Carpenters Arms, Fitzrovia, W1

The Wenlock Ales sign is just about still there, and the Truman’s style external beige tiling has not been interfered with either. Inside it still has a two bar format, although they are connected which of course makes perfect sense on a rainy day. The smaller room off Howland St is fairly basic and Spartan, although it does have a couple of sofas in the corner as well as a couple of tall tables/tall stools and a normal table and chairs. The room at the back is the nicer of the two with only normal tables and chairs as well as a chintzy corner niche at the back behind the bar counter with sofas and armchairs. Apart from the corner niche which has light coloured wallpaper, the walls in this room have dark wood panelling from an inter-war firring by the look of it. The back room had a few gastropub touches about it such as the large jars of nuts on the counter, as well as daily printed menus onn the tables. Other points of note are the fact that it has a disabled lavatory, and a couple of stuffed animal heads on the walls. One of of the heads looks a bit like a wolf, but it is hard to be sure as it was disguised by wearing a Cossack hat and tie; and the other by wearing a blond wig, sunglasses and a pearl necklace. I bit bizarre I suppose, but strangely not too out of place. The front bar had two handpumps clipped with Purity UBU and Doom Bar, and the back bar with pumps clipped for the UBU and Sambrook’s Wandle, with a third handpump unused. A half of the UBU was £1.85, so at the top end of the pricing range. The main courses on offer ranged from £8.50 to £16 for the 10oz ribeye, and sandwiches were from £5.25 to £7.50. When I was in on Wednesday lunchtime there was also a fixed price menu with main courses at £7, two courses at £10 and three courses at £13. The food in here looked OK, but I didn’t try it. The clientele appeared to be youngish office workers and other professionals, but at one point a group of half a dozen Americans wandered in – tourists presumably – and stayed. This pub surprised me a bit by being a bit more cosy and comfortable than I expected. Against all the odds I quite liked this place, and wouldn’t mind dropping in here again.

Official site of the Carpenters Arms - www.thecarpentersarmsw1.co.uk

Official site of the Carpenters Arms - www.thecarpentersarmsw1.co.uk

Situated in what is something of a relatively unknown area of London from this particular pub goer's perspective, is The Carpenters Arms, a reasonably traditional street corner pub. The first thing one immediately notices on approaching the pub is the fine tiled exterior advertising the wares of "Wenlock Ales and Stout", indicative of former ownership in days before I became of pub going age. Disappointingly, there is no brewery memorabilia inside, apart from a rather forlorn looking Bass mirror in one of the two bars. The interior consists of two interconnecting rooms, joined by a narrowish corridor, which feature much wood panelling and, most notably, in one form, an attractive looking cosy corner with floral wallpaper and a few plates bearing photographs of the Queen Mother. There's an upstairs bar - not open on my visit and - up yet another flight of stairs after that, are the gents toilets. The pub website mentions a roof terrace, also. The nicely air conditioned interior throughout was very welcome on a rather unpleasantly muggy and sticky late afternoon. The drinks menu is presented in an old style record sleeve, which, I suppose is indicative of the fact that we are in media territory. There's an emphasis on foreign beers and I suspect that real ale trade is not great. Beers on were Dark Star Hophead, Wadworths 6X and, in the bar on the right, London Pride and Daleside Summer Delight. The Hophead - £ 2.85p - was reasonable. This isn't a pub worth going out of your way to visit, but I might just decide to call in again if passing by.

Randomness Guide to London - Carpenters Arms entry

Randomness Guide to London - Carpenters Arms entry

This place is ok with the main clientele being of student age and there was a private party going on upstairs. I only spotted Greene King IPA and Pride available along with some premium lagers. I probably won't bother with here again as there are better to found in the area.