The Queens Arms, South Kensington, SW7

A pay by the post code mews pub but TBF its a neat but not spoilt pub and the beer was good

First visit to this mews pub that has undergone an internal make over and a bit of remodelling since the previous reviews, being shut for a month in July 2022 before reopening in August. Can’t comment with authority as I can’t recall visiting before but looking at previous reviews it looks like it’s gone even more foody with every table laid for dining. However I did visit at lunchtime and perhaps it’s different in the evenings when the food service has finished. From what I could see there is now one bank of six hand pumps with four ales and a couple of ciders with the fairly mainstream line up of TT Landlord, St Austell Tribute, Hogs Back TEA and Harvey’s Sussex Best. Some more interesting stuff such as Tiny Rebel Clytch and Mondo Dark Mild on the keg taps, but I went for the Sussex Best and it was perfectly fine. The reason I searched this one out is that I spotted it in the 2004 Brit Gangster film Layer Cake, when Daniel Craig’s (pre 007 days) drug dealing character lives in a mews house opposite, and thought “that looks like a nice pub”. It still certainly does from the outside, I would have just preferred it to be a bit more pubby on the inside. I’ll try to come back one evening when the pre concert munching hordes are ensconced in the RAH and see what it’s like then.

Good Beer Guide 2022 Entry - Eight hand pulls in two banks of 4. Landlord (fine condition), Citra and Titanic Plum porter nearest to my perch at the bar, where I was completely in the way. Every table in the two rooms is either reserved or occupied by diners. There is a thin strip at the window for drinkers but half a dozen people will fill that up. Screaming kids. It is a handsome building in a gorgeous mews street but having got the tick, I won't be coming back. Unless I have booked a table for lunch :-)

The place is well described below, with photos viewable on the website’s gallery. Customers tended to be younger and all local; no tourist is going to find this place in a hurry. One real problem here, is that the acoustics were appalling, a place where everyone has to talk ever louder to be heard, the resulting crescendo being hard to take. There were eight pumps here, amazingly all in use, delivering something that wasn’t from GK for once, or Pride or Doom. Ok, I lied: Doom is available and on two of the pumps. Otherwise, Rosie Pig cider, Proper Job, Hophead, Landlord and Ghost Ship, £2.80 the half, in fine condition, served by a goofy but ultimately charming barmaid. This is the best pub in SW7 hands down and must be one of the best pubs in the whole borough, not that that’s saying much. A more imaginative ale choice would get the score up, as would doing something about the acoustics, perhaps by applying more sound deadening décor, or perhaps curtains.

An unbranded M&B mews pub on a cobbled street, very picture postcard and close to the museum strip / RAH. The ornate and highly unusual curved entrance doors reminded me of the like the Wykeham Arms in Winchester. The inside is an old two bar place that sadly has been knocked through quite heartily sometime in the last 50 years. Decor on the left hand side is a bit dull, I preferred the right side which had black and gold wallpaper. Nice patrons in situ, polite and amenable. Eight ales on and - shock! - they were really good. Doom Bar, St Austell Proper Job (NBSS 4), Titanic Plum Porter (3.5), Laines Mango (3.5), Hop Back Summer Lightning, Wooha (3), Vocation Cooler Shaker (3.5) and Tim Taylor Landlord. Having got stuck into the beer for longer than originally anticipated we decided to eat here and the food was fairly good for the price. A real find.

A nice mews pub with a good range of 8 ales and a well-run feel. Despite an emphasis on the food trade it is still a good place for drinking. The list at time of visit was Robinsons Blonde, James Blonde, Skinner's Betty Stogs, Ossett Yorkshire Brunette, Dark Star Partridge, Brew York Turtle Peach, Landlord, Proper Job and Doom Bar, with a similarly varied selection listed as coming soon. Definitely worth a visit.