The Grapevine (The Questors Theatre), Ealing Broadway, W5

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Pub SignMan left this review about Questors Grapevine Bar

This is technically a members only bar for 'Members and Friends' of the Questors Theatre in which it is situated. However, the bar prides itself on the quality of its real ales and therefore also admits CAMRA members on the production of a valid CAMRA card. Having said all this, on my recent visit, I managed to gain entry and get served without the need to show any kind of membership details. The bar has won numerous Club of the Year awards from CAMRA and they had three ales on when I visited on a Saturday evening - Fullers London Pride and Spring Sprinter and Windsor & Eton Parklife. The latter was just £2.40 a pint and in very good shape, so I felt a bit guilty drinking at such a discounted rate, even though I had my CAMRA card with me.
To access the bar you need to pass through the main reception area which is to the left as you approach the building, and once past the reception desk, turn left again up a set of steps. The bar itself is a simple carpeted affair split into two long, narrow rooms by a dividing wall through the centre. The main room is to the left and has the servery running down the left hand wall. The bar has a straightforward, angular marble-topped counter and fully mirrored bar back, the top of which was lined with no less than nineteen CAMRA certificates. Drinking ledges opposite with a few high stools beneath make up the majority of seating options on this side of the premises, although there is a banquette under the front window bay and a cosy little corner to the left of the entrance with comfy seating under modern wallpaper and a small bookcase to one side. The majority of the seating is in the right hand section of the bar, which has drinking ledges down one side but some long U-shaped banquettes to the front and rear, each serving a number of tables. The walls here are decorated with lots of memorabilia from the theatre including a lot of signed posters from past performances and a 'Freedom of the Grapevine' scroll awarded to someone called Alan Chambers. The toilets are located upstairs at the opposite end of the building, so I was able to enjoy a pretty good tour of the theatre as part of the process of finding them. Some outdoor seating is available in the paved area between the car park and main entrance. It is worth noting that the bar doesn't open until 19:00 (except Sundays), so don't make the mistake I did and turn up too early.
I'm not a massive fan of member's bars, even if they admit you as CAMRA members, but this place had a very nice, convivial atmosphere due to it being full of punters waiting to see a show. The beer quality is a draw and the theatre itself seems very nice and is worth a quick snoop around, but it's not somewhere I'd want to settle down for a session and a quick pint was sufficient for me.

On 17^th June 2017 - rating: 6
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