The Pottery, Kingston Upon Thames

Official site of the Pottery Bar, includes menus - www.thepotterybar.co.uk

Official site of the Pottery Bar, includes menus - www.thepotterybar.co.uk

This place is labelled as "Restaurant and Tapas bar", so I was pleasantry susprised to see a handpump bearing a Bombardier clip (£3.75 a pint). It was in reasonable nick too, and the welcoming barmaid gave my pint a top up without a prompt. But that's about where any resemblance to a pub ended. At the front of the pub there's a bit of decking with a handful of tables and chairs. Inside there's a separate dining area through an achway on the left, but the main bar area as you enter is where those just wanting (or needing in my case) a drink are catered for. The room has all the hallmarks of a lounge bar, including distressed leather armchairs and sofas, scrubbed solid wooden tabless, and a wicker magazine rack on the floor near the sofa. It even has two large bushes of decorative twigs, with the one on the bar counter being further enhanced by bright green fairy lights! There was no sign of TVs, fruit machines or the like, but there was some latin/cantina music being played, which is at least appropriate for the tapas image. Naturally there were candles on all the tables, and obviously they do food, but I didn't get to see a menu. Even though it is nothing like the traditional pub that I usually go for, this one was a comfortable enough place for a quiet(ish) pint after escaping from the clutches of Kingston Hospital. It's not the sort of place that I would visit on a regular basis though.

Single bar/ Tapas bar with one real ale on tap. Large seperate dining/lounge area. outside drinking overlooking the main road