The Grenadier, Belgravia, SW1

As mentioned, this place is difficult to find, not least because of the off-putting sign which informs the visitor that the mews is private. With a drinking patio to the right side, the exterior is well described by BF, however the interior looks to have been modified in some way, not looking anywhere near as rustic as the photos on CAMRA’s site, for this has an interior of Regional Importance; really? It’s as described below, but is the metal bar gantry really original? Likewise, the bar front which looks modern and certainly the modern dark boarded floor, which doesn’t appear on CAMRA’s site. Otherwise, it’s a small pub, with two rear rooms, the one to the left with tables laid for dining, topped with wine bottles with a ‘reserved’ tab fixed to their necks. There are bottle green velvet curtains and dark wood wainscotting, above which are drinking ledges. Lighting comes from attractive hanging lamps with fluted glass shades, along with modest brass chandeliers and there’s a log burning stove, which looks decorative rather than functional. The main talking point in here is the glass cabinet displaying a uniform of the Grenadier Guards. There were two tables up front with groups of tourists, thereafter two groups of jolly young northern hipsters. There’s a carpeted snug to the rear right, with a group of jolly older northerners, less hipster, more hip replacement. Three ales were on: GK IPA, Cedric’s Debt(?) ‘coming soon’ and Landlord at £5.40 a pint and good, 30p cheaper than the Little Driver, a down-at-heel pub in Bow, so Belgravia, one of the world’s most expensive areas is cheaper than an East End boozer? I wasn’t so enamoured of this place. It’s ok, but I wonder if it has been messed about a bit and recently too. I doubt I’d make a return visit, but this is miles better than the awful Walton Arms, but no match for the Nag’s Head.

Tricky to find and tucked away,this is a classic mews pub with a sentry box outside to reinforce the military theme.There is a steep climb to the front door with a small tap room ahead with a couple of tables to the left,wooden floor and the bar ahead.There is then a nesting of three rooms,two with bar access with lots of wood panelling,traditional furniture and many military prints dotted about.There are also tables outside and to the side.With internal furniture removed ,this popular dining pub may be heavily booked,although I was squeezed into an internal table on the proviso that it was for an hour only. The ale on offer was Genadier Bitter (providence unknown 3.8%),GK IPA,Harveys Sussex Best (NBSS 3) and sadly a TT Landlord which ran out on ordering.The interior is worthy of inspection and the green drapes add to the atmosphere,there is a maasive collection of bank notes with punters names pinned to the ceiling,a veritable heist if you could grab them all. There aren't too many of these London mews pubs left,so well worth a trip for that alone.

Tucked away down a dead-end private mews, this isn’t somewhere you’re likely to stumble across by accident, and in fact we went to some considerable effort to find it even though we were actively looking. It’s an attractive building with plenty of hanging baskets outside as well as a red sentry box, presumably for the grenadier that the pub takes it’s name from. Internally it consists of a bar along the front with dark wooden boards on the floor and dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with green painted wallpaper up above. A second room at the rear that looked to be more geared up for dining was broadly similar in terms of décor, but had green carpet on the floor and taupe paintwork. A large oil painting of the Thames hung on the wall, and there was a small green tiled fireplace, although this looked to be disused. A rather unique feature of the pub was the ceiling which was completely covered in signed bank notes. Visitors were apparently encouraged to leave one behind, and both a felt tip pen and a Pritt stick were made available to assist, and an American tourist there during our visit dually added a dollar bill to the collection. The menu consisted of a decent enough selection of “pub grub” dishes such as a vegetarian curry, rib-eye steak or beef Wellington with most of the mains priced somewhere around the £15 mark, although the Wellington was almost double that. My Ox Cheek Croquettes with a horseradish mayo to start and a Fish & Chips with tartar sauce and mushy peas for a main course were both pretty good. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Abbott Ale, Timothy Taylor Landlord and their own Grenadier Ale. The solitary cider meanwhile was Aspall’s Suffolk. According to my guide book, the pub is world famous for their Bloody Mary’s and so I felt obligated to try one. To be honest though, it was far too spicy for my taste although the landlord cheerfully supplied extra tomato juice, and had I realised beforehand that it was going to cost me a tenner, I would certainly have given it a miss. All in all though, a great little pub and well worth taking the effort to track it down.

Official site of The Grenadier - www.grenadierbelgravia.com

Official site of The Grenadier - www.grenadierbelgravia.com

Very small pub (was Taylor Walker, now GK), properly tucked away in a set of exclusive, small and winding mews backstreets in an ‘impossibly unlikely location’ as noted below. Inside, there’s a tight central bar area splitting the pub into two halves (there’s access to both areas via the rear of the bar as well). General décor theme is scuffed wood flooring, dark green curtains, dark varnished wood panels, Grenadier militaria (obvs) and a load of signed money stapled to the ceiling, presumably from former patrons. Dining areas on the rear of either side, which looked pleasant enough and were being used as drinking overspill areas mainly. All-in-all quite cosy and convivial and it's CAMRA National Inventory listed. Four ales on; Tim Taylor Landlord, GK IPA, GK house beer of unknown provenance and Woodfordes Wherry (fair condition); be warned that its Belgravia location means Belgravia prices, I imagine the Taylor’s Landlord would be well-skywards of a fiver. In an 80’s throwback the lager fonts look like mini pumps, tut-tut. All-in-all the ‘quaintness and quirkiness’ makes it well-worth putting on the London list, there’s enough here to make your stay an enjoyable one.