Brook Green Hotel, W6

Visited 14/01/26. Visited previously 08/08/22. Cask here was a disappointing three handpumps all dispensing Original, in good nick but was hoping for something less monoline cask. Keg was a reduced range that you see in larger Youngs establishments and comprising Estrella, Guinness, Aspall, Neck Oil, Camden Hells, Peroni, Asahi, Pravha and Jubel Peach lager. Sumptuous venue, U-shaped, bare boarded. Corner entrance on a busy road spot with studded leather banquettes along the walls under the tall windows either side of the entrance serving tall tables. The rear left-hand corner has a large Chesterfield sofa along the mid-brown wood panelled walls. The bar counter is opposite the entrance on the wall to the right-hand side of the entrance and there was a small amount of tall stool seating at either end of the bar counter. An ornate fire grate, unused, with a large mirror above occupied the front right-hand corner, seating around provided by a leather sofa and leather wingback armchairs. Leather banquette down the right-hand wall to the rear and a similar leather banquette at the rear in front of the food servery. There is a basement cocktail bar called Smiths and a dining room. High ceilings, lighting via chandeliers in the front part and more mundane suspended lighting middle to rear right-hand side. Single discrete screen showing BBC News and a background but decent pop soundtrack. There is a beer garden that I didn't venture out to check.

A first in here, to the best of my knowledge, a large Young's pub which has just reopened after a refit. This is really quite a swish pub with impressive wooden mirrored bar back, bare boards with some parquet herringbone and fine stained glass to some of the side windows. The colour scheme is the rather hackneyed pale grey/blue and there's some bare brick. One side of the pub is reserved for dining and there's a hotel above. In the main drinking area the furniture is fairly conventional; lighting is a mixture of conventional and modern. Out back, there's a spacious beer garden/patio and the lavatories are very modern. A TV was on showing the Olympics with the sound down, though I don't know if sport is a regular feature here. Otherwise, muted funk music played. In the basement there's a separate cocktail bar called Smith's. Ales: Young's Bitter, Gold and Special at £4.20 which is in keeping for the area and type of pub and it was in OK condition. This isn't a bad pub, but it's really rather bland and characterless - more a hotel bar for a hotel which explains much. This and the dreary selection of ales means that I'm unlikely to return, not least because The Queen's Head over the road is a far better bet.

I also paid my first visit to this pub for some time on Sunday afternoon, in my case an absence of around twenty-five years. There have certainly been some changes, back in the mid to late 80s this part of West London had a large working class Irish population who naturally were well represented in the area's pubs. Some serious gentrification has taken place over the years and now this pub cum hotel appears to have moved staunchly upmarket. The pub is now a single l-shaped space, bare boarded and with an area of the return side full of tables set for dining. Mixed seating although plenty of the regular type remains, tea light candles on the tables, papers and board games available. There were little scrolls of paper relating to the hotel aspect on the tables contained for some reason in cleaned out Campbell's Soup tins. The bar itself is fairly ornate with a couple of clocks set in gilded surrounds as well as a few mirrors. The large clear glass windows must be modern replacements however I did spot one remaining leaded stained window at high level. Décor includes framed drawings representing iconic London scenes of no real connection to the pub or location and in the dining area there is a large an quite impressive line drawing of the pub along a side wall. Also curiously in this area is a board listing the successful winners of a "Monster Burger Challenge" whereby if you can demolish said meal together with side orders within 15 minutes you get it for free. I imagine this forms some sort of spectator sport. It's a Young's house still, two banks of four repeated, 2x Bitter, Special and seasonal pub branded Xmas Ale. The Special was an ok drop at £3.89. To the rear a sign tells us that there is a "Secret Garden", bit of a blunder with the sign then perhaps, and downstairs, separately accessed is Smith's Cocktail Bar, not sure if this is connected to the pub or a separate venture. I remember the pub as a lively buzzing local with traditional features, I'm not sure the Young's design team have improved it really.

The Brook Green is a large Victorian pub and hotel in a prominent position on the Shepherds Bush Road opposite Brook Green. Back in the early nineties I had a few work parties in here and I remember being runner up in a dart competition that was held upstairs. So after an absence of fifteen or so years I popped in for a pint on Friday afternoon last week. The interior is L shaped with seating along the front of the pub opposite the long bar and to the right rear where some tables were set for dining. At the rear access can be gained to a conservatory and some uncovered outside seating. The bar is stocked with premium draught products including Meantime Brewery’s London Lager and Camden Brewery’s Wit. There are also two banks of four hand pumps that were both drawing Youngs Ordinary (x2) and Special alongside Bombardier. Food is available and the pub food mains are priced around £11. I didn’t spot any televisions but there was some strange mood music playing in the background. The only entertainment I spotted advertised was a secret DJ night. As it is a secret I don’t know what day or time it is. This place is much more upmarket than it used to be and I like it better in some ways, but not in others.

This is a fairly large Victorian pub and hotel opposite Brook Green, a short walk from Hammersmith tube station. The interior boasts a single large J shaped room which has given itself over to smart contemporary decor at the expense of showing off its Victorian heritage. To the left of the bar there is a plush seating area with padded benches, a small carpeted area and a plasma screen TV. As you follow the room past the bar towards the right hand side of the pub, the seating tends to be mostly standard tables and chairs, whilst the rear part of the room is set up almost exclusively for diners, although you're welcome to eat anywhere within the pub. The hotel reception can also be found in this rear part beyond the bar counter, as can access to the 'secret' garden, which isn't that secret given the large A-board outside promoting it and perhaps more crucially, the fact that it can be seen from the main road outside once it's lit up at night. This is a Young's house, so no surprise to see Ordinary and Special available, although they did have a guest as well, in the shape of Sharps Cornish Coaster, which wasn't exactly on top form, although to be fair, the Special was pretty good. We had some food as well and after a painful ordering process and a failure to provide part of our order, we found the results to be a bit of a mixed bag. My fishcakes were very tasty, but the sausage and mash was dry and couldn't be finished, which was pretty poor given the high prices. I expect this place does a decent bit of business, as it's got enough going for it to attract a broad range of customers, but I’m afraid it left me a bit cold. If the service hadn't been so sloppy I would have said this was a decent enough place to come for a bite to eat, but I'm not sure it did enough to make me want to make a return trip.