The Mute Swan, Hampton Court, East Molesey

Brunning & Price pubs tend to be fairly reliable on the beer front and their food isn't too bad either. This one is situated close to Hampton Court and with its prime position, it will undoubtedly attract a fair amount of tourist custom. I hadn't been here for 9 years until yesterday, but the pub can be found in the 2025 Good Beer Guide. The house beer is St Austell Brunning & Price Traditional Bitter. Guest beers were Wimbledon Copper Leaf, Twickenham Naked Ladies, Timothy Taylor Landlord & Gun Chummy Bluster. Amongst the keg beers were Camden Stout, Wimbledon IPA & Sambrook's Block Party. There were a group of walkers drying their coats to one side when we arrived and a large group of people soon arrived for a wake. Elsewhere, a spiral staircase in the centre of the room leads up to further seating upstairs. This is a fairly cosy place appealing to a fair range of people with its food and its range of beers. Not a bad option if you're in the area.

A Brunning & Price house opposite Hampton Court Palace, so tastefully furnished with good but pricey food and drink. It has quite a laid-back atmosphere over two floors - there is a proper staircase at the back if you don't fancy the spiral thing by the bar. 7 handpumps offered brews from Twickenham, Vale, Brill, Farmyard, By the Horns and Sambrooks and the St Austell house beer, with a couple more on tap. Quite nice if you fancy a bit of posh.

A substantial and attractive looking pub directly opposite Hampton Court Palace and within yards of the Thames, it’s obviously a very popular spot and it was full to capacity on our recent Sunday afternoon visit, with pretty much all the tables being occupied by diners. Although we did manage to grab a small table as somebody left, what with waiters constantly whizzing past and everyone else eating, we felt slightly uncomfortable and didn’t linger. It’s quite contemporary in terms of décor, and a black, cast iron spiral staircase in the centre of the pub leading up to a mezzanine level floor is a prominent feature. The flooring was wood strip, whilst the lower part of the walls were clad with dark wood panelling and there was cream plasterwork up above. The large windows made the most of the outlook and the walls were filled with old black and white photos. The large bar had a mirrored backdrop and an extensive spirit selection. There was a surprisingly good selection of beers on tap for a venue such as this that must be a bit of a tourist trap and on our visit the selection was Wantsum Hengist, Old Pie Factory’s American Pie, Bingham’s Twyford Tipple, Sambrooks Powerhouse, Bunnings & Price Original Bitter, Ravensbeer and a further pump which appeared to have run out. From an initial glance the solitary cider appeared to be Aspall’s Suffolk, but when I expressed my displeasure at this, the friendly barman said that they had some Hallett’s PX “out the back”. This was a new one on me and very pleasant, if a little on the sweet side perhaps. Whilst this isn’t normally the style of pub that I’d go for, at a quieter time I could see that it would be quite appealing.

Could have been awful - chain pub, opposite a major tourist attraction. Was wonderful - six real ales and a barman who knew his stuff. Great pint of triple f moondancer, a decent meal and great service. Recommended. Photos at my walking blog - http://bit.ly/2a2SnEC

Located just over the road from the entrance gates to Hampton Court Palace, this is a smart, gastro-style pub from the Brunning and Price chain. You enter into a roughly square shaped ground floor bar, bare boarded throughout but with a few rugs to help dampen down the noise within. A plain modern servery runs down the right hand wall and there is a row of high tables and stools opposite with the rest of the room filled with standard tables and chairs and a few padded banquettes and pews. The walls have been covered with loads of interesting, vaguely locally themed black and white photos plus various maps, paintings, adverts and the like. A plain fireplace stands to the left in a part of the room that has been semi-partitioned from the bar area thanks to some sections of wall that have been retained. Opposite the bar is a spiral staircase which leads up to a first floor restaurant, also accessible via a standard staircase to the rear of the pub. The restaurant has the usual standard formal seating options and similar décor to that seen downstairs. The room runs around all four walls but the centre has been cut out, allowing you to look down to the bar area below. Music played quietly throughout my visit and I noticed the day's papers all piled up at the end of the bar. I ate here and found the food to be excellent quality, but very pricey by pub standards, as you might expect given its location (ham, egg and chips - £11.00). Brunning and Price pubs tend to do well on the ale selection front and this place was no different, with the handpulls offering Brunning and Price Original Bitter, Taylor Boltmaker, Hog's Back TEA, Surrey Hills Greensand IPA, Tillingbourne The Source and Thwaites Wainwright. The staff here were especially friendly and one barmaid served me up an excellent pint of the Greensand IPA. This is clearly a very well run, upmarket pub looking to cash in from the many visitors to the neighbouring Palace. I enjoyed my visit here but the prices don't make it conducive to a longer visit. Like other pubs from this chain, it also has more of a restaurant feel to it, despite efforts to create a separate dining area upstairs and it therefore felt like you would never be able to strike up much of a conversation with anyone in here. Still, it remains a solid pub and worth investigating.

MUTE SWAN: a lovely pub, in a salubrious area, right opposite the main entrance to Hampton Court Palace..! You don't get much better neighbours than that! Still quite new looking, as its not been open a year yet. Roomy enough main bar, an interesting spiral iron staircase in the middle of the room (up to the toilets..!) but I don't suggest you use it if you've had a skinful...use the proper stairs at the side! :o)