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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Cow, Westbourne Park, W2
W2
W2 5QH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Cow
The Cow has the look and feel of a pub both inside and out. However, the focus is very much on seafood. In fact, it is owned by the Conran family.
Two handpulls on the bar had Landlord & Boltmaker clips turned round. We instead chose from the keg beer selection of Hoegaarden, Lost & Grounded Wanna Go To The Sun, Weston's Stowford Press, Beavertown Neck Oil, Guinness, Paulaner & their own Cow Lager. We were later assured that the Boltmaker would be ready soon and by the time that we left, both had been pulled through and the clips were showing.
We sat in the front section of the pub, which appears to be mainly for drinkers. There is a large and colourful mural on the wall next to where we were sat. To the rear is the dining area. However, there is also a more formal restaurant upstairs.
A strange one to be listed in the Good Beer Guide, especially when you walk in to find no cask beer at all.
On 24th June 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Cow
Partly opened-out, two-room pub that looks quite traditional, with the smaller rear part being set aside for those dining. However, the bar at the front (and the numerous customers out on the pavement) give the impression of this being a local boozer for an almost exclusively male clientele despite its upmarket pretentions. Landlord and Tribute (£5.50, ouch!) available from two of the four handpumps. The keg taps include a 'house' pale ale and lager of unknown provenance.
On 20th November 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Cow
There's little to add to the previous reviewer's comprehensive description, and I share his analysis. When I was in they had on the same two ales - London Pride ond Timothy Taylor Landlord. The Landlord weighed in at a hefty £2.45 a half, which in its defence is exactly half the (punishing) price of a pint. I did experience an exemplary piece of service though - having sat down with my (hazy but drinkable) half of Landlord the barman - or guv'nor possibly - noticed the less than perfect condition of my half and brought a replacement over to my table. That's the second time in my life that that's happened. There was a Gwatkin cider box on the bar counter. The food is still seafood heavy.
Although it's apparently been tarted up recently - other customers commented on the new red lino on the floor - it still has the look of an old pub. The bar counter looks to be an original piece as well. But I did think that it was a little pretentious in here. The absence of £s on the menu (an increasingly common omission); the sign "ask the waiter for a menu"; the extraordinarily high beer prices (obviously); and the fact that some chaps eating at a nearby table "tasted" their wine after it was brought over to their table, by the waiter presumably. They seem to be proud of the fact that they have air-conditioning as it was advertised on the exterior, but my personal opinion is that it is only required very occasionally (perhaps a handful of days a year when temperatures are over 30c), and that we could have done without it on a cold day in October.
This place looks like a pub but seems to behave like a restaurant. The high prices certainly put me off, and I don't expect to return.
On 16th October 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Cow
This place may look like a residential conversion but dates from the 1850s and until 1992 was called The Railway Tavern. In its current incarnation it's painfully popular with a very mixed crowd (the pub has a big gay following but doesn't appear to be an official gay bar); getting to the bar - let alone getting a seat - is a Sisyphean task.
Up two or three steps to the bar which runs along most of the left side; the pub is very small indeed - cramped even. There is however very serious dining upstairs - this pub is owned by the Conrans - with something of an emphasis on seafood with specialities such as fruit de mer; whole lobsters and oysters are packed in ice to the front of the small open kitchen to the right end of the bar.
Furniture is a combination of wooden bench seating, some of which is upholstered with avocado green vinyl and conventional tables with low stools, covered with cherry red vinyl or tartan velour. The floor is worn red lino which probably dates back quite some time. It actually makes a change from bare boards and is vastly preferable to a stinky patterned carpet. The bottom half of the windows is obscured by net curtains, which is a painfully dated feature. There are mirrors to the walls, painted with descriptions of the pub's wares; there's a slight Irish flavour to the place, but not in a downmarket way.
Music was muted American soul, the lavatory is down a steep flight of steps. To the walls are what I can only describe as sexually-suggestive sapphic posters from Italian films.
Several premium lagers were on offer but the only ales were Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Fuller's London Pride which blasted a £4.90 hole in my wallet! There were also two unused pumps; a second visit and the Pride was off leaving just the Landlord at an equally punishing £4.90.
Overall, this pub seems to want to give the impression of being a bit faux downmarket and most closely reminds me of a 1980s' basement dive bar in Soho. This isn't really my kind of place and I would find it difficult to call it a pub - 'bar' is a better description. There are better drinkeries in the immediate area so I won't be in a hurry to make a return visit, especially in light of the barman calling last orders at just 10.20.
On 12th August 2015
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Cow Salon Bar & Dining Room
Upmarket pub and very nice inside selling Fuller's And Harvey's real ale
On 14th March 2007
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]