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The Phoenix, SW1
SW1
SW1E 5JA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Phoenix
As mentioned, this pub, which dates from 1928, is close to the Buckingham Estate and next door to the Other Palace Theatre.
Inside and it’s quite a modern pub conversion, with predictable themes such as smoky blue paint, white glazed tiled bar back, stripped bare wood bar front and an apron of Minton-style encaustic tiles, with large oversized metal shades above. Furniture is mixed tall, with blue velour upholstered studded banquettes. Customers seemed to be mainly young, possibly squaddies from the nearby Wellington Barracks, along with some older more genteel customers, perhaps having taken in a show at the theatre over the road. Service here isn't a strong point, with many uncleared glasses on tables, including the one at which I was seated. They were gradually cleared, but oddly not the ones at my table.
The typical Young’s line-up was available, with Proper Job, London Original, Special and Winter Warmer at £2.65 a half and nice.
This place is fine for a drink after the theatre, perhaps with some fish ‘n’ chips, but it’s not a destination, though worth including on a crawl of the area.
On 24th November 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Phoenix
As mentioned below the Phoenix is the closest pub to Buck House, but it was suited local office workers from around the Victoria area, rather than tourists, who were packing it out on the early after work Thursday evening last.
Part of the Geronimo Inns chain it has the usual modern stripped back interiors you associate with this chain and the central support pillar is now a bit more restrained yellow and white Humphry straw design colouring.
The main serving bar may be very modern in its design and I am sure the industrial metal racking in front of a white tiled wall may appeal to some, but I still prefer a more traditional pub experience. Also the bar serving area is fairly short in size, meaning that at busy times you have to queue quite a way back, almost into the tables in the central space. When you do get to the bar there are four ale pumps, and these had Redemption Pale Ale, Youngs Bitter, St Austell Proper Job and Dorking brewery Washington gold on for my visit. And then on the craft side Camden Hells and Pale and Beavertown Neck oil were on the taps.
The pub was very busy, and it was even standing room only in the garden section as well. I would certainly consider it again, especially when considering a place to eat with the good lady when in this part of town, but as a pub experience there’s a lot of competition nearby and this one didn’t really do it for me personally.
On 29th April 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
custodian 42 left this review about The Phoenix
Unfortunately no real ale of any great strength in this busy pub so I had to settle for cider. Will not be returning to this one.
On 1st March 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1693 recommendations about 1691 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Phoenix
By the perimeter wall of Buck Pal lies this mid-sized pub. Interior is a modern faux-rustic stripped back single room done out in cream shades, with the exception of the funkily-coloured central support pillar and a small section of wall with burlesque wallpaper(!) as mentioned below. Surprisingly busy for a Tuesday evening, clientèle were mainly young, urban types of the sort you can imagine complaining about how broke they are and how expensive London is whilst downing their third bottle of £5+ lager and eating a main course costing northwards of 15 sheets. Four ales on; Youngs Bitter, Doom Bar, Redemption Hopspur and Adnams Ghost Ship. I tried a half of the latter and got a decent drop for my troubles. Unusually for central London, there is a sizeable rear beer garden. Not too bad, overall, but once was enough.
On 26th November 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Phoenix
The Phoenix is the closest pub to Buckingham Palace so I suppose it could be considered as the Queen’s local. The open plan bar has a mix of thick wooden standard and high tables with seating throughout. The bar counter that runs along the rear wall supports premium draught products and four hand pumps. During my recent Wednesday afternoon visit these were drawing Sharp’s Doom Bar and Windsor & Eton’s Park Life alongside Young’s ordinary and Wooden Spoon. A gastro menu is supplemented by bar snacks such as sausage rolls and pork pies. The pricing of food was not obvious so I cannot give any indication of cost. To the right of the bar is a butchers table that was lined with artisan bread and a large bread knife. Guys, this is Central London and it is full of crazies – Hide the fecking bread knife!
There was some background music playing and World Cup Rugby was advertised for later in the evening. During my visit the TV was turned off and this isn’t the sort of pub I imagine would have Sky Sports. To the right of the butchers table with the bread and 10” knife are door and a flight of stairs that lead to the Yalumba Room, which I imagine is available for hire. To the left of the bar area is a separate seating area that aimed at diners. To the far left is a ‘secret garden’ which isn’t very secret because it is not enclosed and is currently overlooked by a huge building site.
