The Junction Tavern, NW5

This is a Victorian street corner pub which now splits the main front and rear rooms into a restaurant and separate drinking room to the rear, this accessed via a door in the side road. Once there would have been an island bar however the restaurant side is now converted to an open kitchen cum servery which probably explains why the dividing bar back looks considerably more recent than the counter. The bar area has a wooden floor and some well preserved and attractive wood panelling with carved detailing interspersed by a series of mirrors. The carved detail is repeated on the square columns either end of the bar and around the fireplace, centrally located opposite the bar. The ceiling has a circular raised pattern with gilded features, ornate glass chandeliers, moulded cornices and frieze and decorative buttresses. The pub has been extended at some time to the rear with another drinking area culminating in a conservatory which leads in turn to a garden with picnic benches. Seating is at standard height, comprising regular style chairs and tables plus a pair of benches. The beer range is decent, of five handpumps, four were clipped offering Otter Ale, Twickenham Sundancer, Sambrooks Wandle and Exmoor Gold (£3.80). A bit of a local/south west split. The pub's earlier life can be seen courtesy of the Courage cockerel remaining on top of the pub sign. It would be easy to dismiss this pub as a gastro only joint if glancing in from Fortess Rd however the rear bar is worth a visit for its fine interior and decent selection of ales. The welcome and service were friendly and the beer was good.

This large street corner pub has a striking Victorian exterior, replete with some old Courage branding which has survived the pub's transformation from traditional boozer to full-on gastro pub experience. The interior thankfully retains some of the splendour of the past, with some intricate panelling in the main room, especially around the fireplace. The ceiling is also very nice, with several chandeliers and a relief frieze running around the room under detailed support pillars. There is a modest amount of standard pub seating in this room, but it feels comfortable enough and I enjoyed nursing my pint in here whilst waiting for the rain to ease outside. A half decent soundtrack playing quietly in the background gave the place a bit of life during a quiet period of the day. The front room however is an entirely different proposition, as it is set up solely for diners and has a large open kitchen along one wall, making it feel much more like a restaurant than a gastro pub. The phone in the main bar was ringing off the hook for much of the time I was there, with people clearly eager to make bookings, so perhaps the food is wonderful. Unfortunately I didn't manage to see a menu, so I can only speculate. A trip to the toilet before departing revealed a very big room to the rear, which I'd not expected at all. There was loads more seating in here, including some in a conservatory area which led in turn to the beer garden. There were four beers available: Timothy Taylor Landlord, Deuchars IPA, Sambrooks Wandle and Adnams Broadside. I tried the Landlord which was in pretty average shape - nothing to write home about. There were loads of people behind the bar, so getting served wasn't too much of an issue. I thought this was an attractive pub and I can't really have any complaints as it served me well as somewhere to duck in to avoid a soaking, but its food led approach will certainly put off anyone hoping for a traditional Victorian street corner pub. Worth a look if you're on a crawl round the area, but there are some far better pubs close by.

On entering the Junction we found that the bar area was to the right of the door, and the left side was set for dining. A little dark inside the bar area, but we enjoyed Windsor & bEton Windsor Knot and Sambrook Wandle. Other beers available were Downton Quadhop and Jennings Cumberland.