The Park Brew and Kitchen, North Kingston, Kingston Upon Thames

Pub SignMan left this review about The Park Brew and Kitchen

Set in a small, shop-style, street corner unit, this is a simple bar, almost like a micropub in its feel, serving up ale from Kingston's Park Brewery. The pub has a compact, laminate floored interior with bright, white painted walls and a couple of large, shop style windows with open venetian blinds letting plenty of light in. There's a drinking ledge with high stools under the front window and three quite long tables with hard plastic chairs through the centre, which are ideal for large groups but a bit awkward for couples or lone drinkers to occupy. The bar is on the rear wall and has a modern counter front with a polished stone top and a very plain bar back formed of a metal framed shelving unit with a keg tap panel in the centre. A beer fridge stands to one side of the bar and was full of Park Brewery cans and bottles of bubbly. The walls are mostly plain, but there's a large leaf image mural to the rear and a map of Richmond Park, which provide limited visual distraction. Tunes were playing quietly in the background, but were hard to hear in such a loud, echoey space devoid of soft furnishings. Outdoor seating is available in the form of a couple of canteen tables and benches out on the pavement and I was a little surprised to find that lots of folk were eating and that one table had been reserved, wiping out a quarter of all seating options in one go.
The bar supports two cask ales - Park Brewery Poets Corner and Saw Pit - but no fewer than nine more could be found on keg dispense. The staff seemed friendly enough, but I found it a bit awkward having to perch on a stool at the bar and felt like I was in everyone's way all the time.
I struggled a bit with this place, which I didn't think was the best place to showcase Park Brewery beers. It seems stuck somewhere between being a cafe/diner and a micropub, but doesn't really work as either, as the food offering deters a conversational environment and detracts from the focus on the beer. It's worth a look solely for the ale range, but I much preferred the industrial estate Brewery Tap at the other end of Kingston.

Date of visit - 11th April 2024

On 17^th August 2024 - rating: 6
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