The Havelock Tavern, Brook Green, W14

Another food led pub but they have 4 handpumps so its a good place for a drink as well.My Trumans -Bold as Brass was in good condition.Smart interior.Liked it a lot.

The Havelock is a J shaped gastro pub with about ten years’ worth of Michelin restaurant guide stickers in the door so I wasn’t hoping for much as I entered. The bar is stocked with premium draught and the four hand pumps were drawing Black Sheep alongside three offerings from Sharp’s brewery that were Cornish Coaster, Bebbo’s Blonde and Summer Amber Pilsner. The interior is what one would expect with thick wooden tables with seating around the exterior walls and no distractions like televisions, gaming machines or background music. To the left rear is a seating area and open kitchen and at the end of the bar just before midday last Friday some bread was cooling. Unfortunately the lovely smell of a bakers wasn’t present! I didn’t see any menus, but I imagine expensive food on oversized plates/slates/chopping boards. My half of Coaster was around £2 which was cheaper than the £2.50 the bloke behind me got charged for just over half a coke. This pub sits well in this area.

What drew me in to this place was the four handpumps on the bar counter, as it turned out dispensing Doom Bar, Sambrook Wandle, Black Sheep Bitter and Sharp’s Honey Gold. My pint of Doom Bar was served in a dimple mug; no choice was given perhaps because this is not the sort of place where they would have a straight glass. Unusually for me I didn’t check the price by counting the change from the fiver a paid with, as I was totally distracted by the 1½ inch head on my beer. But the barman gave me a top up with good grace. I doubt whether the Doom Bar was cheap though, as I saw a board advertising the Black Sheep Bitter for £3.50 a pint. This is most certainly a food led pub. There were 20 or so customers in there on Wednesday lunchtime, and all were eating except me and one other chap reading his paper. One table was occupied by seven or eight people engaged in a business lunch, and at another table someone was being interviewed for a job. It seemed to be that sort of place. There were daily printed lunch menus on the tables (separate menus for evenings). The food looked OK, although the prices were what you would expect from a gastropub, with main courses ranging from £11 to £14.50, except for the vegetarian tart at £8.50. The interior is exactly what you expect in a gastropub – modern replacement bare boards, solid wooden tables, a mix of assorted non-matching chairs, wine rack on the wall behind the bar counter, large jars of nuts on the bar counter, etc, etc. This is a perfectly decent gastropub, but it’s probably not the most comfortable place to visit if you’re only after a pint.