The Distillers, Hammersmith, W6

Randomness Guide to London - Distillers Arms entry

I recently popped in for the first time since its significant refurbishment. The old run down cheap booze and food place has gone and been replaced by a decidedly smarter and up market venue with a more contemporary feel to it. The layout is essentially the same although the pool room is now just an extended drinking area. The furnishings are now more comfy with padded seating and sofas but they have least managed to keep some of the original trimmings, notably the large Distillers mirror that takes pride of place on the wall. Most importantly, they have introduced a few of Real ales: Courage Best, Youngs and London Pride - hardly exciting choices and quite expensive albeit the Pride was of good quality. The piped music was a bit of jazz / hip hop mix which isn't to my taste but the place was rammed to the rafters so it obviously has proved to be popular. The seating outside is now a lot neater with a new perimeter fence although nothing can disguise the noise or fumes from the Fulham Palace Road. I am not sure I would frequent it as much as the old days as it gets far too packed and loud but if you like this sort of thing, you will probably be fairly impressed.