Sir Colin Campbell, Kilburn, NW6

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Pub SignMan left this review about Sir Colin Campbell

A short walk down Kilburn High Road from the station, this is a traditional two-bar pub that has done well to retain its original layout. The left-hand side of the pub is perhaps the more basic of the two rooms, by virtue of the bare boards, plain painted walls and utilitarian seating down the left-hand wall, including some awkward looking high tables and stools. The servery is to the right and has a basic wood panelled counter, albeit with the helpful addition of coat hooks, and a partly ripped out bar back which retains some shelving, but has no backing to it, so that you can see straight through to the other room. The room’s public bar credentials were rounded out by a dartboard and a large TV screen showing Sky Sports News. A passageway behind the bar takes you through to the seemingly more popular (i.e. not empty) right-hand room, which is also bare boarded, but sports some fancy floral print wallpaper, high tables and stools plus a few banquette and pew options nearer the front. The windows have unusual top screens that look like they can be detached, perhaps to aid airflow? There’s a fireplace next to the bar, which was draped with a large rainbow flag, whilst a second TV screen was showing the same channel with the sound up, which clashed a little with the 80’s pop tunes playing in the other side of the bar.
Unbeknownst to me, the pub has some sort of long-term issue with its cellar and beer lines, which means that it has had to suspend cask ale. This left me with a bunch of mainstream products to choose from, so I plumped for Guinness at £5.70 a pint. It was a decent enough drop and the lone barman seemed pretty friendly, but with only two other customers knocking about on a Tuesday night, it wasn’t a particularly memorable visit.
I quite liked this place for the simple fact that it has managed to retain it’s multiple room interior when so many other pubs in this part of the world, including the spectacular Black Lion a few doors down, have thoughtlessly been knocked through. The ongoing cask saga and the total lack of atmosphere definitely count against the place, but if they could get some decent beer on again, I reckon it would be worth giving it another try.

On 31^st January 2024 - rating: 5
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