The Duchess, Stamford Brook, W6

Nicely presented pub but is rarely busy.Badly situated between Shepherds bush and Chiswick.Friendly staff and a big selection of beers but quality is very variable.Doubtfull that the proposed brewery will be commissioned unless trade picks up.Nice outside area with plenty of seating.location, location, location is still what makes a lot of pubs busy.

Just a short walk up the road from Stamford Brook District line station, the Duchess of Cambridge is the sister pub to one of the capital’s best known ale houses – the Bree Louise in Euston. My visit also coincided with the Scottish beer festival mentioned below, but also with some sort of craft market which had taken over the entire left hand side of the pub, leaving only the bar area for punters to enjoy their Sunday lunches. The servery is on the rear wall and there was a mix of standard seating and sofas around tables of various sizes. The floors are bare boards whilst the walls are painted white, with a few red pillars breaking things up a bit, but on the whole it’s a bit bland – a matter not helped by the large open-plan layout. A few pump clips are starting to creep around the walls, so maybe given more time there will be more to distract the eye. There are some fairly large windows along the front wall and a skylight above the servery, but somehow the pub managed to remain gloomy throughout my stay and the mood wasn’t improved by an impossibly annoying world music soundtrack. A TV screen was showing a muted domestic rugby fixture, although no-one seemed to be paying it any attention. Menus on the tables showed that main meals clock in at around the £9 mark, with Sunday roasts closer to £11. Bar snacks included haggis fritter and battered black pudding. Given the beer festival, the ale options were all from North of the border, with four on hand pull and six more on stilage behind the bar. Having had a few dodgy pints straight from the barrel in the Bree Louise, I opted for a hand pulled pint of Orkney Northern Lights (£3.50), which I have to say was a bit below par. Keg options included further Scottish beers from the likes of Brewdog and Black Isle. A vast list of German and Belgian bottles is detailed in the menus and I noted one hand pulled cider, a spiced cider (next to the mulled wine and DIY Bloody Mary kit) and about ten ‘bag in a box’ ciders at the end of the bar counter. There is also a long wine list and a mind blowing selection of spirits, so the place certainly can’t be faulted for not trying to cater for everyone’s tastes. I had high hopes for this place, but left a little disappointed at the beer quality and general ambiance. Like its sister pub, I left with the impression that inconsistency is a major problem and that a repeat visit might provide entirely different results. I doubt I’ll make the trek out here again just to visit this place, but I would still give it another go if I happened to be in the area.

A large bare boarded and high ceilinged interior, modern furniture in the form of plenty of sofas and armchairs, but enough of the traditional variety for me to find somewhere suitable to sit too. A few bits of decor have appeared, old food and drink adverts, flowers in vases on the window cills and a large chalkboard at the front lists the beers. Two large rooms essentially, the front area semi-divided from the rear which is where the bar is situated. Six handpumps plus ten casks on stillage as well as a good number of ciders in boxes. A clear locAle policy is evident with a number of beers from Ascot, Windsor & Eton, Rebellion and Twickenham. Reasonably priced food available, printed single sheet menus were on the tables, and pies are a speciality as they are in The Bree Louise. There were also bottled beer menus on the tables running to quite a list with plenty from Belgium. A good venture and worthy of support, hopefully the through traffic will be sufficient to sustain the ale range. Family friendly, there were a few kids in on Saturday late afternoon. Unfortunately the acoustics in these bare boarded, high ceilinged places are such that their presence was all too obvious. There is a TV but this was off while low key background music played.

Normally when you walk into a pub and see no handpumps on the bar it’s a matter for concern – but not here, as I swiftly saw some eight ales on gravity dispense behind the bar, as well as some ciders. Maybe there were others I didn’t see to make up the sixteen advertised in the London Drinker, or maybe there’s a plan to fit some handpumps. Whatever, eight ales is good enough for me. The Rebellion Dr Bob I had was excellent. And I was asked if I had a CAMRA card, and thus got a discount (just like at its sister pub, the Bree Louise). All the ales seemed to be £3.50 a pint, or £3 with a CAMRA card, and were advertised on a blackboard near the front door. Food was available when I visited at Saturday lunchtime – main course were between £8 - £12, and sandwiches about £3.50 or £5 with a few chips. The cheese and pickle sandwich I had was OK, but came toasted which I don’t think works too well with pickle, but tasty enough nonetheless. The service was very friendly. The pub itself is a thoroughly modern affair, with sofas and armchairs all over the place; minimalist decor; plenty of open space between the tables; cream painted walls; and a small table with various leaflets on it. There’s a small courtyard garden at the back. To be honest these minimalist, sofa rich, modern looking pubs are not really my favourites, but I’m sure many appreciate them, and this one definitely deserves extra marks for the ale choice. I would definitely visit again.