The King's Arms, SW10

Official site of The King's Arms - www.thekingsarmschelsea.co.uk

Official site of The King's Arms - www.thekingsarmschelsea.co.uk

A mid-Victorian pub, as mentioned was part of the H. H. Finch chain, acquired by Young’s, badged as a Geronimo Inn. Surprisingly, a first in here the other night, to a place which would give an Antic pub a run for its money: bare white brick to the bar back, then primarily distressed plasterwork to the walls and hard to make out in the gloom, so is best viewed on the pub’s website. TV sport rules supreme here, with four invasive screens providing most of the illumination, punters having to shout over the loud, sometimes hysterical commentary. A very blokey place, customers certainly weren’t your typical SW10 types, so I don’t know where they’ve come from, possibly office workers and some very annoying. However, the one solitary reason to come here, is to admire the near full length, full height polychromatic glazed tiling, light permitting. Aside from the one unused pump, ales amounted to London Original and Winter Warmer at £2.75 a half, which is very steep but on good form. This really isn’t a great place by any description, one which I’ll avoid if in these parts in future.

This pub was part of the Finches chain, and known as Finches although it was officially The Kings Arms when Young’s bought out Finches in the early 90s. At some point Young’s re-named it Finches, but it has now reverted to The Kings Arms. That’s straightforward then. Anyway, there were just two ales on – Young’s Bitter (clipped on two pumps) (£3.60 a pint) and Sambrook’s Junction – with a fourth handpump unused. Food – main courses were up to £15 for the “28 day aged Scotch rump steak”, with the cheapest being the King’s Breakfast at £8. There was some cheaper stuff under a “Many Plates’ ” (?) menu with, typically, “today’s sandwich” at £5.50. The pub itself is a simple one-room affair, but with a couple of dominating features. On the left is the bar counter, but in place of the usual bar back is a large mural covering the wall featuring what looks to be a bunch of people at a bar. Undoubtedly an appropriate subject. But pride of place goes to the floor to ceiling (Victorian?) tiling covering the right hand wall. Even though the banquette seating is unfortunately covering the lower part of the wall, it remains an impressive feature. There’s a couple of “butcher’s block” style tall tables with tall stools, but otherwise furnishings are pretty standard, although a surfeit of cushions clutter the banquettes. A skylight at the back provides some welcome natural light. All the walls, with the exception of the tiled wall of course, are painted light grey in the Chelsea style, and decor is provided mainly by some black and white photos and coats of arms – including the King’s arms, also repeated beneath the skylight. All in all this this is not a bad little pub by Chelsea standards, in an area not overendowed with great pubs. The beer’s OK although unadventurous, and it’s certainly worth dropping in to admire the tiling if you’re in the area.