The Sutton Arms, Sutton

Average Greene King town bar - nothing actively wrong with it but nothing much to commend it either. Reasonably bright and cheerful with a few screens and quiet music. Beers just their own, with IPA, Old Speckled Hen and a surprisingly drinkable Fireside on the handpumps.

Greedy King high street pub. Looks mildly promising on entry, the front section is quasi-lounge with an inbuilt backlit glass display case on the corner of the banquette, so this must be a late 90s makeover. Deteriorates in the sunken rear section which is bland and gloomy, filled with half-cut cackling Mockney types. Just GK IPA on which, I was mildly surprised to discover, was in decent nick (NBSS 3.5), so not a complete disaster.

Official site of The Sutton Arms - www.greeneking.co.uk

Official site of The Sutton Arms - www.greeneking.co.uk

They had on GK IPA and IPA Reserve (£4 plus a pint as I recall) on in here. The latter was clearly the best bet, and at 5.5% ABV it easily outstripped its weaker neighbour for body and flavour. But of course most beers would do that. A had a bite to eat in here - the cheese and bacon burger at £7.79. After I sat down and had a good look at the menu I saw that I could have had a pint with my burger for £1 - including the IPA but not the IPA Reserve. The barmaid might have told me that I could have a pint of GK IPA for a quid instead of the £4 or more that I paid, but I suppose she's there to punch the buttons for what the customer asks for and one could argue that I should have scrutinised the menu before ordering. But who does that before ordering a pint? Anyway, the pub is a pretty standard and characterless high street Greene King place. There are the usual dark varnished tables - with plenty of tall variety with tall stools - with banquettes and some normal chairs. I didn't spot much in the way of decor worth mentioning, just some old black and white photographs of local scenes on the walls. But this pub did the job when I was looking for a bite to eat on Monday evening. My burger was good quality (and came with chips and a few onion rings) even if I didn't get my burger and a pint for the cheapest price available. The GK IPA Reserve was also a decent pint for a GK beer.