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Anglesea Arms, South Kensington, SW7
SW7
SW7 3QG
Pub Type
Metropolitan Pub Co (Greene King)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Anglesea Arms
Situated in a residential side street off the Fulham Road, is The Anglesea Arms, a pub with a rather upmarket ambience that will be fondly remembered by older drinkers such as myself as one of the forerunners of the real ale revolution in London in the mid to late 1970's. In those days, pubs selling 3-4 real ales such as Ruddles County - then very much a cult beer - Brakspears, Young's Special, Sam Smiths were few and far between and these pubs were quickly sought out and patronised by the real ale movement, then still very much in its infancy.
Nowadays, it's a pleasant single room pub with bare floorboards and scrubbed tables, but wood panelling, old photos, prints and some impressive oil paintings, coupled with the absence of any music or fruit machines, create a pleasant and traditional environment. Partitions break up the interior and create a degree of privacy, often overlooked in pub refurbishments nowadays.
Of particular note is a fine brewery mirror in one corner advertising Salt & Co Pale and Burton Ales. In another corner is a painting of a nude woman reclining on a bed. Behind the bar is a framed cricket bar signed by Graham Thorpe addressed to "the guys at The Anglesea Arms". Note also the large wooden clock over the bar.
There's a separate dining room down a few steps at one side of the pub. Food can also be ordered in the main bar and I imagine that food trade dominates at busy periods. Additional room is provided by an outside patio terrace at the front of the pub. Several notices remind us that this is a residential area and implore us not to obstruct the pavement and tell us to leave quietly, but it's hard to imagine that this pub has anything approaching a noisy and rowdy element.
Beers on the 6 pumps were Adnams Broadside and Bitter, Fullers ESB, Sharps Cornish Ale, Rudgate Brewers Choice Gold Elixir and Sambrooks Junction. The latter - at a price of £ 3.10p which might be considered cheapish - was in excellent form. The pub is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular. Diners might find that food prices are less accommodating on their wallets however.
Despite having to operate within the inevitable constraints of having to appeal to the Chelsea "set", this pub is still very much well worth seeking out.
On 7th October 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Anglesey Arms
For my money, the Anglesea Arms is probably the best pub in the South Kensington area. 6 Ales on for my visit – Hogs Back TEA, Doom Bar, Adnams, Broadside, Pride & Oxford Gold – enough to keep me going for an entire evening and service was friendly and efficient. Although it has a quite upmarket ambience, it doesn’t feel at all snobbish, pretentious or Sloany. The interior is quite old fashioned with bare floors, old style wallpaper, paneling, stripped down tables and a selection of seats that obviously never came from the same shop. The walls contain several assorted and haphazardly arranged pictures, paintings and some wonderful old brewery mirrors (Salt & Co – a new one on me). The only thing missing is a Grandfather Clock that would fit in quite nicely. Remnants of the old etched windows and doors all add to the character. Despite being just the one large knocked through room, areas have been partitioned off with screens to create a bit more of an intimate feel.
To my recollection there were no TVs, music or games machines, just the babble of chatter and locals mulling over the evening papers. I was also expecting to be hit hard in the wallet given the location and was quite gobsmacked at the reasonable prices. There is an outside terrace with plenty of umbrella cover and I gather there is a dining room to the rear (obviously eluded me) but the place certainly did not come over as being particularly food orientated. Unfortuantely I do not find myself in the area often, otherwise you would find it hard to drag me out.
On 30th December 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Anglesea Arms
Excellent choice of ales on – Adnam's Bitter; Broadside; Pride; Twickenham Sundancer; Hogsback TEA; and Brakspear's Oxford Gold. I went for the TEA which was excellent, and at £3 a pint not unreasonable for the area. I'm not sure whether they always have this sort of range of ales on, though I suspect from RogerB's posting that they do. There was an advert (which I only saw in the gents!) for a beer festival (from 9 to 22 March I think), but with different ales promised to those that were actually on. But never mind - can't complain about the ales that were on.
This is more like a pub than many others in the area. It's a single room pub furnished mainly with normal tables and chairs; walls are mainly adorned with paintings and prints. A few magazines lying around for customers to read is also a nice touch. Service was a little offhand, although not unfriendly. All things considered this is a pretty decent pub, and the excellent ale selection certainly warrants a return trip.
On 11th March 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]