The Dodo Micropub, Hanwell, W7

Almost 3 years since my last visit, I was back in the Dodo for an early Saturday evening drink, managing to grab seats in the one window, as all of the bench tables were taken. This is a simple, single-room shop conversion run by a friendly lady. Beers are kept in a cool room at the rear, whilst there is also a small yard for outdoor drinking at the rear. The owner will bring drinks to your table and she keeps a close eye on proceedings. Kids are allowed in until 7pm. The ale and cider selection appears to have diminished somewhat since Covid. Just 3 ales and 2 ciders were on at what should be a peak time. I remember there being a long list of ciders in booklets on each table and I believe there used to be 5 real ales. However, there are also now some craft beers served from behind the small bar on the right-hand side of the unit. The ale selection for my visit was Northern Whisper Oppenchops, Quantock Seek & Find & Oakham Helter Skelter. Ciders were both from Ascension - Wrath & Mothership. The 2 craft beers were Siren Soundwave & Amundsen Black Forest Glaze. I worked my way through each of the ales and ciders, culminating in the Black Forest Glaze, which was the highlight. Although the craft beers are priced on the high side. Whilst still probably the best micropub this side of London, the Dodo does seem to have gone downhill slightly. As such, I will downgrade my score to 8/10.

A great little micropub ,obviously well described beforehand, five cask ales on of which I had two, Hophurst Cosmati and Bristol Beer Factory Mission Bay ,there was one solo keg beer , Brew York Imperial Tonkoko at 7,5% which I finished my visit with. Very friendly as previously mentioned, the landlady coping tirelessly and efficiently with a full house. Fantastic place.

This is a typical shop converted micropub in the heart of Hanwell, which opened in January 2017, becoming one of West London’s first micropubs in the process. The single room set-up sees exposed modern floorboards, plain painted walls and a small grey counter immediately to your right on entry. Seating comes in the form of high benches down both sides of the room, which serve rough (rustic?) wood plank tables with some high stools and a bay window eat at the front rounding things out. The walls have mainly been decorated with random items and a few Dodo themed bits, including pub merchandise, rather than the usual breweriana and pump clip display that you might have expected to see. There’s a very helpful beer board opposite the servery, which is essential in helping you select a beer, as there are no handpulls on the bar – all the beer is held in a temperature-controlled room to the rear of the pub. There’s a small unisex toilet to the rear as well, which has a sign in it explaining that it is twinned with another toilet in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which I believe is a reference to a charity scheme rather than a comment on the state of the pub’s lavatory facilities. Flyers around the room detailed a number of interesting, enterprising events in the pub, which included a vegetable swap-meet for local allotment holders, tap-takeovers from some of the country’s top brewers, food matching evenings, pop-up food stalls and a free cheeseboard on Sundays. There were four cask ales available when I visited – Animal Brewing Skunk, Arbor Blue Sky Drinking, Siren Suspended in Summer and one other I failed to note, plus one keg beer and a wide bottle and can selection. The Skunk was far tastier than the name implies, and my other half tried one of their bottled ciders which she enjoyed too. There was a reasonable crowd in on our Sunday afternoon visit and the barman seemed to know everyone but was friendly and welcoming to a couple of new faces. I liked this micropub and was impressed with the range of events they have organised and their clear engagement with the local community. The good beer and friendly surrounds make this a must-visit pub when in Hanwell and if I was a local, I’d be extremely happy that such an enterprise had opened up in my neighbourhood.