The Waldegrave Arms, Teddington

Official site of The Waldegrave Arms - www.thewaldegravearms.com

The majority of this building has been completely rebuilt, with just the lower facade remaining from the original Victorian building. And it looks it as well, lacking any of the traditional architectural features that we so admire in Victorian pubs. Inside it's modern as well of course, with a central island bar decorated with what looks like bleached, or possibly very light varnished, wood. The usual mix of furnishings are here, including leather sofas, bucket armchairs, tall tables (copper-topped!) and tall stools. I think I even spotted a few normal tables and chairs at the the back. There's not much in the way of decor on the lilac/grey walls, although I did see a pair of ancient skis on the wall at the back in front of the fan shaped window bearing the word "theatres", that I gather came from St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. I'm not sure what it's doing here, but it is at least a bit different. There were two ales on . I had a pint of something called "Waldy Ale" (£3.60 a pint), and according to the clip it's brewed exclusively for the Waldegrave Arms by Sharp's. You would think that this is their regular ale, but apparently not as that honour goes to Sharp's Doom Bar. Anyway, it was a decent drop for a 3.6% session ale. Menus were attached to clipboards on all the tables, and although I didn't go over it in great detail, I did not a couple of standards - a Waldy Burger for 10 and bangers and mash for 8. There are no £ signs in use here of course. The tables also had on them candles set in wax encrusted bottles, with wine lists propped up against them. On the plus side I did enjoy a decent pint in here, and there are no distracting fruit machines flashing away (although there's a large TV on one of the walls, showing some tennis match when I was in). However, this is a little too shiny and new, and too much a modern bar cum wine bar for my taste. But I'm sure many will appreciate a clean and apparently efficient bar like this.

Official site of The Waldegrave Arms - www.thewaldegravearms.com