The Queens Head, West Byfleet

A knocked through L shaped room , half of which is set aside for dining,wood paneling on the walls with a few old black and white framed photos of yesteryear, wooden flooring and mostly ordinary tables and chairs with a few leather armchairs here and there.A pool table and a couple of fruit machines were at one end. Six handpumps , Pride, Doom Bar, Adnams Fat Sprat, Bath Anthem and St Austell Proper Job were On Offer, unfortunately the later was well past its best. Not likely to go out of my way to visit again.

A very average pub with nothing special about the interior. It is quite pleasant at lunchtime and the food is good value. However in the evening the customers base changes to a much younger set and it can get a bit rowdy. we tried it twice just for a drink later in the evening and on the second occasion felt a little threatened. To summarise from our experiences it is fine at lunchtime but avoid at night.

There were five ales on during my weekday lunchtime visit – London Pride, Doom Bar, Young’s Bitter, Courage Best, and Hogsback TEA. There are two banks of three handpumps, one on the bar counter facing you as you enter, and another round to right near the food counter. Helpfully, a couple of the pumps in each bank are double clipped. I was in too early to see the food or menu, but food is clearly available, at least during weekday lunchtimes. The pub itself is fairly old style – lots of original wood panelling, normal tables and chairs, but with a couple of tub armchairs including a large vase of flowers on a table between them. There’s a pool table in a separate area on the left, and the tables at the back to the right of the bar counter all have small vases of flowers on them. I would guess that these are the tables that would be preferred by diners, not least because they are closest to the food counter. Walls are adorned with loads of old black and white photos, plus at least a couple of large flatscreen TVs. The carpet has seen better days, with large parts being dirt encrusted and clearly in need of replacement. This is a clean (apart from odd bits of the carpet) and comfortable pub, with a reasonable ale selection even if heavily weighted towards the usual suspects. I would visit again, although I guess the emphasis is on food. Nothing wrong with that, as drinkers are still catered for.

Official site of the Queens Head - www.queensheadbyfleet.co.uk

Official site of the Queens Head - www.queensheadbyfleet.co.uk