The Grafton Arms, Westminster, SW1

The two barmaids that served me on my visit last year seemed pleasant enough. Greene King IPA, Pride and Doom Bar were ale available alongside standard lagers, Staropramen, Leffe and Guinness, which was very nice. The pub is quite big and stretches back a long way, but I did find it particularly dark and although most London pub toilets are smelly I found this one to be notably so. There were a few plasma screens up on the walls and the pub has Sky Sports. I wouldn’t make a detour to return here.

As the Grafton Arms this place is revered by Goons fans as it was here that the comedy team first met up under the watchful eye of the publican and radio scriptwriter Jimmy Grafton, after whom the pub was named. Spike Milligan apparently even worked behind the bar to make ends meet. In recent years it had a spell as an Irish theme pub called Finnigan's Wake before reverting back to a more traditional pub. Sadly there is little if any evidence of its previous notoriety and is today a rather ordinary and unassuming hostelry. The interior is fairly narrow and extremely cramped with large pillars and badly positioned tables making it difficult to navigate, especially around the bar area. Down one side are 4 alcoves of varying size and intimacy and each having its own plasma mini screen to compliment the 2 main screens that are themselves obstructed from many areas due the aforementioned pillars. You can see from the extended bar canopy that the bar has at some stage been repositioned and I can only imagine that in days gone by there would have been even less space. The pub has a fairly worn look with thinning carpet, bare brick walls, dark wood paneling and a dark ceiling that makes the interior rather dim especially as there is little natural light to the rear. One is almost grateful for the glow of a few low lux lamps and the fruit machines. The beers are fairly mainstream with Broadside, Green King IPA & Bombardier making up the Ale selection. They seem to do a good trade on food (special offers of 2 meals for £8). Customers these days are more likely to be office workers, residents and market traders. In short, the Strutton Arms has its bit of history but for some reason decides to play it down and there is nothing else of note to lift it up above anything more than average.

A long pub, with a small front. may get a bit difficult to reach the bar if it is crowded. Small alcoves down the right hand side for more cosy liasons. Sells real ale and has rotating guest ales. Perhapas thats why they call it a round of drinks.