The Prince Albert, Battersea, SW11

Existing in some form since at least the mid-19th century, this is an imposing structure opposite a gate to Battersea Park and around 100 yards south of lovely, illuminated Albert Bridge. It seems unchanged since Rex’s visit, with a pale worn floor, grey colour scheme and fine bar front to the island bar along with trendy prints. On arrival, Twist and Shout was thumping out of the stereo, sung along to by quite a few of the sub-30 entitled customers, who probably hadn’t even heard of The Beatles; thereafter music was modern, banal and equally loud, me having to near shout at the barman when he finally deigned to acknowledge my existence. Ales amounted to London Original, Special and Proper Job at a wincing £3.10 a half and fine, served by one of the all-male barmen who were far more interested in flirting with female customers than serving, a bit like the nearby Lighthouse. The pub itself is not problematic, in fact it’s quite pleasant for a modernised outfit, but the sheer noise, appalling acoustics and crowd, (not to mention the prices) are reason enough for me not to recommend the place, at least not on a Saturday at almost 10.00pm.

This is a thoroughly modernised pub, with food being the main player when I dropped in on Saturday afternoon. It was doing a very good trade, with the garden at the side maxed out on a warm and sunny day. But I managed to perch myself on one of those tall tables/tall stools that are cluttering up the left hand side of the pub. Inside there's a central island bar - looks original Victorian to me - with a black and white tiled splash area surrounding it. The floor's modern replacement boarding, and the walls are obviously all painted grey. But the wood-framed archway between the two halves of the room is still an attractive piece, even if it is unfortunately now painted grey. As well as the tall tables and tall stools already mentioned, there are also loads of normal tables and chairs. There was a big bottle of water on my table for some reason; I'm not sure what it was doing there but I used it to provide a life extending drink for the trio of daffodils in a little bottle also on the table. It's the sort of upmarket place that wouldn't tolerate fruit machines or TVs dominating things, which is a massive plus in my book, but on the other hand the absence of carpets and soft furnishings always make these high-ceilinged old Victorian pubs very noisy even when they are moderately busy. There were a few bits of unusual decor around the place, such as the great lump of wood on the bar counter, and the life size bust of some old Roman on a shelf at the back. It seems to be dog friendly, as I saw at least three reasonably well-behaved mutts, one with a bowl of water underneath the table at which his human chums were sitting, and the main entrance was guarded by a pair of stone dogs, one on each side of the doorway. On the ale front, they had on Young's Bitter, Sharp's Cornish Coaster, Truman's Blindside, and By The Horns Stiff Upper Lip - which is what you need when shelling out £4.40 for a locally produced 3.8% beer. I didn't scrutinise a menu, but I would be surprised if the pricing wasn't consistent with the ale prices. This pub is typical of its type. But it did have four ales on, even if at the top end of the pricing scale.