Prince of Wales, Putney, SW15

This is a Victorian pub towards the eastern end of Upper Richmond Road, within spitting distance of East Putney tube. There are separate areas but the most pleasant is the front section with wood panelling probably dating from at least the 1950s, above which is a calming dark green paint scheme, with much of the upper walls adorned with – according to CAMRA – at least 100 pewter mugs, with a wall mounted yard of ale. There’s a tasteful bar back, bare brick further into the rooms, with paint now grey. Furniture is conventional with décor taking the form of some stuffed fish, to a decent ‘60s’ and ‘70s’ soundtrack, lapped up by a youngish professional crowd. A better choice of ale than most in these climes offered a House Best (Siren), ESB and Landlord at a steep £3.00 a half and very drinkable too. This is an above average pub and the best choice along this stretch, but it’s far from being the top pub in SW15 though.

Official site of Prince of Wales - princeofwalesputney.com

Official site of Prince of Wales - princeofwalesputney.com

This is a street corner pub/restaurant with around two thirds of the area from the middle to the rear set up for formal dining. The bar and drinking area are at the front, the floor is boarded, seating at small Britannia tables, walls half wood panelled and painted dark green above with scores of pewter tankards hanging on little hooks. Above there is a section of picture rail with a number of whisky branded water jugs on show. Other décor includes a stuffed fish in a glass case plus some sort of stuffed fowl. The randomly placed blue railway carriage seat numbers remain which add a bit of interest to me. Newspapers on a table, outdoor seating to the frontage, a new upstairs private dining room "coming soon", maybe this will open the pub up a bit more for drinkers, maybe not. Beers on were Doom Bar, Purity Mad Goose Pale Ale plus Addlestones cider. The Mad Goose was £2.10 a half, par for the course in a place like this. Neither here nor there really, if anything it felt a bit snooty, nothing much to attract me back.

Went here for Sunday lunch on the 30th October 2011. I prefer their sister pub, The Bull and Last. Things here are just a bit cramped, the food is average and the beer selection was restricted. (Originall reviewed on BITE).

I wasn’t expecting much from this pub as it had the gastropub look to it. I was right on that score, but it did have on Black Sheep Bitter, Prince of Wales (by Tetley I think – a house beer perhaps?), and Purity Mad Goose. The Mad Goose was £2 for a half, which is expensive even by gastropub standards. I didn’t bother to look at the menu, but judging by the ale prices, I can’t believe it does any cheap pub grub. The bar area is at the front of the pub as you enter, containing a few banquettes, small round stools and some metal framed tables. The walls in here are wood panelled to two-thirds height, the tops of which have little numbers on small enamelled metal plates nailed on them. According to the barman they are re-cycled train seat numbers, and they attached them to the walls because they thought it a good idea at the time. Works for me, I suppose. There are also outsize playing cards on the ceiling in a fan shape, plus pewter mugs covering one of the walls. All a bit bizarre, but strangely not out of place. The main activity of this place is conducted in the two adjoining rooms reached through an entranceway to the left of the bar, where every one was dining except for one bloke sitting in an armchair by the fireplace. There were a few unoccupied tables in the farthest of these two rooms, all of which were laid for diners. The walls in the “restaurant” rooms also sported more pewter mugs on the walls, plus some antlers and horns.