The George, Twickenham

This Greene King pub, on the main road through the centre of Twickenham, looks pretty appealing on approach thanks to some colourful hanging baskets, and has a large open plan interior that is much bigger than initial impressions would suggest. The room is bare boarded throughout and has a raised seating area directly opposite the entrance, hidden slightly by some sections of wall and skirted by the walkway that leads you into the main part of the pub. To the front left, tables and chairs had been cleared to make a small performance area for acts playing as part of the Twickenham High Tide festival, so there was a real pinch point here as customers arrived and had to fight their way through the crowd, past the stage, and on to the bar, which is sited halfway down the left-hand wall. The bar has a simple wood panelled counter and a bare brick bar back lined with modern metal framed shelving units and blackboards detailing various food and drink options. The room really opens out beyond this point, with plenty of vertical drinking space and some partitioned seating areas along the right-hand wall with a mix of furniture. The décor is mostly corporate in feel and becomes sparser the further into the pub you go, so that the front has a typical homely pub look to it, whereas the rear comes across as quite spartan and uninviting by comparison. The only cask beer available on this visit was Greene King IPA, although this proved to be so lively that they had to temporarily take it off as they were wasting so much trying to pour each pint. This left me facing a relatively run of the mill keg selection, although I spotted a Greene King craft IPA called Level Head, which was actually a pretty decent stab at a session IPA and certainly a lot nicer that their usual IPA. The staff were generally quite pleasant and there was a good atmosphere thanks to the festival crowds, who came here in good numbers, partly because of the terrible weather that wiped out some of the outdoor stages. This was a pub of two halves, with a nice front space, decent bar area and bland, dark rear section, so enjoyment varied throughout the day depending upon which part of the pub I found myself in. The lack of any ale beyond Greene King core staples is of concern and there are plenty of other better pubs nearby, but I came away feeling generally more favourable to this place and wouldn’t moan if I found my way back here again one day. Date of visit – 30th July 2023

Having obviously visited a day or two after Graham below, it is exactly as he describes also being empty whilst I was there, I couldn't be tempted by the cask offerings of IPA or Abbott so amongst the twenty or so keg taps lined up along the bar ,featuring mostly premium lagers I spotted three craft options , Koona Big Wave, Beavertown Neck Oil and Punk IPA, I settled for half a Neck Oil then moved on , never to return.

One of those pubs which you feel is geared up for huge crowds on matchdays, but is rather empty and soulless at other times. A large hall of mainly high tables, with a dining area down one side, and a large patio garden to the rear with its own bar. Labelled as a Sports Bar, which seems to translate as numerous TV screens, but with no other attractions like pool or darts and the beer range restricted to IPA and Abbot, small wonder it was completely empty.

Official site of The George - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of The George - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Not a particularly good pub with very little in the way of decent ale. Not one to return to.