The Carpenter's Arms, W6

The Carpenter's Arms tries to fall between the two stools of being a pub and being a restaurant and does neither especially well. The drinks are average and overpriced, the food very much for the well-heeled St Peter's Square set. It probably doesn't help having the Cross Keys a few steps away. Worth a look but don't expect to be a regular.

Tucked away down a side street on Hammersmith’s outer regions the Carpenters Arms comes across as a bit of a hotchpotch of a pub that doesn’t really seem to know who it’s aimed at. The bland interior gives the impression of a down at heel ex-boozer turned dining pub but the odd mix of fixtures, fittings and décor give it a randomness that doesn’t really have any wide appeal. The furniture is of a second hand shop nature and the long leather seating arrangements feel like being in the back seat of an extra wide Cortina. An unrelated series of pictures mix it up with a few brewery oddities and plain mirrors but it just doen’t all seem to go together in any shape or form. Judging by the newspaper clippings on the wall, the place does have a good reputation for food although there were barely half a dozen people in there on my visit, none of them eating and no tables specifically laid out for any potential diners or menus to hand. On the drink side, just the one ale, a barely drinkable Adnams at £3.40 a pint will hardly get the beer tickers rushing through the door. At the rear is an enclosed patio with benches iunder large umbrellasa and there are a couple of benches to the front. I think this is a pub best filed under curiosity only and whilst it seemed like a friendly enough place, I can’t imagine I would find myself back again.

This is a pretty small and narrow pub that seems to have an emphasis on serving up food. There were about 10 people in when I went yesterday afternoon and the average age must have been 70. If this pub is aiming for the affluent Chiswick geriatrics it is succeeding. I was a little tentative upon entering as I wasn't sure if this place was a restaurant, but upon noticing the Adnams, Guinness, Amstell, Addlestones Cider and Kronenburg I was put at ease that it was in fact a pub. The barmaid was very polite and it was nice drinking my well served Amstell in the beer garden with the sun shining. There are a few arty farty pictures on the walls and I noticed a picture of a Harp lorry (surely there must have been a better subject to take a picture of!) This isn't really a place for people that like pubs, but maybe if it is still there in 50 years time I'll pop in and have some food and banter with the locals.