The Pound, Woking

The half pint of Stella killed 10 minutes while waiting for the train, 'lovely' was probably the wrong word for this pub, it is ok but nothing special.

Typical town-centre chain establishment, with lots of food offers and anonymous furniture and decor. Rear seating area up a couple of steps, with a 'Pool Lounge' at first-floor level (not visited). Two handpumps offering Cask Marque accredited Doom Bar and Brains SA (£3.20). Given that the only other choices anywhere near the railway station seem to be Wetherspoons, O'Neills or Yates's, this is perhaps the most traditional pub in the area.

The Station was my favourite drinking establishment in Woking when I used to work in the area six or so years ago and after doing a crawl of the area on a Friday evening a couple of weeks ago I still think that it is one of the best places for a pint. The only ale option was Brains SA Gold as the Doom Bar was off, but I didn’t care as I was on the Guinness which was well served by the friendly young lady behind the bar. There is also a standard draught selection alongside Kirin Ichiban and the only food that I noted as being available was pizza. The bar area is larger than the outside would suggest and at the front by the windows are some sofas, but more conventional seating can be found in the rear raised areas. There are golf, quiz and fruit machines and a plasma screen for showing Sky Sports. During my visit there was some loud pop music from the eighties onwards playing. There is a large pool lounge upstairs, but I don’t think that this is serviced by its own bar. Smokers have to go out onto the high street at the front of the pub and no drinks can be taken outside, which is a little irritating when drinking on your own as the chances are your drink will have been cleared away when you return. I’m in no rush to return to Woking, but if I do I will pop back in here for another beer or two.

This is a lovely pub situated just next to Woking train station. The likes of London Pride and Greene King IPA can be found for sale here. Two tier pub with an upstairs section where they have pool tables.