I found the service to be friendly, but I wasn’t enamoured by the surroundings which I found to be a bit ‘foody’. This is a pub and there is certainly no problem going here not to eat, but I prefer a more traditional pub vista whilst having a jar.
On 14th October 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Phoenix
A Geronimo Inns outlet, but still recognisably a public house despite the gastro-pub decor and seating. Irregularly-shaped bar, with rear dining area under the cows on the roof (really!). 'Yalumba Room' available for private hire upstairs (with another small bar). A few tables out front plus a small rear patio. Now has four handpumps in the main bar plus one more at first-floor level, with the regular Youngs Ordinary supplemented by Twickenham Naked Ladies, London Fields Hackney Hopster and Sharps Atlantic on my latest visit.
On 14th June 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Phoenix
Handily positioned between Victoria station and Buckingham Palace, this is a modernised food-led pub from the Geronimo inns chain. The interior is nice and tidy with bare floorboards and some attractive tiling around the bar area. Most of the space opposite the servery is filled with scrubbed high tables and stools with a few standard tables and chairs around the perimeter including under the eye-catching front bay windows. Walls are painted in neutral tones with various art prints and photos on display and some rather remarkable burlesque wallpaper on certain sections of wall. A small dining space at the rear had space for a few banquettes and led out to a ‘secret’ garden which is partly covered and has some decent looking seating. Signs pointed to an upstairs lounge but I didn’t bother to investigate. A TV screen was showing live rugby, although most people were either busy eating or else were tourists suspiciously eyeing a visiting group of morris dancers.
I was a bit disappointed to find just two hand pumps in use dispensing Young’s Special (nothing special about it unfortunately) and Sharp’s Doom Bar. A leaflet on the bar listed a selection of bottled beers from around the world which included Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, whilst Aspall’s cider was available on tap. One of our party had a bottle of the Stout and when I went to the bar to get him a pint glass to pour it into, the barman got all shirty with me, accusing me of bringing my own beer into the pub to pour into the glass.
I thought this was a fairly pleasant place to enjoy a drink, despite not really being a drinker’s pub, but I was put off by the rude barman and dull beer choice. I might give this place another go, but first impressions weren’t great.
On 2nd June 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Blue left this review about The Phoenix
I've been here a few times early evenings and found it to be quite a busy after-work-drinking more than eating pub. This evening I had a good pint of Cornish Coaster and noted Bombardier and Sambrooks Wandle were also available.
On 8th July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 271 recommendations about 270 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Phoenix
The Phoenix now advertises itself as a pub and eating house, which we all know means that it must be a gastropub. And so it turned out to be. The interior is exactly what you would expect from a “pub and eating house” – modern replica floorboarding, pastel shades on the walls, gray painted bar back and bar counter front, re-cycled school chairs, tall benches with solid “butcher’s block” style tables, sofas and armchairs, etc, etc. For me the most attractive thing about the pub is the bay windows with small latticed windows. Food is unsurprisingly at gastropub prices, as is the ale, with Cornish Coaster at £3.50 a pint. But to be honest this is not an exorbitant price by Central London standards. The other ale on was Bombardier, with two other pumps apparently unused. The kitchen seems to be directly behind the bar, and during my visit managed to fill the room with the all-pervading smell of fish.
There’s a bit of outside seating on the left, intriguingly called “The Phoenix Garden and Terrace”, and upstairs there’s another room, called The Yalumba Dining Room, which I didn’t explore. In essence this is a typical madeover gastropub, although a good example of its type, and as others have stated it hasn’t totally lost its “pubness”. But it’s not really my sort of pub, and doubt whether I’ll pay a return visit.
On 20th May 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Phoenix
Convenient for Victoria, the Phoenix still offers an interesting menu at a reasonable price. However, it was not a good advertisement for Geronimo at the moment - the staff were really quite amateurish (not interested in taking our order, too much horseplay), and although the menu looked good, none of the four handpumps had any beer on. With the amoutn of choice available in the area, I will try other places first in future.
On 3rd May 2011
- rating: 3
[User has posted 3286 recommendations about 3251 pubs]