One Over the Ait, Brentford

Nothing much has changed since Maldermans visit 6 years ago,the faux industrial interior is a feature so is the upturned skiff hanging above the bar.Food is a big issues here ,the first internal section is laid for diners,the first floor is a restaurant and the large provision of outside tables will absorb any Brentford FC visitations.Due to trees being in full leaf ,there are few views of the Thames which runs past. Three handpumps offering Fullers London Pride,ESB and their Dark Star Hophead (£5.05,NBSS 3). Not a patch on the nearby Express Tavern,functional rather than exciting.

A new build pub, overlooking the river and seemingly designed to look like a boathouse. Inside is functional with exposed services at ceiling level, exposed brick walls and painted, yes exposed, steel beams and columns. Set over two floors with the upper level accessed via a metal spiral stair, wooden floors, mixed seating of all types so far encountered, a ground floor wall has a large chalkboard containing such things as the weather, tide times and various announcements of pub events. Décor includes an upturned rowing boat such as seen in the boat race above the bar....is this a skiff?....and unusually end sections of old style cast iron radiators behind the bar, upon which are advertised the keg beer selection. There are balconies with Thames views at both levels, not a bad spot upstairs on a sunny afternoon. Toilets are odd, certainly upstairs, don't know if there are more but two single cubicles with a common washing space. That's going to get busy. A Fuller's place, not the greatest range, there was Pride, ESB (£4.24), Oliver's Island and Spring Sprinter. Food is served as you would expect but I didn't really get involved with looking at a menu. An ok spot on a sunny afternoon for drinking overlooking the river but inside felt a bit clinical and cold to me.

This is a large new-build Fuller's pub as part of the regeneration project on the northern side of Kew Bridge. As with JAQPTIO, the building also reminded me of a converted boathouse, but this is very much a purpose built pub that effectively replaces the Fuller's Waggon and Horses pub that stood nearby before the bulldozers arrived. Steps lead up to the main entrance which takes you into a large rectangular room with a mix of concrete and wooden flooring and the servery along the right hand wall. There is a wide range of seating options including banquettes, high padded benches, Chesterfield sofas and high tub chairs and stools. The servery has a rather odd back-lit counter, which might look more effective in the evening, and a nice dark wood bar back with huge floor to ceiling bottle shelves and craft beer bar style taps for dispensing various keg beers. The room has a lot of exposed ducting and pipes running around the ceiling space, which spoils what could have been a well put-together, cosy setting. Bare brick walls and metal girders and pillars actually work quite well, as they look pretty authentic and at no point was I sat there thinking about this being a new-build. In keeping with the riverside location, a rowing boat has been suspended above the bar (a trick already done by the Magpie and Crown further down the road), but the pub does have one seemingly unique feature in the shape of a table with some sort of fire pit in the middle of it, blazing away on my visit. A spiral staircase leads up to a first floor bar although I didn't fully explore on this visit, whilst a decent looking riverside terrace offers plenty of summertime seating options and I can imagine this becoming a popular spot in better weather. There was a decent menu listed on a large black wall near the entrance, although I thought the prices were a bit high. The pub also had a strong smell of food which presumably emanated from the kitchen doors, and I found this quite off-putting initially. For such a large Fuller's pub, their ale range wasn't being particularly well showcased, with the hand pumps dispensing London Pride, ESB and a distinctly average pint of Gales Seafarers, with one other clip turned. The keg taps on the back wall offered a few other Fuller's brews including Frontier, Black Cab Stout and Honeydew as well as a couple of guests. Staff seemed friendly and happy and the service was very quick and efficient. I liked elements of this place, such as the nice design, riverside terrace and friendly staff but was equally disappointed with the overall aesthetic and poor beer range. I got the feeling that this place was best suited to those wanting to eat or for a seasonal visit to take in the terrace, as there are plenty of other Fuller's pubs in this part of London which offer a more rounded pub-going experience.

Another very nice Fullers pub.Will be great in the Summer as they have good outside space.Very busy on my visit.lots of people eating.Fulllers beer range but I tried a dull cold pint of Meantime-Yakima pale.Spotted 14 highchairs stacked in the corner so beware of children.

One Over the Ait page on the Fuller's website - www.oneovertheait.co.uk

New riverside pub, built in a style that is reminiscent of a converted boat house. Semi-modern furniture and decor in the main bar and the smaller upstairs bar. As a Fuller's house, the real ale choice was Chiswick, Pride, Seafarers, ESB and the seasonal Fire Cracker (£3.90) from the total of 12 handpumps (three banks of three downstairs and another set at first-floor level). Abrahalls Thundering Molly draught cider was also available. It was a very grey winter day when I visited, but I can imagine that the outside seating will become very busy in fine weather.

One Over the Ait page on the Fuller's website - www.oneovertheait.co.uk