Nine Elms Tavern, South Lambeth, SW8

As mentioned below a bright shiny uber modern bar/ pub owned by Youngs. I suppose we should be thankful because there are precious little real ale venues on this section of the south bank tow path, but if you are looking for character you are better off taking a look at the interesting house boats moored along this section. However the good news was that the real ale was very good or at least the pint of Proper Job I went for was, which I went for in preference to the Youngs Ordinary on the other two pumps. Not my preferred style of pub , both then you have precious little other choice if you are visiting the nearby American Embassy.

An uber modern bar operated by Youngs pubco but lacking river views due to the construction barges moored to the quay.You enter with the bar directly infront,to the left is a seating area with circular tables running the length of this section,with an open kitchen at the end.There are then two front wings,the first with a long bench and a series of square tables,the second further around is more pleasing with another bench seat and views of the external beer terrace.There is also an upstairs area with a maxi sofa,dining type tables and a drinking shelf with the loos at one end. There are 3 handpumps offering on my trip Youngs bitter (doubled) and a decent St Austell Proper Job (£2.55 the half). The flatscreens will air BT and Sky Sports events,muzak was playing at background levels on my afternoon visit,and the vast plate glass windows dominate the internal space,so it's a bar rather than pub. The Proper Job saved my trip ,otherwise I could hardly see myself returning.

This is a newly built, ultra modern Young's pub. It's supposedly ship-themed, and there were ship-like old timbers and coiled ropes around the place. Some old scrubbed doors were serving as screening between a couple of the bar areas. There's modern lighting, multi-coloured not particularly comfortable looking chairs, and semi-circular banquette booths with round tables, and more multi-coloured seating plus bench seating outside. Unfortunately, being North facing the outside seating area gets little or no sun. There's another room upstairs with similar furnishings to those downstairs, from where you can look down on the drinkers below. The toilets are upstairs, and although there is a lift between the two floors, it wasn't in use when we dropped in on Wednesday afternoon - but there again my wife and I were the only customers in there. The ale availability here is a disappointment to say the least. There were three handpumps - one had a cider clip, and the other two Young's Bitter clips but with plastic cups on top of them to indicate non-availability. They did have some Meantime "craft" stuff on keg, and after I had ordered a half of that I noticed some Brixton Brewery bottles in the fridge, and I was told that they also did bottled beers from the very local Mondo Brewery. Apparently there just isn't the demand for real ales to support two ales; and only one at a push and even then they have to time the tapping of a cask to coincide with a weekend. They do food, but although I didn't bother to look at a menu, I was told that it's the generic Young's menu. This place will suit you just fine if you like shiny new ultra modern bars, and aren't fussy about the availability of real ale. But I don't expect to be making a return visit.