomy and characterless, but on the plus side the ale choice and quality was good. It’s certainly not my first choice of pub in the area, but the ale selection, if maintained, would certainly induce me to pay a return visit.

For a pub that advertises regularly in the London Drinker magazine, I was a little disappointed to discover only two ales on during my recent visit. A row of hand pumps offered me a choice between Greene King IPA and Welton's Fury (£3.10). I had an admittedly very good pint of the latter, but a lack of further choice meant that I had no reason to stay any longer than it took me to drink my pint. Service was nice and quick and the barman was fairly jovial. The pub is a large, split level cellar bar with a big open area at the front which eventually fills out towards the back with a number of long tables and chairs. A raised section at the rear has further seating, most of which is under the arches of the vaulted section and therefore provides nice 'private' seating booths. Each arch has it's own TV screen, most of which were showing muted cricket highlights and there are a large number of other screens throughout the room as well. Background music was playing at quite a loud level, but this was strangely drowned out by the chatter from the modest number of punters dotted around the place. The décor was pretty bland, with plenty of bare brick walls and not much else. A few wine signs were hanging from the ceiling and unsurprisingly for a cellar bar, wine was being promoted and seemed popular among the office set. Food was also available, with a typical bar menu, including a two meals for £8.50 deal, although this was mostly restricted to burgers, ciabattas and salads. There was a dartboard on the far wall although a little furniture arranging would be required in order to play on it. Not really my sort of place and it was a real shame that the beer choice was so limited as my one pint was in top condition. Maybe worth another look.

This pub looks a bit cheap and nasty from the outside, with its cartoon signage and bare walls, especially compared to the adjoining Strutton. However, once inside its totally different and I'm very glad I tried it. Its a well presented large cellar bar & very much has that feel. Well decorated there is a bar to the left and various seating areas, including a pick of your very own 'railway' type arches, where through the light well you can see the shadows of peoples feet passing above which is rather bizarre. Well kept beers, including a mild when I visited. Very nice pub, don't be put off from the outside.