The Sutton Arms, EC1

A smartly appointed Fullers pub, in fact a little too smart for my liking, it has a bit of the company corparate feel about it. My half an ESB was fine and theres nothing overly wrong about the pub but just not really my cup of tea.

I liked this Fullers pub that I have always walked passed while in the area.Warm and friendly pub.Lots of original tiling and mirrors and there is a wine room upstairs.Lovely frontage with a barrel shaped window.Excellent pint of Castle Rock -Crafty Flanker.

Side-street Fuller's pub close by Barbican underground station and not to be confused with the nearby establishment just in Clerkenwell with the same name. Anyway, this one has an appealing façade with a bow window separating two glazed entrance doors (although only one of these is used nowadays). The main bar fills a good part of the front room so seating is at something of a premium. The smaller an quieter Wine Room can also be found upstairs. Three of four handpumps in use when I visited, offering Pride (£4.85) and two Dark Star beers: Hophead and Creme Brulee (5.9%, and warned off as being very sweet).

Just four months after my last review, Fuller's has stamped its mark on this pub by ripping out the lovely Charrington's bar back and the little snug. Thankfully they've spared the lovely tiles but the pub is still thin on décor. Where once there was the little snug, there's now a perch to the wall, above which is a selection of pewter platters. Beneath are three pressed steel bar stools; thankfully the little curved bench around the window remains. Remaining furniture is basic and there's a taupe-coloured studded banquette to the rear, behind which is a full-height panelled mirror and on the side wall is a solitary enamelled Friary Meux sign, presumably to appease those saddened at the loss of the bar back; it doesn't wash. The floor appears to be original but has been sanded; the bar is new, with vertical t 'n' g panelling, painted dark grey with a pale wood counter top, looking like something from a kitchen. Above, there's one of these new-fangled square section tubular steel modern gantries. Kitchenesque too are the glass-fronted grey kitchen cabinets where once was the aforementioned bar back. There's extra lighting in the form of hipster filament bulbs. In short, it's more contemporary and has lost a lot of its character. The upstairs now appears to be a saloon bar. Music was muted and on the plus front, there's no TV! There are now certainly more people in here than before and it's a younger more local crowd. Ales: Oliver's Island Golden Ale, Fuller's London Pride, East London Brewery's Pale Ale and Portobello's American Pale Ale. I can't remember what I ordered, though it must have been one from ELB or Portobello and I recall it as being good and far more expensive than before. This pub is worth a visit, but what a shame it couldn't have been revamped more sensitively - I'd be less inclined to come here again than before.