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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Punch Bowl, Mayfair, W1
W1
W1J 5RU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Punch Bowl
Originally built in 1729, but rebuilt in 1792 due to fire damage.
This date doesn’t surprise me, as some of the wood panelling – of which there is much – does look to be genuinely old, as does the fireplace surround. Some of the other woodwork seems newer, perhaps 19th century, such as the curved field panelled bar front and pot shelf, displaying the patina of age, though sadly what passes for a bar back is some exposed modern bricks and brown glazed tiles. There are some etched glass panes with walls painted pale mushroom with, for some reason, a crudely drawn A-Z-style map of the local area painted to part of the mid-section’s ceiling. Seating in the front area comprises traditional stuff, with some banquettes, then tall stools – some steel tubular – to the bar and left-hand drinking ledges. The rear appears to be geared towards dining, though there’s a very smart dining room on the first floor and a private members’ club above that. Lighting comes from filament bulbs fitted to hanging shallow metal shades, all annoyingly coated with fake cobwebs; more single use plastic. Banal music played and customers seemed, unsurprisingly, to be of the more affluent type.
The bar staff were decent enough, serving from two pumps dispensing some sort of Punch Bowl Ale(?) and one dishing out a decent half of Sussex Best at, for the area, a reasonable £2.50.
This place is a bit of a curate’s egg, but on balance I quite liked it; a better and wider ale range would get the score up. I certainly think that this is one of the best Mayfair pubs and I’d be inclined to drink here, including probably only the Coach & Horses, Guinea and Burlington if in this area.
On 29th October 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Punch Bowl
One room pub with the rea for diners, by the looks. No usual real ale - they had their own beer as one of the three pumps. Nothing above 4.5% ABV.
On 7th June 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Punch Bowl
At least this place is still a pub, but the prices and ambience may not appeal to everybody. It looks attractive enough, and the bar itself is reasonably traditional. Dining area towards the rear, and the whole place remains geared towards those with very substantial amounts of money. Three real ales on handpump: Deuchars IPA, Bombardier and the 'house' 1750 'full bodied ale" (£4.40) on my recent visit (four years after the previous one)..
On 2nd September 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Punch Bowl
A compact and popular pub in the heart of Mayfair, this was pretty much full to capacity on a recent Friday evening visit with little space for standing never mind sitting, and several punters stood outside as well. Consequently the ambient noise level was quite high.
Most of the clientele seemed to be Hooray Henry types and struck me as being a bit up themselves. A case in point - a group of three guys were stood next to a table for eight. I assumed they were about to leave and politely asked if we could sit at the table, even though there was plenty of room for us even if they had been staying. He paused, looked down his nose at me, and wandered off to stand somewhere else. Why hog a table if you want to stand? Just so you've got somewhere to rest your pint? That said, if you can afford to live in an area where the local shop charges £20k for a set of plates (sorry, dinner service for eight) perhaps you're entitled to be up yourself.
The pub is essentially split in to two halves with the rear half appearing to be very much geared up for dining with all the tables in use by people eating and a wooden wine rack built in to the rear wall. The colour scheme was a shade of mustard and there were a number of black and white cartoon drawings on the wall. There were a few flagstones at the front of the pub, some dark wood partitioning around and a little etched glass, particularly above the bar, but this pub doesn't have the character of many of the Victorian gems in other parts of London. Bar service was a little on the slow side.
Beers on tap were Deuchars IPA, Bombardier and their own 1750. The solitary cider was Symonds Founders Reserve. We had just eaten nearby so it made a handy pit stop after our meal, but it's certainly not somewhere I'd go out of my way to visit.
On 13th February 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Punch Bowl
As you approach this pub you could be forgiven for thinking that you have stumbled upon a hidden gem. But no such luck I’m afraid, as this is the pub once owned by Madonna and Guy Ritchie, and still owned by the latter I believe. The interior’s fairly attractive with a good, and apparently old, bar counter on the right (although the gantry must be a modern addition), some apparently fairly modern flagstone flooring at the front, and a bit of etched/cut glass in an unused doorway on the left. One interesting feature is the bank of wooden boards on the wall on the left, apparently to either protect or obscure some windows looking out to the alleyway running to the side of the pub.
The rear area of the pub is furnished with tables and chairs, all of which were laid for diners. The front area has a few tables and chairs, at least one of which had a reserved sign on it.
The favourite method of payment here looks to be plastic – a folder was kept behind the counter containing loads of credit cards for those presumably running tabs. Understandable really, as your loose change won’t go very far in here! The ales on were Spitfire and Bombardier with a Deuchars IPA clip reversed on a third pump. I had a pint of Spitfire which at £4.40 (!!) easily smashed the record for my most expensive pint of real ale. And the barman even managed to keep a straight face and not look emabarrassed when telling me the price. I was in here on an organised pub crawl so accepted that I was going to be charged silly money for a pint, but I don’t expect to visit again. In fact, I think I’ll try to avoid “celebrity” pubs altogether!
On 23rd April 2012
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Punchbowl
Long narrow pub with up to three real ales and with Pedigree at £1.95 a half pint a total rip off even by W1 standards.
On 19th December 2008
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]