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The Masons Arms, Battersea Park, SW8
SW8
SW8 4BT
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Tris C left this review about The Masons Arms
This is a late 19th century grade II-listed pub which probably hasn’t changed in recent years, judging by the newer reviews, or at least those post 2019 when the place had a makeover.
There are pictures on the pub’s gallery site, but it’s pretty much a cliché of trendified places with filamenty bulb thingies, once again more ceramic tiles to the bar and modern dark wood partitions with glass infill, grey/blue banquettes, blowtorched wainscoting, dark green or rag washed walls, columns with gold capitals, cheap oil paintings to walls and mixed furniture, with what looks like a more gastropub dining area to the right rear. The whole thing is geared around keg stuff, around 16 of which are on sale advertised to a blackboard, but this may include the likes of Guinness and cheap lager as I couldn’t see it fully.
Despite being a Fuller’s pub, real ale here amounted to just Pride, though at least with Hophead which was nice, as was the enthusiastic barmaid, price unrecorded.
Despite the somewhat corporate and overly contrived feel of the place, the Mason’s is ok but is by no means a destination, though it’s a lot better than the studenty feel of the Victoria down the road, likewise the High Camp of the Duchess Belle to the north-east.
On 1st September 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1982 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Masons Arms
Another nice Fullers pub that is allowed to serve a bigger range of craft beers.Cant remember any cask but they must have had pride.Went for 3 x thirds of keg and they were really really good.Out of curiousity asked the barmaid if they sold much thirds.She said she had been there a couple of years and i was the first to ask for them.Bloody nora whats going on with the local drinkers.Great pub.
On 19th November 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Masons Arms
This is a deceptively large Fullers pub close to Battersea Park Station and the famous dog’s home. The pub has quite a smart interior, but it has been massively opened out over the years and struggles a bit from a ‘drinking barn’ feel as a result. There’s a horseshoe shaped bar on the right-hand wall, close to the entrance, with a nice wood panelled counter contrasting the knocked about bar back that would appear to be the legacy of opening out from what would have once been a two bar or more layout. A blackboard to rear of the servery has the full craft range listed and the white tiled side wall further enhances the pub’s craft bar feel. Seating around the bar area is confined to the perimeter, with lots of banquettes under the front and side windows and some good quality chairs in support. Lots of small support pillars are dotted through the room, each with a decorative capital. The pub extends a long way back through a few bare boarded areas with more padded banquette and chair seating under half panelled walls with plain painted upper sections. The rear section employs some good partitioning screens with obfuscated glass panes and also a small metal shelving unit, all of which helps to break the space up a little. The whole pub has been decorated with a mishmash of items, including modern art prints, a goat's head, bottles in wall mounted drawers, a stuffed bird in a glass case, random bric-a-brac, an old radio and a great black and white photo of customers stood outside the pub ahead of their annual beano, sadly undated. More seating can be found outside, in the shadow of the railway bridge, but this is alongside a busy road and looks to only be of appeal to smokers. Music playing quietly but lack of soft furnishings meant that even on a moderately busy Saturday afternoon, the collective noise totally drowned it out.
On the bar, Fullers London Pride, Dark Star Hophead and a rare sighting of Fullers Revelation, which a very cheery barmaid poured me a pint of before taking £6.25 for the privilege. I haven't tried this beer for a few years and have to say it tasted very watered down - not sure if this was a pub problem or a new recipe following Fullers takeover a few years back. The pub seems to excel in the craft beer department, with countless taps offering brews from the likes of Signature Brew, Siren and Pomona Island, with a Signature Brew tap takeover promoted for the coming weeks.
This is a nice pub with a high-spec interior that sadly feels a little too large and opened out for its own good. The rear part seems like a more cosier area and I enjoyed exploring the place and checking out the vast craft beer range. Definitely more plus points than negatives here and therefore well worth a look if you’re in the area.
On 26th July 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Masons Arms
A rare 10am opener (on a Saturday). Grade II fuller pub that has been stripped back internally for that distressed light industrial unit look of bare brick and low hanging light fittings from an exposed ceiling.
Central bar and roomy open plan table and chair seating around the L-Shape.
Obviously run by beer lovers with 20 Keg and Three Cask lines. I had a very conservative but excellent condition London Pride (no ESB, even though a Fullers pub). I possibly should have been more adventurous with the Signature Brew Tap Takeover that was running on the Keg lines. But it was 10:50am.
On 11th April 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Masons Arms
Fuller's pub within spitting distance of Battersea Park station. Wandsworth Road station is also just around the corner.
I'd first tried visiting here back in mid-December, only to find it unexpectedly closed. I seemed to recall a notice saying that there was an issue with the kitchen. On a second attempt, we found it open. A handful of customers were in and bar staff looked quite bored. From what I could see, everybody was in for drinks only. There was certainly no sign of any food.
London Pride is the real ale here. Quite how the pub gets in the Good Beer Guide by serving just this, I'm not quite sure. Maybe it is for the quality of the Pride. But I didn't order it to find out. Far more impressive is the craft beer range, which included Brew By Numbers #10 Coffee & Vanilla Porter, Dig Brew Super Potion, Signature Roadie IPA, Mondo Captain, Brick Ribes Rubus, Exale Oona, Siren Caribbean Chocolate Cake Tropical & Triple Point DIPA. The 3 of us each chose a different beer from this range and all were nice.
The interior is much larger than it appears from the outside, with seating continuing quite a way back. Toilets can be found down some stairs at the rear.
Worth a visit if you like craft beers. But there's plenty of other (and cheaper) places around London to drink London Pride.
On 4th February 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about The Masons Arms
Gastro type pub? The food is cooked in full view of the customers. Prices are a bit high, Guinness £3.35 a pint. No real ale. Boring grey interior. May be worth a visit. Update, has had a makeover, food now cooked out of sight. Looks too clinical now. Character gone completely and prices goneout f my price range.
On 1st March 2020
- rating: 4
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Chris 87 left this review about Masons Arms
Gastropubby Fuller's Pub adjacent to Battersea Park station. Tastefully if genereically furnished; Has lots of sketches of old cars hung on the walls, perhaps harking back to a previous incarnation as a mechanic's workshop.
Unusually for a Fuller's pub, the ale selection is limited to just two handpumps, dispensing Pride (obviously) and a guest, in this case Gales' Spring Sprinter. The latter was tasty, albeit at an eye-watering £3.99. I suppose I should be grateful - a fortnight ago it would have been £4. Lots of tables had 'reserved' notices on them with a football club appearing to have block booked. There is an open plan layout with the kitchen partially exposed to the bar area.
Overall it is average, clearly aimed at the local upmarket demographic but no great shakes as a drinker's hangout.
On 4th April 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 179 recommendations about 179 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about Masons Arms
This is essentially a restaurant, or perhaps more accurately a gastro-pub as I was able to purchase just a drink and sit at one of the tables – but a waitress did ask me if I wanted a lunch menu. There is an open plan kitchen, table service for diners, bare-boarded floor, and thick, solid, scrubbed tables. The smell of food pervades the place – how could it not do so with an open plan kitchen? It’s like any other gastro-pub you’ve been in.
There were two ales on; London Pride and Fuller’s Jack Frost. I had the latter, at the gastro-pub price of £3.50 a pint. The trouble with these high-ceilinged, bare-boarded places with solid wooden furniture is that they can get too noisy with all the sounds bouncing off everything. The food might be good – I don’t know, I didn’t try it – but it’s not really my type of place.
On 31st January 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]