The Bull, W12

This is a rather flash, but ultimately soulless, modern bar which has been set up as a watering hole for the flash, but ultimately soulless, shoppers of the adjacent Westfield shopping centre. When I arrived in the early evening of a mid-week day, the majority of customers were sat outside on the promenade between the shopping centre and the row of bars and restaurants in which the pub is located. Here, some comfy looking tub chairs and high padded stools are available under the shelter offered by this covered walkway, and it struck me as a good spot from which to enjoy a bit of people-watching. Passing through a porch, you enter a bare boarded room with a remarkably large servery on the back wall. The bar has a curved, dark wood counter, presented in a traditional style, with an enormous bottle display on the bar back and an island table in the centre of the serving area, also stacked with spirit bottles. Folding windows along the front wall open out to the aforementioned outdoor area and are broken along their length by glazed tile pillars with a row of small round tales in front of them, served by low stools with fake cow-hide upholstery. The rest of the seating is found to the rear right, under a low ceiling, with banquettes along the perimeter, lots of mirrors on the walls and a DJ booth to one side. Stairs lead up to a small mezzanine level where you can find some more comfy seating options overlooking the main bar space. The décor is a bit minimalist, with just a few corporate-feeling bits of art on display, whilst the soundtrack came courtesy of the DJ, who blasted us with loud dance tracks that no-one wanted to dance to. There were two real ales available on this occasion – Youngs Ordinary and St Austell Proper Job – with two real ciders occupying the other handpulls. The Proper Job was in an acceptable condition and cost a rather unsurprising £5.10 a pint. There was a long wait-time at the bar, made worse by a surplus of people who feel it’s their right to push ahead of others who’ve been waiting patiently. Once finally served, I was met with grumpy bar staff, although I would probably be grumpy if I had to serve a customer-base as awful as this all night. I suppose a shopping centre isn’t the obvious place to find a good quality pub, but I found this place a real let-down from the surly service to the uninspired beer and pretentious punters. As a smart, modern bar, it looks pretty good I suppose and bonus points for at least having some drinkable ale on, but I left thinking I’d rather be dragged around the shops than have to spend any time in here again.

Large multileveled pub located in the south terrace of the Westfield shopping centre in a line with all the other restaurant outlets serving the throngs of shoppers. The main bar is on the ground floor and this now has three beers from the Youngs stable since the purchase of Geronimo by Youngs and alongside Youngs Ordinary and Special was a very passable Winter Warmer. The second level has a smaller serving area with two hand pumps, but we carried on further up to the top floor as here there is a room at the back with a sizeable tele for the sport and the Bull scored as one of the few locations in the Westfield Centre where I could catch the rugby being shown. It was duly very busy on a Saturday afternoon and its very location means it will always be an eclectic mix of gangs of shoppers (largely female), or assorted males who have managed to escape and hide from the hell of shopping in the Bull. Therefore its not going to be a traditional pub experience, but then that’s not its brief.

Yesterday evening this seemed to be a dual purpose establishment, serving both as a recharging point for groups of ladies in the middle of their shopping marathons, and a man crèche for people like me in avoidance of such tribulations. Its three handpulls were dispensing Doombar, Sambrooks Junction and Young’s Bulls Own Christmas Ale, the last of which cost a hefty £4.05 and included about two inches of head. The barman seemed quite surprised when I asked him to top it up, but complied somewhat sheepishly. I doubt many people would go out of their way to come here, but the beer was ultimately okay and it was a handy escape from the shops.

Official page of the Bull - www.geronimo-inns.co.uk

Official page of the Bull - www.geronimo-inns.co.uk