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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat on the Pub Forum

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The Swan, Kingston Upon Thames

22 High Street
Hampton Wick
Postal town: Kingston Upon Thames
KT1 4DB

Phone: 02089772644

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Hampton Wick

Reviews of The Swan (Average Rating: 5 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Swan

This is a pub I've passed by numerous times without giving it a try. The Swan, being a Shepherd Neame pub was not too appealing for me. However, the pub was refurbished a couple of months ago and is now run by Big Smoke in conjunction with Shepherd Neame. As such, both brewery's beers are available.

Situated at the junction with the High Street and Lower Teddington Road, the shape of the building dictates its internal layout. The bar is in front of you as you enter. There is seating in this front section, but further space can be found on the Lower Teddington Road section.

On the bar, there are now 6 handpulls. On the Shepherd Neame bank, Spitfire was accompanied by Master Brew & Whitstable Bay Pale Ale, whilst on the Big Smoke bank, Solaris was joined by Cosmic Dawn & Erebus. I opted for the Erebus, a stout which was quite drinkable. However, my drinking companion's Whitstable Bay Pale Ale was undrinkable. The barmaid did replace it and turned the clip, but you could tell she did not really know what was wrong with it.

On keg were Shepherd Neame First Drop & Bear Island, Big Smoke Cold Spark, Electric Eye & Fruju & Northern Monk Faith and Jaipur, a collaboration I haven't seen before.

The Swan is probably now an improvement on what was here before, with a better range of beers. But there was a lack of customers early on a midweek afternoon and with suspect beer quality, I'm not sure they can sustain 6 cask ales.

On 27^th February 2025 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about The Swan

Just a short way from the bridge over the Thames to Kingston, this is an attractive timber-framed pub with a nice herringbone masonry façade that makes it quite striking on approach. Sadly, this is where the favourable impressions end, as the interior of the pub has been butchered over the years, leaving a large single room layout with bare floorboards throughout, a raised space over to the left and the servery along the back wall. The bar has a wood panelled counter front that has been painted white, so that it heavily contrasts against the dark wood bar back, which has a couple of TV screens needlessly inserted into it, both showing Sky Sports News. A very large open space has been left empty opposite the bar, with most seating confined to the perimeter, including a hard backed banquette along the front wall with chairs in support. A nice fireplace stands on the right-hand wall with a plain mirror above and another TV screen to one side, showing the same channel. The raised space to the left was about to be set up for an open mic night, so I was advised not to sit there unless I wanted to sing a song! It had similar seating to the rest of the room, with benches along the front and end walls and plenty of tables. Décor comprises a few arty photos and art prints on drab, plain painted walls, with fancy lamps and a few orchids and other such potted plants in the window sills. A door to the right of the bar led through to a rather dull looking, formally arranged dining room, although I didn’t get around to properly exploring. There’s a good-sized front pavement seating area as well with some sturdy looking picnic benches.
There are three handpulls on the bar, but to my dismay, all three were unclipped when I arrived – apparently Shepherd Neame were experiencing supply-chain problems and the pub wasn’t expecting to have any cask ale on for another two or three days. A very friendly and helpful barman talked me through some bottled alternatives and gave me tasters of Sheps keg Spitfire Lager and Bear Island Triple Hop, so I ended up with a pint of the latter, which was very cold and unmemorable, but way better than the Spitfire Lager.
This place looked very promising when I walked past, but was a great disappointment once I’d gone inside. The lack of cask ale can perhaps be excused given the nation-wide supply issues going on at the time of my visit, but it’s not as if three Sheps ales were ever going to set the pulse racing either. The interior has been gutted and given a comprehensive bland-over, leaving it to fall a long way short of a pleasant pub, perhaps ending up closer in feel to a corporate drinking barn with a restaurant. There are better pubs a short distance away in either direction from this place and I’ll be sure to skip past the next time I’m in the area.

On 4^th December 2021 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Malden man left this review about The Swan

An attractive looking wedge shaped pub following the junction on which it sits, the upper floor has structural looking timbers with herringbone brickwork between the uprights. Inside there is a large opened out area, a bit spartan really, with a central squinted bar. Black wainscoting and white plus some mustard coloured upper walls.
Three visible handpumps of which two were on, offering Spitfire and Whitstable Bay, part of the rear had a curtain across so perhaps there is more but I reckon the open and barren feeling interior might be due to space making for New Year's Eve. The open to view kitchen was functioning though with Thai food coming out, the Pad Thai noodles looked to be the regular punters favourite choice. The lunch menu is very good value, dearer later or a la carte.
Not a bad spot, it felt a bit clinical and functional inside and I confess to not being the greatest fan of SN ales but I could be persuaded to return, maybe for some noodles and a pint.

On 31^st December 2016 - rating: 5
[User has posted 1710 recommendations about 1683 pubs]

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