The Eagle, W10

As Tris remarked below, a commanding corner pub with windows on Ladbroke Grove and Telford Rd. Felt a bit like a locals pub from my vantage point perched on a high stool at the bar. There was London Pride and Landlord during my visit earlier this evening plus a significant array of beers on shiny taps. Opted for a pint of Guinness as saw quite a few other punters quaffing the black stuff on my arrival suggesting I am easily led. Nothing wrong with this place but it just didn’t have the X factor for me hence the beige rating.

Nicer interior from the last time i visited .It was a Ben Truman pub then and has now reverted to a Trumans pub again.Central octagonal shaped bar.Surprisingly few Trumans beers on.Cask beers were Landord ,something from Twickenham and my Trumans --blindside which wasn't in great condition.

This is a commanding corner pub towards the northern end of Ladbroke Grove and a fair world away from the gentrification of Notting Hill half a mile to the south. As mentioned, there's some fine retained Truman's décor to the exterior but inside it's a bit spartan with period prints showing the local area hung from white walls, part dark panelled and exposed brick to the fireplace's chimney breast, sadly unused. There's an open kitchen but food here is rather more 'posh' pub grub than gastro, orientated around fish and chips with 'homemade' tartar sauce (I bet it isn't). To the ceiling hangs an inverted four-person scull, the kind of thing that graces many a pub along Hammersmith embankment but looks a bit out of place here. Funiture comprises some studded wing-back oxblood leatherette armchairs and sofas as well as French café-style chairs and some old school tables; the floor is bare boarded, music is muted and the lavatories are decent. What few customer who were in during our lunchtime visit were older and probably retired. Also in attendance were some youths in grey hooded tracksuits, which isn't exactly a selling point; perhaps the pub should adopt a dress code. Ales: a friendly barmaid dispensing Timothy Taylor's Landlord and a decent Truman's Swift at just £2.00 a half which is cheap for central London. In an area where before the 1960s there were many a pub, this is now one of a dwindling number and is far better than the Portobello House down the road. I'd come here again but only if passing and on the proviso that the hoodies are given the heave-ho - a wider choice of quality ale wouldn't go amiss either.

Official site of The Eagle - www.theeagle.co.uk

Official site of The Eagle - www.theeagle.co.uk

Gastro-pub furniture and decor about as sparse as customers on an early Monday evening. Large screen sports TV looking rather out of place, with only other features of note being an inverted four-seat rowing boat suspended above the central bar / kitchen area, a few old lanterns outside and a Truman's black eagle on the roof above the main entrance. Unfortunately, just Landlord and Pride (£4.10) available from the five handpumps when I called in. Underwhelmed.